Four studies examine the appeal of protagonists who are sometimes immoral in real-world (Studies 1 & 2) and fictional (Studies 3 & 4) settings. In both, character appeal is influenced by the combination of moral/immoral behaviors a protagonist performs and their moral/immoral behavior relative to another person’s (i.e., their moral superiority/inferiority). Additionally, Study 2 examines the effect of character behavior (moral/immoral vs. highly self-beneficial) on appeal, finding that if two protagonists are equally immoral, one who elsewise behaves morally at times is more appealing than one who is elsewise self-beneficial. Studies 3 and 4 replicate these findings using a fictional drama and fantasy premise instead of a real-world setting. Findings suggest the effect of characters’ immoral behavior on appeal varies based on the moral behavior of comparison characters regardless of the setting’s fictionality. Discussion considers whether moral superiority alters the likelihood that audiences will emulate an imperfect hero’s immoral actions.

中文翻译：

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比较道德优势对主角吸引力的影响


四项研究考察了在现实世界（研究 1 和 2）和虚构环境（研究 3 和 4）中有时不道德的主角的吸引力。在这两种情况下，角色吸引力都受到主角的道德/不道德行为以及他们相对于另一个人的道德/不道德行为（即他们的道德优越/自卑）的综合影响。此外，研究 2 还考察了角色行为（道德/不道德与高度自利）对吸引力的影响，发现如果两个主角同样不道德，则有时行为道德的人比其他时候表现自私的主角更具吸引力。有利。研究 3 和 4 使用虚构的戏剧和奇幻前提而不是现实世界的背景来复制这些发现。研究结果表明，无论背景是否虚构，角色的不道德行为对吸引力的影响都会根据比较角色的道德行为而有所不同。讨论考虑道德优越性是否会改变观众效仿不完美英雄的不道德行为的可能性。