Why do humans fulfill moral obligations? Tomasello persuasively argues that humans’ unusual ability to form a sense of interdependence with others, therefore identifying with the group and its norms, allows children to develop a sense of obligation to follow cooperative social norms. Tomasello defines these obligations primarily in terms of their “coercive” power, which force us to subordinate selfish desires to the demands of the group, supported by social pressure and self-punishing guilt. Curiously (given Tomasello's groundbreaking work, e.g., Tomasello Reference Tomasello2016b; Tomasello et al. Reference Tomasello, Kruger and Ratner1993), culture plays a small role in this article, beyond providing a group identity and, presumably, some of the content of the norms that become obligatory. In this commentary, I argue for the importance of studying the positive experience of fulfilling obligations, and the role of culture in enhancing it, to understanding why humans adopt moral behavior.

In our ratcheted up societies (Tomasello et al. Reference Tomasello, Kruger and Ratner1993), culture is a key element in creating prosocial norms and making it likely that we will fulfill them. Culture determines the content of moral obligations (e.g., Miller & Bersoff Reference Miller and Bersoff1992; Miller et al. Reference Miller, Bersoff and Harwood1990); consists of complex systems of beliefs and practices that uphold and spread cooperation (e.g., Norenzayan et al. Reference Norenzayan, Shariff, Gervais, Willard, McNamara, Slingerland and Henrich2016); changes the experience of fulfilling one's obligations (Buchtel et al. Reference Buchtel, Ng, Norenzayan, Heine, Biesanz, Chen, Bond, Peng and Su2018); and perhaps even changes whether or not absolute impermissibility is a central aspect of morality (Buchtel et al. Reference Buchtel, Guan, Peng, Su, Sang, Chen and Bond2015). Although cultural influences necessarily build on children's initial propensities to learn social norms, the content of our particular normative cultures has enormous influence over whether and why we follow those norms. To understand why humans fulfill obligations and responsibilities to one another, we must study how specific cultures sustain those obligations.

For example, even moral impermissibility may be a more central feature of Western concepts of morality than Chinese ones, suggesting that the “coercive” nature of moral obligation might not be the key universal human feature to be explained (Anscombe Reference Anscombe1958). In our study of Chinese lay prototypes of immoral behaviors, we found a puzzling disconnect between what was acknowledged to be most harmful (e.g., killing people) and what was called immoral; the Chinese word for immoral was most applicable to behaviors that were particularly uncultured or uncivilized, such as spitting in the street or disrespecting parents, and less applicable to criminally harmful behaviors such as stealing or killing (Buchtel et al. Reference Buchtel, Guan, Peng, Su, Sang, Chen and Bond2015). This suggests that the categories of antisocial behaviors are differently organized in Confucian heritage cultures than they are in Western heritage cultures, where instead behaviors have been divided into those that are impermissible (very harmful) versus not (Buchtel et al. Reference Buchtel, Guan, Peng, Su, Sang, Chen and Bond2015). Historically, morality in China has been based on the teaching of Confucian virtues such as benevolence and propriety, while criminals – presumably beyond the motivational reach of virtue – were dealt with through the criminal law system (Bakken Reference Bakken2000). Rather than emphasizing moral absolutism, Confucianism is instead described as a form of virtue ethics (Angle & Slote Reference Angle and Slote2013), according to which morality guides character development so that the virtuous can respond appropriately to different situations.

Similarly, conflict between the self and group needs is a classically Western concern, but not a central theme in Confucianism (Buchtel et al. Reference Buchtel, Ng, Norenzayan, Heine, Biesanz, Chen, Bond, Peng and Su2018). Instead, the obligations, duties, and responsibilities associated with one's social role are perceived as an opportunity to realize and ennoble the self (Shun & Wong Reference Shun, Wong, Shun and Wong2004). Consider the experience of not breaking one's obligations – but meeting them. What allows us to feel joy by being a moral person? We've found that adult participants who are more influenced by Confucian heritage cultures (vs. Western heritage cultures) are more likely to associate an obligation to help others with positive emotions and also with a sense of personal agency (Buchtel et al. Reference Buchtel, Ng, Norenzayan, Heine, Biesanz, Chen, Bond, Peng and Su2018; see also Miller et al. Reference Miller, Das and Chakravarthy2011; Tripathi et al. Reference Tripathi, Cervone and Savani2018). It is likely that Confucian heritage moral cultures strengthen the experience of intra- and interpersonal rewards for responding to what others think one ought to do. This current cultural difference has strong parallels with philosophical differences between these two heritage cultures: A Confucian admiration of those who fulfill obligations sincerely (detailed in contemporary philosophers’ discussion of Confucian role ethics, e.g., Ames & Rosemont Reference Ames, Rosemont and Olberding2014), versus a Kantian concern about avoiding the coercive nature of such obligations. However, along with the cultural difference, we also found surprisingly strong evidence that Euro-Canadians also experienced both positive emotion and a sense of personal agency when they felt more obligation to help, suggesting that fulfilling duties may be universally rewarding.

The role of cultural evolution in the creation of cooperative humans and societies is a new and burgeoning research area (e.g., Norenzayan et al. Reference Norenzayan, Shariff, Gervais, Willard, McNamara, Slingerland and Henrich2016). Like the focus on guilt and punishment in the target article, much of the focus in cultural evolution has been on how the sanctioning of norm violators motivates cooperation and obedience to social norms. Yet, the above research suggests that following norms generates a sense of agency and positive emotions (Buchtel et al. Reference Buchtel, Ng, Norenzayan, Heine, Biesanz, Chen, Bond, Peng and Su2018). Similarly, the pursuit of eudaemonic activities such as prosocial behavior has been linked to reward responses and increased well-being (e.g., Steger et al. Reference Steger, Kashdan and Oishi2008; Telzer et al. Reference Telzer, Fuligni, Lieberman and Galván2014). Although moral behavior is undoubtedly encouraged by punishment for norm violations, we also need to know more about how cultures enhance the rewards experienced when we meet prosocial norms.

Culture is a crucial feature of what enables humans to willingly follow social norms. The psychological or invisible cultural environment – values, philosophies, religion – has, because of humans’ unique ability to create and learn culture, become a vital tool in our historically endowed arsenal of survival mechanisms. Assuming that the human ability to create and absorb culture is a key feature of human evolutionary success, then knowledge of how different cultures encourage prosocial behavior is essential to understanding how human children develop a propensity towards goodness.