Moral license effect: what it is and how it affects our actions

The moral license effect could be one of the factors that leads us to not feel guilty.

Have you ever heard the expression "license to sin"? It is the equivalent of the moral license effecta phenomenon of social psychology that helps explain why we sometimes act immorally, and why we don't feel bad about it.

In this article we explain exactly what this concept consists of, according to various researchers, and what effects it can have. We also mention some examples of it, and finally, by way of reflection, we analyze whether this effect is really a form of self-deception or self-justification and why.

Moral license effect: what does it consist of?

The moral licensing effect, also known as self-licensing or licensing effect, is also known as moral self-licensing or licensing effect.is also known as moral self-licensing or licensing effect.

It is a phenomenon in social psychology that describes the fact that greater self-confidence and self-assurance, self-concept and self-image makes us less concerned about the consequences of immoral behavior that we engage in..

This effect has sometimes also been referred to as the "license to sin" effect, and we explain why.

According to the moral license effect, "we would have license to act immorally" (it is a self-granted license, of course), as a consequence of feeling so sure of ourselves.

The moral license effect, however, also has other meanings; this moral laxity would occur because, just before performing an immoral act (or next to it), we perform an ethically correct or positive act, which would would "reduce" the possibility of developing a sense of guilt for the immoral act.. It would be a way of "counteracting" our bad act.

Example

Let's take a very simple example to understand it: every time we have a hamburger with ketchup and fries (very caloric products), we also order a Diet Coke to go with it.

This addition of coca-cola "counteracts", for us, the negative consequences of having eaten so much junk food, because we "compensate" with the diet coke. From a rational point of view, this can be quite absurd, but through the moral license effect, we give ourselves that license to act "wrong" or immorally.

Definitions and descriptions.

The moral license effect has been defined and described by different authors and researchers. Two of them, Uzma Khan and Ravi Dhar, defined the phenomenon as an effect that occurs unconsciously, and that gives a moral impulse to the person who manifests it. to the person who manifests it.

Although it may be a bit difficult to understand, or even irrational, this "moral impulse" would cause the person to increase his or her preferences for certain types of immoral action. According to these authors, moreover, in the licensing effect, sometimes having a more positive self-concept can increase the likelihood of committing immoral acts.

Other researchers, such as Anna Merritt and her colleagues, for example, believe that the fact of having carried out positive actions in the past, "liberates" the person from committing immoral, unethical or problematic acts.unethical or problematic acts.

It is as if good acts grant license or "permission" to act worse in the future. According to Merritt, if such positive and moral actions had not been performed, the person would not be able to perform the immoral acts he is committing.

Effects

The moral license effect can have certain negative social consequences, since it is a "permissive" effect. being a "permissive" effect on immoral acts, it could "allow" acts of discrimination, racism, bad eating habits, etc. to occur.

Everyday applications

We have seen a simple example of the moral licensing effect (the example of Diet Coke and the hamburger), but there are many more that can help us to better understand this concept..

Continuing with the example of eating habits and health, we can imagine another situation that illustrates this phenomenon. We have gone to the gym and have done two classes in a row. We feel good about ourselves.

What happens next? We go out on the street, we pass by a great bakery, the smell of their pastries reaches us from outside... we are on a diet, we "shouldn't" go in and buy anything, but... wait!

We have just come from a double gym session, where we have surely burned a lot of calories, so nothing happens! We give ourselves that "license to sin", we go into the bakery, we buy a cake and we eat it so richly, without remorse. Because, after all, we make up for it with the previous "good deed", that is, the hours at the gym. This is how the moral license effect is produced.

And so we could find many examples in everyday life... also in the work sphere, in more important decisions, in the emotional sphere and in interpersonal relationships (for example, giving a gift to our partner and then cheating on him/her with another), etc.

On reflection: a form of self-deception?

An interesting reflection that arises around this effect is the one that links it with a form of self-deception.. Thus, as a result of the previous example (the gym and the bakery), the following question may arise... is the moral license effect a form of self-deception? Well, probably, and on many occasions, yes. Through this effect, our mind "self-justifies" itself and gives itself license to act badly. Everyone acts as he/she wants, as he/she knows or as he/she can, nothing to say.....

But, can we justify this decision by the fact that we have acted well in the past? Surely not. What has one thing to do with the other? Nothing... we act the way we act because we want to. Whether we later justify things as it suits us is another story....

So, the moral license effect is a phenomenon that can help us to understand why we often can help us understand why we often commit immoral acts without feeling bad about it. (logically, these acts can be on a small scale or on a large scale...), and it is that our mind (and if we go deeper, also our conscience) gives us some leeway when it comes to sin...

This makes us feel calmer, with less remorse, and more likely to act "wrong" (immorally) again in the future.

Bibliographical references:

• Khan, U. and Dhar, R. (2006). Licensing effect in consumer choice. Journal of Marketing Research, 43(2): 259-266.
• Kuo, I. (2006). Licensing effect' seen in dieting, charity, hiring. Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
• Merritt, A.C., Effron, D.A. and Monin, B. (2010). Moral authorization: when being good frees us to be bad. Compass of social and personality psychology, 4(5): 344-357.
• Sachdeva, S., Iliev, R and Medin, D. L. (2009). Sinning saints and saintly sinners: The paradox of moral self-regulation. Psychological Science, 20(4): 523-528.
• Welch, A. (2012). License to sin. Research and Science. Mind and Brain, 57.