Goal-related Unethical Behaviors And Meaning In Life:the Moderating Effect Of Goal State

Goal-pursuit promotes unethical behaviors,while unethical behaviors are always directed towards certain desired ends.The states of goal pursuit may provide a valuable opportunity to investigate the dynamic psychological impacts of unethical behaviors.We present three studies that examine the well-being implications of unethical behaviors in two goal states(i.e.,ongoing vs.completed),and also examine the anticipated well-being of unethical behaviors in the goal statesIn the first and the second study,we used a between-subject design and a within-subject design respectively,manipulated goal phases,and examined the association between the frequency of engaging in unethical behaviors and two well-being indices negative affect and meaning in life.In both studies,we found that meaning in life was negatively associated with unethical behaviors implemented in the process of pursuing a goal only after goal completion,but not when a goal was still actively pursued.Negative affect,however,was positively associated with unethical behavior frequency in both goal states.The third study asked participants to make stories about encountering a moral dilemma during goal pursuit,and examined the association between the moral degree of the protagonist's behavior in the story and the two well-being indices.The results of this study showed that the anticipated meaning in life after engaging in unethical behavior is inconsistent with the results of the first two studies.Anticipated meaning in life was positively associated with the moral degree of the protagonist's behavior only when a goal was still pursued,but not after goal completion.Anticipated negative affect was negatively associated with unethical behavior frequency in both goal states,which is consistent with the results of the first two studiesThe current research helps integrate studies on personal goals and unethical behaviors,and reveals a lagged effect of immoral behavior on the sense of meaning in life..These results shed light on the dynamic effects of goal-directed unethical behaviors on well-being.