Moral credentialing, also called self-licensing, is the tendency for increased confidence in one's own moral self-image to make a person worry less about the consequences of behaving badly afterward, making immoral choices more likely. In simple terms, a person who has just done something they consider positive allows themselves to indulge afterward, such as someone who orders a diet soda alongside a greasy meal and subconsciously discounts the meal's negative qualities as a result.
Facts
Core ClaimMoral credentialing (the moral credential effect) occurs when a person's established track record of good, egalitarian behavior gives them an unconscious license to later make a choice that could be seen as prejudiced or immoral. 1 First Described Year Classification
Type of Phenomenon Connections
In Branch
Source Wikipedia: Self-licensing
Source Wikipedia: Self-licensing
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Self-licensing
Wikimedia FoundationPolitical opinions and racial preference section
A large subset of this effect, the moral credential effect, is a bias that occurs when a person's track record as a good egalitarian establishes in them an unconscious ethical certification, endorsement, or license that increases the likelihood of less egalitarian decisions later.
Political opinions and racial preference section, opening sentence
The self-licensing effect was examined by Monin and Miller in a 2001 study which demonstrated that when Princeton undergraduates established "non-prejudiced" credentials,
lead section, phenomenon-kind classification (moral credentialing)
A large subset of this effect, the moral credential effect, is a bias that occurs when a person's track record as a good egalitarian establishes in them an unconscious ethical certification, endorsement, or license that increases the likelihood of less egalitarian decisions later.
In Branch: Cognitive Psychology, Categories
Wikipedia article 'Self-licensing' is filed under Category:Cognitive biases.
In Branch: Moral Psychology, Categories
Wikipedia article 'Self-licensing' is filed under Category:Moral psychology.
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