Good Feelings For Bad Deeds - Risky Contribution

This research seeks to understand how positive emotions, specifically feelings of gratitude, help direct the responses of beneficiaries to unethical behavior of others. Drawing on work showing that individuals react positively to the unethical behavior of others, particularly that which benefits them directly, this research seeks to understand why gratitude may arise from others unethical actions. The project seeks to understand why beneficiaries may feel gratitude for the unethical behavior of others, what are the boundaries of these reactions, and what sort of unethical behavior invites or suppresses gratitude. Finally, this work seeks to understand how gratitude is uniquely linked to beneficiaries positive reinforcement, helping to explain how these behaviors may be reinforced by audiences who benefit from them.