What Makes Characters' Bad Behaviors Acceptable? The Effects of Character Motivation and Outcome on Perceptions, Character Liking, and Moral Disengagement

Many characters in entertainment content behave in morally questionable ways at least some of the time. However, the negative effects of those behaviors on individuals' judgments of the character may be diminished in some instances. This study examined the effects of character motivation and outcome in a written narrative on character perceptions and moral disengagement. The findings of a 2 (motivation: altruistic, selfish)x2 (outcome: positive, negative) experiment (N=123) revealed that both motivation and outcome affect perceptions of the character's positive and negative attributes, character liking, and moral disengagement. Specifically, altruistic motivations and positive outcomes led to more favorable perceptions of a character's attributes, greater character liking, and more justification of the character's actions. Furthermore, moral disengagement mediated the effects of motivation and outcome on perceptions of characters' positive and negative attributes, and in turn positive attributes mediated the effect of moral disengagement on character liking. Implications for future entertainment research are discussed.