Do Sustainability Labels Make Us More Negligent? Rebound and Moral Licensing Effects in the Clothing Industry

MORAL CLEANSING AND MORAL LICENSES: EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE

Economics and Philosophy ◽

10.1017/s0266267113000199 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 199-212 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Pablo Brañas-Garza ◽

Marisa Bucheli ◽

María Paz Espinosa ◽

Teresa García-Muñoz

Keyword(s):

Self Regulation ◽

Optimal Level ◽

Regular Pattern ◽

Moral Self ◽

Optimal Sequence ◽

Moral Licensing ◽

Self Worth ◽

Moral Behaviour ◽

Licensing Effects ◽

Over Time

Research on moral cleansing and moral self-licensing has introduced dynamic considerations in the theory of moral behaviour. Past bad actions trigger negative feelings that make people more likely to engage in future moral behaviour to offset them. Symmetrically, past good deeds favour a positive self-perception that creates licensing effects, leading people to engage in behaviour that is less likely to be moral. In short, a deviation from a ‘normal state of being’ is balanced with a subsequent action that compensates the prior behaviour. We model the decision of an individual trying to reach the optimal level of moral self-worth over time and show that under certain conditions the optimal sequence of actions follows a regular pattern which combines good and bad actions. To explore this phenomenon we conduct an economic experiment where subjects play a sequence of giving decisions (dictator games). We find that donations in the previous period affect present decisions and the sign is negative: participants' behaviour in every round is negatively correlated to what they did in the past. Hence donations over time seem to be the result of a regular pattern of self-regulation: moral licensing (being selfish after altruistic) and cleansing (altruistic after selfish).

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Has the evidence for moral licensing been inflated by publication bias?

Meta-Psychology ◽

10.15626/mp.2018.878 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Niclas Kuper ◽

Antonia Bott

Keyword(s):

Publication Bias ◽

Effect Size ◽

Empirical Work ◽

True Effect Size ◽

Replication Studies ◽

Immoral Behavior ◽

Moral Licensing ◽

Self Image ◽

Meta Analyses ◽

Licensing Effects

Moral licensing describes the phenomenon that displaying moral behavior can lead to subsequent immoral behavior. This is usually explained by the idea that an initial moral act affirms the moral self-image and hence licenses subsequent immoral acts. Previous meta-analyses on moral licensing indicate significant overall effects of d> .30. However, several large replication studies have either not found the effect or reported a substantially smaller effect size. The present article investigated whether this can be attributed to publication bias. Datasets from two previous meta-analyses on moral licensing were compared and when necessary modified. The larger dataset was used for the present analyses. Using PET-PEESE and a three-parameter-selection-model (3-PSM), we found some evidence for publication bias. The adjusted effect sizes were reduced to d= -0.05, p= .64 and d= 0.18, p= .002, respectively. While the first estimate could be an underestimation, we also found indications that the second estimate might exaggerate the true effect size. It is concluded that both the evidence for and the size of moral licensing effects has likely been inflated by publication bias. Furthermore, our findings indicate that culture moderates the moral licensing effect. Recommendations for future meta-analytic and empirical work are given. Subsequent studies on moral licensing should be adequately powered and ideally pre-registered.

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Has the evidence for moral licensing been inflated by publication bias?

10.31234/osf.io/93q5j ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Niclas Kuper ◽

Antonia Bott

Keyword(s):

Publication Bias ◽

Effect Size ◽

Empirical Work ◽

True Effect Size ◽

Replication Studies ◽

Immoral Behavior ◽

Moral Licensing ◽

Self Image ◽

Meta Analyses ◽

Licensing Effects

Moral licensing describes the phenomenon that displaying moral behavior can lead to subsequent immoral behavior. This is usually explained by the idea that an initial moral act affirms the moral self-image and hence licenses subsequent immoral acts. Previous meta-analyses on moral licensing indicate significant overall effects of d > .30. However, several large replication studies have either not found the effect or reported a substantially smaller effect size. The present article investigated whether this can be attributed to publication bias. Datasets from two previous meta-analyses on moral licensing were compared and when necessary modified. The larger dataset was used for the present analyses. Using PET-PEESE and a three-parameter-selection-model (3-PSM), we found some evidence for publication bias. The adjusted effect sizes were reduced to d = -.05, p = .64 and d = .18, p = .002, respectively. While the first estimate could be an underestimation, we also found indications that the second estimate might exaggerate the true effect size. It is concluded that both the evidence for and the size of moral licensing effects has likely been inflated by publication bias. Furthermore, our findings indicate that culture moderates the moral licensing effect. Recommendations for future meta-analytic and empirical work are given. Subsequent studies on moral licensing should be adequately powered and ideally pre-registered.

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