Having versus doing: The roles of moral identity internalization and symbolization for prosocial behaviors

Abstract

Moral identity has been identified as a consistent predictor of prosocial behavior, but the specific relationship and predictive strength of its two dimensions, internalization ("having") and symbolization ("doing"), are less clear. The current article explores this through two self-report studies. In study 1 (N = 228) a series of hierarchical regression analyses showed that, for three out of four domains of prosocial behavior, symbolization was the only significant predictor, and that its strength differed across outcomes. Building on these results, Study 2 (N = 299) proposed that the observed vs. anonymous nature of prosocial behavior could account for these differences. Unexpectedly, symbolization predicted both public and private behaviors, whereas internalization generally did not. Significant interactions between internalization and symbolization were also observed. These findings are discussed in relation to their theoretical implications and future moral identity research.

Keywords: Internalization; moral identity; prosocial behaviors; symbolization.