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.
Facts
Classification
Type of Phenomenon First Described Year Connections
In Branch
Source Wikipedia: Self-licensing
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Self-licensing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-licensingQuote, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-licensing
the subconscious phenomenon whereby increased confidence and security in one's self-image...tends to make
2. PubMed, National Library of Medicine: Moral credentials and the expression of prejudice
PubMed, National Library of MedicinePubMed citation lineQuote, PubMed citation line
J Pers Soc Psychol. 2001 Jul;81(1):33-43.
Wikipedia: Self-licensing
Wikimedia FoundationIn Branch: Social Psychology, LeadQuote, In Branch: Social Psychology, Lead
Self-licensing (also moral self-licensing, moral licensing, or licensing effect) is a term used in social psychology and marketing to describe the subconscious phenomenon whereby increased confidence and security in one's self-image or self-concept tends to make that individual worry less about the consequences of subsequent immoral behavior and, therefore, more likely to make immoral choices and act immorally.
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