Helping the Powerless for Personal Gain

Join online: https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/98052106178

Power hierarchies emerge in virtually every organizational context. Therefore, most interpersonal interactions are set against a backdrop of power differences. For prosocial acts offered within power hierarchies, there is a widespread belief that people who choose to help lower-power beneficiaries are altruistically motivated, and that those who choose higher-power beneficiaries are selfishly motivated by ingratiation. In contrast, the current research empirically demonstrates that people can also choose lower-power beneficiaries for selfish reasons – namely, to bolster their own moral reputation in the group. Across three pre-registered studies, involving different contexts and types of prosocial behavior, and including real financial incentives, we demonstrate empirically that people are more likely to choose lower-power beneficiaries when reputation concerns are more salient. We also provide evidence of the mechanism underlying this pattern: people believe that choosing a lower-power beneficiary more effectively signals their own moral character.