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

Have you ever heard the expression “license to sin”? It is the equivalent of moral license effect, a phenomenon of social psychology that allows us to explain why we sometimes act immorally, and also we don't feel bad about it.

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

• Related article: "What is morality? Discovering the development of ethics in childhood"

Moral license effect: what is it?

The effect of moral license, in English Self-licensing (“self-license”) or Licensing effect, is also known as moral self-license or effect of the granting of licences.

It is a phenomenon of social psychology that describes the fact that a greater self-confidence and security in oneself, in the self-concept and in the self-image makes us worry less about the consequences of our immoral behavior.

Sometimes this effect has also been called a “license to sin”, 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 a correct or positive act from the ethical point of view, which would “reduce” the possibility of developing a feeling of guilt for the immoral act. It would be a way to “counteract” our bad act.

Example

Let's take a very simple example to understand it: every time we eat a hamburger with ketchup and French fries (high-calorie products), we also ordered a diet coke to accompany.

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

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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 boost to the person who manifests it.

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

Other researchers, such as Anna Merritt, along with her colleagues, believe that the fact of having carried out positive actions in the past, “frees” the person when it comes to committing immoral acts, unethical or problematic.

It is as if good acts grant that license or "permission" to act worse in the future. According to Merritt, if these positive and moral actions had not been performed, the person would not be capable of performing the immoral acts that they are committing.

effects

The moral license effect can lead to certain negative social consequences, since Being a “permissive” effect in immoral acts, it could “allow” acts of discrimination, racism, bad eating habits, etc. to occur.

Applications in day to day

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

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

What happens next? We go out into the street, we pass by a very good pastry shop, the smell of its pastries reaches us from outside... we are on a diet, we "shouldn't" go in or buy anything, but... wait!

We come from a double gym session, where we have surely burned a lot of calories. Well, nothing happens like that! We give ourselves that “license to sin”, we go into the pastry shop, we buy a cake and we eat it so richly, without remorse. Because, in total, we make up for it with the previous "good deed", that is, the hours in the gym. This is how the moral license effect occurs.

And so we could find a multitude of examples on a day-to-day basis... also in the workplace, in more important decisions, in the emotional sphere and interpersonal relationships (for example, giving a gift to our partner and then cheating on them with another), etc

By way of reflection: a form of self-deception?

An interesting reflection that arises around this effect is the one that links it to a form of self-deception. Thus, following the previous example (the gym and the pastry shop), 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 "justifies itself" and gives itself that license to act badly. Each one acts as he wants, as he knows or how he can, nothing to say….

But, can we justify that decision by the fact of having acted well in the past? Probably not. What does one thing has to do with the other? Nothing... we act as we act because we want to. That later we justify things as we see fit is another story...

So, the moral license effect is a phenomenon that 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 get deeper, also our conscience) gives us a certain trick, a certain margin when it comes to sin…

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

Bibliographic 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 empowerment: when being good frees us to be bad. Personality and Social Psychology Compass, 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.