You can further distinguish between ethics, the law, consequentialism, empathy, and your own personal sense of morality (what your intuition says, based on vibes).
Any combination of these is valid motivation. Some people are mostly motivated by the long arm of the law, some by more subjective feelings. But there's many other ways that people can use to justify things to themselves.
Strictly speaking, that's ethics. Morals are more subjective.
You can further distinguish between ethics, the law, consequentialism, empathy, and your own personal sense of morality (what your intuition says, based on vibes).
Any combination of these is valid motivation. Some people are mostly motivated by the long arm of the law, some by more subjective feelings. But there's many other ways that people can use to justify things to themselves.