Althouse: "People on the receiving end of an act of kindness were about 10 percent more likely than the average person to do something nice themselves later in the day."

September 11, 2014

"People on the receiving end of an act of kindness were about 10 percent more likely than the average person to do something nice themselves later in the day."

"On the other hand, those who granted that kindness were slightly more likely than average (about 3 percent) to commit a small act of rudeness or dismissiveness later in the same day — granting themselves 'moral license' to do so."

From a report in the NYT about a study of the "micromorality" of everyday life.

53 comments:

Anonymous said...: Where's the macromorality exactly? What models are these people operating on?

Do many of them just not see the genius of a system that erred on the side of liberty and minimal intrusion into people's lives?; 9/11/14, 5:16 PM
traditionalguy said...: Oh no! Doing Good Deeds makes the do gooders proud of themselves and in their own minds which compare themselves to normal and people who aren't out doing good deeds. That may be why Catholics sent their do gooders far off to monastic Rules.; 9/11/14, 5:17 PM
ron winkleheimer said...: I just don't have any confidence in social science experiments yielding any actual data.

Three percent? That's got to be within the statistical margin of error. And has this study ever been replicated?

And what about the design of the experiments? Are they double blind to guard against observers bias?; 9/11/14, 5:22 PM
Bobber Fleck said...: Golly Ralph, why do you ask so many hard questions? What difference does it make if the experiments are flawed and the statistics are improperly analyzed?

This is social science. Someone advanced their career by getting a paper published. Content and truth don't matter in academe.; 9/11/14, 5:29 PM
Bobber Fleck said...: Ralph, by the way: Ann will be sending us our participation awards later this month.; 9/11/14, 5:34 PM
Drago said...: If it's "Social", it ain't "Science".; 9/11/14, 5:35 PM
n.n said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/11/14, 5:52 PM
n.n said...: They surveyed either a remarkably unstable sample population or a stable sample population from a remarkably unstable population.; 9/11/14, 5:54 PM
The Godfather said...: Those who did a minor good deed were slightly [NOT MY WORD -- this is either the "scientist"'s word or the "journalist"'s word] more likely than average (about 3 percent) to commit a small act of rudeness or dismissiveness later in the same day — granting themselves “moral license” to do so. This is the take-away: If you do good, you "grant" yourself a "moral license" to be rude to someone else. But that's clearly an interpretation, not a "scientific" conclusion.

Maybe what really happened is that "Jane" reported a couple of hours ago that she gave directions to a tourist trying to find the way to the museum, and then just now blew off someone who was looking for a bar. Now she thinks, Gee, maybe I wasn't as kind to the bar-crawler (and I don't want to be judgmental), so I'll gig myself for that. Is that giving herself "moral license"?

Or is it all bullsh*t?; 9/11/14, 5:59 PM
Henry said...: People who were continually pinged by text message were 11% more likely to make shit up.

Where's the control group? Bullocks.; 9/11/14, 6:19 PM
Jaq said...: Does that mean if a person defines voting liberal as an act of kindness in their own mind, they have "moral license" to be totally hateful against anybody who didn't?; 9/11/14, 6:19 PM
FullMoon said...: I do little stuff all the time.It;s easy but I have a confession;
Shopping at the discount grocery, I included a Hershy bar. After being rung up, I took it out of the bag and handed it to the rough looking tattooed young lady working the register and said" This is for your breaK" She took it and smiled like the sweet little girl she must have been as a child.

That worked pretty well so next week, at the hardware store, I grabbed some M&Ms. It occured to me that management might suspect the clerk of stealing the candy, so I asked for a separate receipt(to give with the candy).
When she said $2.65, I mentally said "Fuck that!" and took the M&Ms home.

It's been along time since I bought candy, guess I was expecting to pay50 cents.

There, now I got that off my chest!; 9/11/14, 6:39 PM
CWJ said...: Ralph Hyatt,

The snark is nothing personal. I think the other commenters got your point. Keep on commenting.

That said, the results sound about right. To which I reply so what! Why is this interesting?

You do what you do. That others are shamed or encouraged to do right is to be expected. That preening others feel entitled is also expected.; 9/11/14, 6:42 PM
FullMoon said...: Oh, and another thing. If you do something nice and tell everybody about, it doesn't count. I was told to do something nice and do not tell anybody.

I did something else nice once but can't remember where or when; 9/11/14, 6:44 PM
Drago said...: My dream thread is FullMoon and Betamax being the only posters.

