READ ME File For 'Dataset supporting thesis titled: Upon The Moral Pedestal: How Self-Image and Self-Beliefs Fuel Social Action'

Dataset DOI: 10.5258/SOTON/D3657

Date that the file was created: September, 2025

ReadMe Author: Chloe Webb, Constantine Sedikides, Nicholas Kelley, Jacob Juhl, University of Southampton

Date of data collection: October 2020 - January 2025

Funder: South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (ESRC)

This dataset supports the publication: 
Chloe Webb, Constantine Sedikides, Nicholas Kelley, Jacob Juhl. (2025)
Upon The Moral Pedestal: How Self-Image and Self-Beliefs Fuel Social Action

This is a PhD Thesis Submission (Psychology, University of Southampton).

This dataset contains 6 data files displaying data for the 6 experimental surveys in this thesis and the 6 corresponding participation information and consent forms, Licence: CC-BY’:

1. File List 
	Filename: Study_1a_Dataset
	Short description: A .csv file displaying the data collected from Study 1a, an online experimental survey. 

	Filename: Study_1b_Dataset
	Short description: A .csv file displaying the data collected from Study 1b, an online experimental survey. 

	Filename: Study_2_Dataset
	Short description: A .csv file displaying the data collected from Study 2, an online experimental survey. 

	Filename: Study_3_Dataset
	Short description: A .csv file displaying the data collected from Study 3, an online experimental survey. 

	Filename: Study_4a_Dataset
	Short description: A .csv file displaying the data collected from Study 4a, an online experimental survey. 

	Filename: Study_4b_Dataset
	Short description: A .csv file displaying the data collected from Study 4b, an online experimental survey. 

	Filename: Study_1a_PI_sheet
	Short description: A .docx file displaying the participant information sheet including the ERGO number (ethical approval) 	and the consent form for study 1a. 

	Filename: Study_1b_PI_sheet
	Short description: A .docx file displaying the participant information sheet including the ERGO number (ethical approval) 	and the consent form for study 1b. 

	Filename: Study_2_PI_sheet
	Short description: A .docx file displaying the participant information sheet including the ERGO number (ethical approval) 	and the consent form for study 2. 

	Filename: Study_3_PI_sheet
	Short description: A .docx file displaying the participant information sheet including the ERGO number (ethical approval) 	and the consent form for study 3. 

	Filename: Study_4a_PI_sheet
	Short description: A .docx file displaying the participant information sheet including the ERGO number (ethical approval) 	and the consent form for study 4a. 

	Filename: Study_4b_PI_sheet
	Short description: A .docx file displaying the participant information sheet including the ERGO number (ethical approval) 	and the consent form for study 4b. 

	Acronyms in datasets:
	MANIP = experimental manipulation
	EXP = experimental condition
	CO/CON = control condition 
	MO = moral outrage 
	RATE = moral self-enhancement ratings
	MSE = moral self-enhancement 
	PEF/PEFF = participative efficacy 
	SAI = social action intention
	SAI_B = social action behaviour
	DEMO = demographics
	FOLLOW = follow-up 
	PROB = probe questions
	MOODR = mood repair
	MAN = manipulation check

	Studies 1a, 1b, 4a and 4b all have 2 experimental conditions (moral outrage vs. control)
	Study 2 has 2 conditions (moral self-enhancement vs. moral self-diminishment) 
	Study 3 has 2 versions of the experiment which differ in the framing of scenarios (version 1 vs version 2)

	All data was collected via online questionnaires. For the 6 experimental processes, see the Appendix of the Thesis. The 	data has been cleaned i.e., participants who did not complete the full questionnaires were removed. The independent 		variables have been summed into an average score and these ‘total’ variables have been structured to be at the end of the 	dataset files for ease of analysis.