The Handbook of Moral Motivation offers a contemporary and comprehensive appraisal of the age-old question about motivation to do the good and to prevent the bad. From a research point of view, this question remains open even though we present here a rich collection of new ideas and data. Two sources helped the editors to frame the chapters: first they looked at an overwhelmingly fruitful research tradition on motivation in general (attribution theory, performance theory, self-determination theory, etc.) in relationship to morality. The second source refers to the tension between moral judgment (feelings, beliefs) and the real moral act in a twofold manner: (a) as a necessary duty, and, (b) as a social but not necessary bond. In addition, the handbook utilizes the latest research from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives, wishing to suggest by this that the answer to the posed question will likely not come from one discipline alone. Furthermore, our hope is that the implicit criticism that the narrowly constructed research approach of the recent past has contributed to closing off rather than opening up interdisciplinary lines of research becomes in this volume a strong counter discourse. The editors and authors of the handbook commend the research contained within in the hope that it will contribute to better understanding of humanity as an inherently moral species.

The Handbook of Moral Motivation offers a contemporary and comprehensive appraisal of the age-old question about motivation to do the good and to prevent the bad. From a research point of view, this question remains open even though we present here a rich collection of new ideas and data. Two sources helped the editors to frame the chapters: first they looked at an overwhelmingly fruitful research tradition on motivation in general (attribution theory, performance theory, self-determination theory, etc.) in relationship to morality. The second source refers to the tension between moral judgment (feelings, beliefs) and the real moral act in a twofold manner: (a) as a necessary duty, and, (b) as a social but not necessary bond. In addition, the handbook utilizes the latest research from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives, wishing to suggest by this that the answer to the posed question will likely not come from one discipline alone. Furthermore, our hope is that the implicit criticism that the narrowly constructed research approach of the recent past has contributed to closing off rather than opening up interdisciplinary lines of research becomes in this volume a strong counter discourse. The editors and authors of the handbook commend the research contained within in the hope that it will contribute to better understanding of humanity as an inherently moral species.

Introduction; Models of Moral Motivation; PART 1: FOUNDATIONS OF MORAL MOTIVATION; I. “Why Be Moral?” A Philosophical Taxonomy of Moral Motivation; II. Moral Motivation and the Four Component Model; III. Deontic and Responsibility Judgments: An Inferential Analysis; IV. Motivation as the Readiness to Act on Moral Commitments; PART 2: MOTIVATIONAL THEORY AND MORAL MOTIVATION; I. Ultimate and Proximal (Attribution-Related) Motivational Determinants of Moral Behaviour; II. Moral Motivation from the Perspective of the Self-Determination Theory and the Person-Object Theory of Interest; III. How Different Motivational Aspects Can Affect Moral Behaviour; IV. Justice as a Moral Motive: Belief in a Just World and Justice Sensitivity as Potential Indicators of the Justice Motive; V. Temporal Construal and Moral Motivation; PART 3: MORAL SELF, IDENTITY AND MORAL MOTIVATION; I. Moral Motivation Through the Perspective of Exemplarity; II. Moral Motivation, Responsibility and the Development of the Moral Self; III. The Self and the Management of the Moral life; IV. Practical Mysticism, Self-Knowing and Moral Motivation; Terence Lovat PART 4: DEVELOPMENTAL EFFECTS, EMOTIONS AND MORAL MOTIVATION; I. Moral Motivation and the Happy Victimizer Phenomenon; II. The Development of Moral Identity and Moral Motivation in Childhood and Adolescence; III. Moral Emotion Attributions and Moral Motivation; IV. Neurobiology and Moral Mindset; V. A Simile of Moral Motivation; PART 5: GOOD AND BAD MORAL MOTIVATION; I. Moral Value Evaluation: A Neglected Motivational Concept in Externalizing Behaviour Research; II. Juvenile Delinquency: Lack of Moral Motivation or Moral Ambivalence?; III. Moral Motivation and Sports; IV. From Ethical Hostility Toward Cooperative Ethics; V. How Powerful are Moral Motivations in Environmental Protection?: An Integrated Model Framework; PART 6: MORAL MOTIVATION IN PROFESSIONS; I. Moral Motivation in Different Professions; II. Moral Motivation of MilitaryProfessionals: A Military-Philosophical Approach; III. Ethical Intentions and the Moral Motivation of Teachers; IV. Female Principals’ Moral Motivation and the Moral Atmosphere of Schools; PART 7: MORAL MOTIVATION AND MORAL EDUCATION; I. Moral Reasoning, Moral Motivation and Informed Social Reflection; II. Character and Civic Education as a Source of Moral Motivation; III. Moral Motivation and the Role of the Internship in Professional Preparation; IV. Why Moral Education is Motivating by Nature; Moral Motivation in the Light of Action Theory: Perspectives on Theoretical and Empirical Progress; Index.