Assuming they are not one and the same..............

Hmmm.

One's imagination runs wild.; 9/11/14, 6:53 PM
Mark said...: One Ordinary Day, with Peanuts; 9/11/14, 6:53 PM
David said...: Although the prose was terrible, the argument was unconvincing.; 9/11/14, 7:00 PM
FullMoon said...: Drago said...

My dream thread is FullMoon and Betamax being the only posters.

Assuming they are not one and the same..............

Hmmm.

One's imagination runs wild.

Once, in my misspent youth at Cochrans Billiards on Golden Gate Avenue, I announced to several friends, "Watch this,9 ball three rails in the side pocket"

I made it look easy and got oohs and ahhs, raised eyebrows and appreciative heads nodding.

Then some one suggested I do it again. I should have basked in the momentary glory. Instead, I tried it again. And again. And again.

I learned something that day.; 9/11/14, 7:18 PM
Paddy O said...: This isn't surprising. I know this is a relevant thing in churches. People tithe and they think they don't need to do more, and often justify their doing naughty things because of their loyalty to the church.

I know ministers who have had affairs or other scandals have been defended by followers "because of the good they do."

We also do this with friends and family. "He's not a bad person just because he does that! Look at all the good he does."; 9/11/14, 7:22 PM
Titus said...: I smile at my maid when she enters my loft.

She is a buddhist and I tell her I love the Dali just to show her I am down with her peeps. I also tell her I love pad thai.

tits.; 9/11/14, 7:22 PM
Titus said...: I tell Dotheads I meet that I love Monsoon Wedding.; 9/11/14, 7:23 PM
FullMoon said...: Went to Home Depot Monday and bough an eight foot long, 1 inch wide piece of aluminum.

Asked the cashier for a bag. People in line laughed with him as he reflexively reached for a bag.

Those people may tell their friends about it, cheaper than a candy bar.
Oh, yeah , joke was on me, San Jose banned plastic bags last year when I wasn't paying attention.; 9/11/14, 7:24 PM
Henry said...: The problem with the study, of course, is that it confuses talk with walk. People who reported doing something were more likely than some other people to report doing something else. The action is not corroberated. There is no reason, given the nature of self-reporting, to believe either action took place -- at least in the eyes of a nonexistent objective observer.

Furthermore, the motive for the uncorroberated action is utterly opaque. One could just as easily surmise that 3% of kind people have guilt complexes.; 9/11/14, 7:35 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: People do nice things, report it, then think maybe it sounds like they're liars (Could this be a study about people who lie about doing nice things?), and they judge themselves more harshly, reporting a negative thing in the near future.; 9/11/14, 7:42 PM
richard mcenroe said...: That's not how it works. That's not how any of this works.

By this study's logic, I should be running around thinking if I CPR someone I ought to be good for at least a week of total asshattery.

Never noticed that inclination.; 9/11/14, 7:53 PM
richard mcenroe said...: "Blacks invented kindness.

Specifically, the Zulus."

Well, to be fair, they DID cut open the bellies of their enemies so their souls would not be trapped in this world...; 9/11/14, 7:55 PM
FullMoon said...: On the other hand, those who granted that kindness were slightly more likely than average (about 3 percent) to commit a small act of rudeness or dismissiveness later in the same day — granting themselves 'moral license' to do so."

If you are an asshole, doing an occasional act of kindness does not change the fact that you are an asshole.

If you are a decent person, being an asshole occasionally does not change the fact you are a dent person/

If you used to be an asshole but are now a decent person, I will call you a decent person.; 9/11/14, 8:05 PM
CWJ said...: I keep wishing Titus is just an online pose that someone has adopted.; 9/11/14, 8:06 PM
rhhardin said...: It may be that you are one day approached by a Ghetto Dweller, or some other sort of Inhabitant, and a pit bull. If this happens, the thing to do is to ask the Dweller the dog's name. The Dweller will promptly say ``Fido,'' because it takes a seasoned professional handler to resist the opportunity to say a dog's beloved Name. When the Dweller says his dog's name proudly, Fido will as likely as not look up at him and wiggle, releasing the pressure on the leash. This will give the Dweller a chance to straighten up and relieve his aching back. It will be a kindness.

And kindness - dear reader! Kindness these days is everything.

