Deonance theory, originally developed to explain responses to injustice, has more recently been expanded in efforts to explain a broader range of moral behavior, especially those positive in nature (e.g., trustworthiness and reciprocity). These developments posit that both welfare-regarding motivations for behavior (i.e., feelings of moral obligation based on the expected impact of an act) as well as stand-alone motivations (i.e., feelings of moral obligation based on the perceived moral worthiness of an act in-and-of itself, regardless of outcome) affect the strength of deonance in motivating moral behavior. However, stand-alone (act-itself) motivations for positive behavior have been largely ignored, resulting in only a limited understanding of a potentially strong driver of moral decision-making in the workplace. By leveraging an adaptation of the “Trust Game” (Berg, Dickhaut, & McCabe, 1995), we tested the impact of stand-alone forces on motivating the reciprocation of trust, even at the expense of self-interest. Results show that in the condition where deonance—in the form of stand-alone motivation—was stronger, participants exhibited greater levels of reciprocity (and less self-interested behavior) compared to those in the condition where deonance was weaker. Additionally, both conditions exhibited greater reciprocity than the meta-analytic average for the original trust game, highlighting the influence of moral motivations on trust interactions. This study extends deonance theory by demonstrating the unique role of stand-alone motives in driving moral behavior and provides insights into how these motives can shape cooperative behavior in organizational settings.
