When Good Leads To Bad!
Quick question: As you made your morning tea or coffee, did you use white sugar or a healthier alternative like jaggery powder, brown sugar or honey in it? Turns out, that might increase your possibility of having that cheesecake at brunch! Research says so.
And if you are shaking your head and asking "Why?" the answer is ‘moral self-licensing’ in action.
In their research titled "Moral Self-Licensing: When Being Good Frees Us to Be Bad", Anna C. Merritt, Daniel A. Effron, and Beno?t Monin explore the surprising idea that doing good deeds can sometimes make you more likely to indulge in the 'not so good' later on. This is also called moral self-licensing.
Imagine you always recycle your waste and feel that it helps the planet. You feel good about yourself, earning yourself some brownie points in your mind. Points that you can bank in your mind. This makes you more likely to indulge later in the 'not so good'. After all, you have some brownie points in your mind's bank. You may end up buying that fancy gadget you don't really need, thinking, "I deserve it after being so good!"
The research shows this happens in various situations:
Researchers are still figuring out the exact reasons for this: Do good deeds act like "moral credits" you can spend on bad behaviour? Or do they simply make you feel less bad about yourself, making it easier to do something questionable?
The theory is that good deeds make us feel secure in our moral standing. We've built up a kind of "moral credit" for ourselves. This subconsciously allows us to ease up on our standards and engage in behaviours that might otherwise give us pause.
The key takeaway? Good deeds are fantastic, but moral self-licensing is a sneaky?enemy. Building a strong ethical life requires constant awareness, even after we've done good things. So next time you're tempted to indulge after a good deed, remember: true moral strength lies in consistency, not "banking" good behaviour.
#good #bad #change #humancentredchange #work #morals