Facing the future: intended moral acts evoke greater elevation than completed ones

Elevation is an uplifting feeling evoked by witnessing other’s moral beauty. Prior studies explored the impact of different aspects of completed moral acts on elevation. However, whether intended or completed moral acts have a greater impact on observers’ elevation remains unclear. We hypothesize that intended moral acts evoke greater elevation in observers than completed ones. A total of 437 Chinese participants rated their elevation after reading manipulated descriptions about actors’ moral acts in three online experiments. The results consistently supported our hypothesis. Moreover, the results of moderated mediation models showed that actors’ moral potential mediated the effect of moral acts on elevation. Female observers exhibited stronger responses to intended moral acts than male observers. In addition, observers’ elevation influenced their willingness to cooperate with the actors. Implications for elevation elicitation and future directions are discussed.