Suffering: Hospice

This study aims to examine the robustness of the happiness halo, where a happy person is judged morally better than an unhappy person. Does happiness provide a boost to evaluations of moral goodness, even when the participant is given information that clearly explains the source of the target's unhappiness? Participants will be presented with a form, supposedly completed by the target approximately two weeks after entering hospice care. The forms are identical except in one condition the target reports being happy, whereas in the other condition, the target reports being unhappy. They also will answer the likelihood of the target doing a prosocial behavior (small donation to charity).