Feeling Good or Feeling Right: Sustaining Negative Emotion After Exposure to Human Suffering

Although hedonic principles of emotion regulation suggest that people wish to feel good, the current research demonstrates that sometimes feeling good just seems wrong. Specifically, the authors argue that, immediately after viewing moralized content such as human suffering, consumers believe that it is morally appropriate to sustain negative emotions (Study 1). Thus, after exposure to content related to human suffering (vs. other negative content), consumers view subsequent mood-sustaining consumption as morally appropriate and hedonic consumption as morally inappropriate (Study 2). Consequently, they avoid repairing their emotions through hedonic consumption because of their preference to engage in morally appropriate behavior (Studies 3 through 4b); this is particularly true for individuals who view themselves as more moral (Study 4b). These effects are mitigated when the hedonic consumption is morally relevant (Study 4a), rather than prototypically frivolous. This research offers clear prescriptions to marketers about when and when not to offer hedonic consumption as mood repair. By allowing people to pay respect to suffering victims, marketers can give consumers needed space to feel their compassionate emotions.