The dark side of gratitude: Gratitude could lead to moral violation

Abstract Past research has provided abundant evidence for the positive impacts of gratitude on individuals and society. However, based on the social function of gratitude, which is proposed to be personal relationship promotion, some negative effects of gratitude may exist, especially when the needs of personal relationship promotion and moral norm obedience are in conflict. The current studies investigated whether gratitude leads individuals to violate moral norms for their benefactors and characterized its underlying psychological mechanisms. Scenario-based and laboratory-based results from a series of six studies (N = 663) showed that gratitude increases individuals' moral violations (lying and lowering due punishment) when the violation protects their benefactors from harm. Serial multiple mediation analyses and computational models further demonstrated the crucial roles of relationship-building tendency towards the benefactors and harm avoidance on behalf of the benefactors in the gratitude-induced moral violation. These findings deepen the understanding of gratitude and gratitude-induced behaviour.