Vicki Hearne _Bandit: Dossier of a Dangerous Dog_ p.232; 9/11/14, 8:07 PM
rhhardin said...: Good deed should probably be Goog deed, if letter counts mean anything.; 9/11/14, 8:11 PM
chillblaine said...: I let people pet my poodle, Inara. This makes them smile, and they feel better. It costs me nothing, and Inara loves it, too. She thinks she's people.

But if someone in front of me at Starbucks tries to buy my iced coffee, I swear, I may become unglued.; 9/11/14, 8:35 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: Denial ain't a river in Egypt:

It's a thread full of white folks on Althouse.

Love this list of "nice" things y'all have done. Pretty much adds up to ZIP.

It's no wonder you don't know how it works,...; 9/11/14, 9:25 PM
Anonymous said...: Re: "
My dream thread is FullMoon and Betamax being the only posters."

I am building back my strength. The flying bats are now in the single digits.; 9/11/14, 10:20 PM
Anonymous said...: A black person in my neighborhood did me a kindness once. I live in a suburban area where the neighborhood has sidewalks but few people walk since there are no businesses within walking distance. I was walking home after work from the park-and-ride bus lot about 2 miles from my house--about a 30-minute walk. I walked past where a black man was outside in his driveway. I had to walk around one of his cars since it was parked across the sidewalk. It was winter when it gets dark early and he must not have seen me coming. After I had walked around his car I must have caught his attention because he yelled. I did not realize he was yelling at me and I just kept walking. He got in his car and caught up to me. He opened the window and said something that caused me to walk over to talk to him through the passenger window. He pointed out that he had a pistol on the passenger seat. He told me to stop messing with his car. I said OK. He was kind to me. He did not shoot me, or even pick up the gun. It did not make me think that he needed reparations.; 9/11/14, 10:50 PM
Anonymous said...: It isn't just Egypt. As far as I know, there isn't a river named 'Denial' anywhere. I think 'Denial' is just a noun, not a Proper Noun. Unless there is somebody named Denial. Then it would be a Proper Noun. Dennis Nile doesn't count, even if he abbreviates as D. Nile. And is an Egyptian. He would then be the Egyptian D. Nile, but that does not make him a river.

River Phoenix wasn't a river either, really. Nor was Billy Ocean really an ocean. Sometimes people are named after objects, but that doesn't make them that object. Pauly Shore was not continually adjacent to a body of water.

For instance. And Richard Penis is not really a penis, even if Penis is his last name and his first name can be shortened to Dick. Dick Penis could be a really nice guy, who is white and does small favors for people. Dick Penis could also be a really nice black guy who does small favors for people, too: Dick Penis could be anybody, and that means he could be just like you and me. Unless your name is Dick Penis, too, in which you are more like him then almost everyone else.

If Dick Penis had been a 18th Century explorer we might now have had a river named after him. Hey everybody, let's go rafting on the Dick Penis. Say. Now Dick Penis might say his name isn't Dick, it's Richard Woodrow Penis, but that would still not make him a river in Egypt, even if he was in Denial. And people called him Dick Woody. Dick Woody Penis. And he was a rather large sized man, perhaps, so: Big Dick Woody Penis. I'm sure he would tell you: it is Hard to be Big Dick Woody Penis. Very Hard.

Perhaps when your last name is Penis you tend to overcompensate: still, if your last name is Penis you should probably never adopt a Japanese child named Suki. When you are named Penis you have to plan ahead. No Suki Penis, thank you. Nor should you adopt a small child named Cock. That should be obvious.

Now, Dick Penis could be an Egyptian sailor, but it would be on the Nile perhaps, not Denial: again, Denial is not a river. Anywhere. But Dick Penis would then be a Seaman. Seaman Dick Penis. And his adopted sister Suki Penis. Suki Penis doesn't like the Egyptian sailors, she believes they are crass: to put it another way, Suki Penis doesn't like the taste of Seamen. That has nothing to do with the Nile.; 9/11/14, 10:58 PM
Anonymous said...: That is my Kindness for the day. Dick.; 9/11/14, 11:01 PM
retired said...: NYT=lies; 9/12/14, 12:25 AM
FullMoon said...: betamax3000 said...

Re: "
My dream thread is FullMoon and Betamax being the only posters."

I am building back my strength. The flying bats are now in the single digits.
Beta a Rolls Royce to my Yugo. I might be accidentally funny for a sentence of two. Beta can do it on purpose with a thousand voices, and that ain't easy.
I was proud to see my name mentioned with his.Couldn't wait to tell my wife.; 9/12/14, 12:39 AM
bgates said...: Love this list of "nice" things y'all have done.

