Moral Licensing

Moral licensing is a phenomenon in which a person who has recently performed a good or virtuous act becomes subsequently more likely to act in a less ethical, generous or otherwise less desirable way, as if the earlier good deed had purchased permission to behave worse afterward. Researchers explain the effect as resulting from a shift in a person's moral self-concept: having already established credentials as a good or moral person through the earlier act, the felt need to prove it again through a later action is reduced. The effect has been demonstrated across behaviors including charitable giving, prejudiced judgments and environmentally friendly consumer choices.