I cannot think of a word that describes the feeling of "doing the right thing". I.e. the feeling as a result of having made the right choices, of committing an act of altruism, of having made the correct decision. It needs to describe the feeling — there are lots of words for the act itself.
EDIT: Great feedback thanks. None are quite hitting it on the head so I'll go further and say that the word needs to imply no selfish motivation – the act of "doing the right thing" is implicitly done for the greater good, rather than to satisfy their own ends.
I guess the philosophical arguments about whether anything is ever truly done for non-selfish reasons will need to wait 😉
Best Answer
Different people may of course feel differently even if they do the same right things; and people will not always feel “as they should”, but instead as they will; thus, which of the following terms will be appropriate will vary with situation. I'm sure there are dozens more words that could apply that express emotions people feel when they do something that is right.
• smug, “too pleased or satisfied about something you have achieved...”
• proud, in sense “Possessed of a due sense of what one is worth or deserves” and other senses as well
• meritorious, “deserving of merit or commendation; deserving reward”
• altruistic, “Regardful of others; beneficent; unselfish”
• righteous, “moral and virtuous, suggesting sanctimonious”
• sanctimonious, in sense of feeling morally better than or superior to others
• godly, in sense “Gloriously good”
• pious, “exhibiting piety, devout, godfearing”
• honorable, “Worthy of respect; respectable”
• virtuous, “having good moral qualities and behaviour”
• seraphic, ie angelic
• right-minded, “Decent, morally upright; in moral agreement with a position”
• self-satisfied, “satisfied with oneself; especially too satisfied; smug; slightly arrogant [eg] He stood back and looked at his project with a self-satisfied expression”