****
He's making a list
checking it twice
gonna find out
who's naughty or nice

Santa Crack is coming
to demand reparations; 9/12/14, 2:48 AM
Jaq said...: I lived in Ft Lauderdale when Andrew struck. We had no power for many days. I had a generator. I let my black neighbor, to whom I had never spoken, I hadn't spoken to any of my neighbors before the storm, I was new to the complex, plug his refrigerator into my generator.

The only reason I even remember this act, which was not a big deal at all, I admit, was the absolute shock on the faces of the recipients of this small kindness that we would even do it.; 9/12/14, 5:22 AM
Bob R said...: Horrible methodology. Self-reported data from a group that was not selected randomly. I'll bet a bright new shiny dime that it will never be replicated.; 9/12/14, 5:32 AM
Jaq said...: Pretty cool how everybody got together to lynch Ray Rice at the drop of a hat.

Sure would be nice if the traditions of due process held any weight still.; 9/12/14, 5:42 AM
Guildofcannonballs said...: "But his attorneys, John Williams and Peter Fontaine, can't be similarly indulged. They're officers of the court and they have an obligation not to lay before it what is, in the objective sense, untrue. It is at best negligent and at worst fraudulent to assert that "Dr Mann did not create this depiction" when he boasts about creating it on his own CV." - Mark Steyn

Looks like my idea to punish lying fraudulent lawyers is building steam. You all better watch it.; 9/12/14, 6:19 AM
Guildofcannonballs said...: I am tired of the "you can't comment until there is a trial result you damn barbarian!" retort I see all over.

If I say Rice is guilty of beating his wife and should languish in averageness I have not taken away his rights.

Due process can still exist regardless of my civilian comments.

It takes a whole lot of stupid to claim no one should speculate or comment on a legal issue unless they have (nonexistent) total knowledge of all aspects of the case. I think these people are trying to signify they are of high morals and intelligent, yet all they signal is they don't understand the difference between being a part of the legal system (which can't prejudge and hold on to credibility) and random, anonymous comments by folks entirely separate from the system.; 9/12/14, 6:39 AM
lgv said...: OK, 10% and 3%. Really?

Let's see a replication of the study.; 9/12/14, 6:49 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: So, calling for justice all the time is a call for more anarch... Or something. Sopranos.; 9/12/14, 7:08 AM
Jaq said...: Rice's career has been deeply damaged, based on, I guess, the way he carried her out of the elevator. Had he carried her like a bride over the threshold, I guess he would have been OK.

He admitted to hitting her. He didn't beat her up. They were arguing, she began the physical aspect of the fight. He reacted with what looked like one blow.

There is room for discussion here, but apparently not.; 9/12/14, 7:26 AM
Unknown said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/12/14, 8:01 AM
Unknown said...: excuse me, elevator.; 9/12/14, 8:01 AM
Unknown said...: RR is guilty of selecting a fiancé/wife from the set of black women who think throwing a punch is an acceptable escalation of an argument. J-R is guilty of selecting a fiancé/husband who thinks the correct answer to domestic violence is more domestic violence.

One could argue that it is part of a thuggish black sub-culture in which they were raised and therefore not within their conscious control, in which case, he has now in trouble for "riding in an elevator while black."; 9/12/14, 8:11 AM
Shanna said...: Rice's career has been deeply damaged, based on, I guess, the way he carried her out of the elevator. Had he carried her like a bride over the threshold, I guess he would have been OK.

I think that aspect of it was a huge problem for him because there was no 'oh no, I hit her too hard and I am concerned for her safety' look about him. I was actually concerned the elevator was going to close on her foot or head - he showed no regard for her at all in that video. The punch was disturbing, but his reaction to it damaged him quite a bit as well.; 9/12/14, 9:36 AM
MikeR said...: Ridiculous study design. Statistical results were absurdly trivial. Conclusions completely contrary to my assumptions, and to all my life experience: People who have done kindness are more likely to do more kindness. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and this just isn't it.
Most scientific results are wrong.; 9/12/14, 9:59 AM
The Crack Emcee said...: Unknown,

"One could argue that it is part of a thuggish black sub-culture in which they were raised and therefore not within their conscious control, in which case, he has now in trouble for "riding in an elevator while black.""

So many racists, so little time,..; 9/12/14, 11:29 AM