How do we react when our romantic partners, friends, or family members behave unethically? When close others misbehave, it generates a powerful conflict between observers' moral values and their cherished relationships. Previous research has almost exclusively studied moral perception in a social vacuum by investigating responses to the transgressions of strangers; therefore, little is known about how these responses unfold in the context of intimate bonds. Here we systematically examine the impact of having a close relationship with a transgressor on perceptions of that transgressor, the relationship, and the self. We predicted less negative emotional and evaluative responses to transgressors and smaller consequences for the relationship, yet more negative emotional and evaluative responses to the self when close others, compared with strangers or acquaintances, transgress. Participants read hypothetical wrongdoings (Study 1), recalled unethical events (Study 2), reported daily transgressions (Study 3; preregistered), and learned of novel immoral behavior (Study 4) committed by close others or comparison groups. Participants reported less other-critical emotions, more lenient moral evaluations, a reduced desire to punish/criticize, and a smaller impact on the relationship (compared with acquaintances) when close others versus strangers or acquaintances transgressed. Simultaneously, participants reported more self-conscious emotions and showed some evidence of harsher moral self-evaluations when close others transgressed. Underlying mechanisms of this process were examined. Our findings demonstrate the deep ambivalence in reacting to close others' unethical behaviors, revealing a surprising irony-in protecting close others, the self may bear some of the burden of their misbehavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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当我们爱的人行为不端时：探索亲密关系中的道德过程。

当我们的恋人、朋友或家人的行为不道德时，我们会如何反应？当亲密的其他人行为不端时，它会在观察者的道德价值观和他们所珍视的关系之间产生强烈的冲突。以前的研究几乎完全是通过调查对陌生人违法行为的反应来研究社会真空中的道德感知。因此，对于这些反应如何在亲密关系的背景下展开，我们知之甚少。在这里，我们系统地研究了与违规者保持密切关系对违规者、关系和自我的看法的影响。我们预测对违规者的负面情绪和评价反应较少，对关系的影响较小，但在与他人亲近时，对自我的消极情绪和评价反应会更多，与陌生人或熟人相比，越界。参与者阅读假设的错误行为（研究 1），回忆不道德的事件（研究 2），报告日常违规行为（研究 3；预先登记），并了解亲密的其他人或对照组犯下的新的不道德行为（研究 4）。当亲近的人与陌生人或熟人越轨时，参与者报告的其他批评情绪较少，道德评价更宽松，惩罚/批评的欲望减少，并且对关系的影响较小（与熟人相比）。同时，参与者报告了更多的自我意识情绪，并表现出一些证据表明，当亲密的其他人违反时，他们会进行更严厉的道德自我评价。研究了这一过程的潜在机制。我们的研究结果表明，在对亲近他人的反应中存在深刻的矛盾心理 不道德的行为，揭示了一个令人惊讶的讽刺——在保护亲密的他人时，自我可能会为他们的不当行为承担一些负担。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2022 APA，保留所有权利）。