scholarly journals MORAL CLEANSING AND MORAL LICENSES: EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Brañas-Garza ◽  
Marisa Bucheli ◽  
María Paz Espinosa ◽  
Teresa García-Muñoz

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).

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 232-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Blanken ◽  
Niels van de Ven ◽  
Marcel Zeelenberg ◽  
Marijn H.C. Meijers

The present work includes three attempts to replicate the moral licensing effect by Sachdeva, Iliev, and Medin (2009) . The original authors found that writing about positive traits led to lower donations to charity and decreased cooperative behavior. The first two replication attempts (student samples, 95% power based on the initial findings, N Study1 = 105, N Study2 = 150), did not confirm the original results. The third replication attempt (MTurk sample, 95% power based on a meta-analysis on self-licensing, N = 940) also did not confirm the moral licensing effect. We conclude that (1) there is as of yet no strong support for the moral self-regulation framework proposed in Sachdeva et al. (2009) (2) the manipulation used is unlikely to induce moral licensing, and (3) studies on moral licensing should use a neutral control condition.


2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon B. Schmidt ◽  
Richard P. DeShon ◽  
Robert G. Lord

2021 ◽  
pp. 095679762097055
Author(s):  
Catriona Silvey ◽  
Özlem Ece Demir-Lira ◽  
Susan Goldin-Meadow ◽  
Stephen W. Raudenbush

Early linguistic input is a powerful predictor of children’s language outcomes. We investigated two novel questions about this relationship: Does the impact of language input vary over time, and does the impact of time-varying language input on child outcomes differ for vocabulary and for syntax? Using methods from epidemiology to account for baseline and time-varying confounding, we predicted 64 children’s outcomes on standardized tests of vocabulary and syntax in kindergarten from their parents’ vocabulary and syntax input when the children were 14 and 30 months old. For vocabulary, children whose parents provided diverse input earlier as well as later in development were predicted to have the highest outcomes. For syntax, children whose parents’ input substantially increased in syntactic complexity over time were predicted to have the highest outcomes. The optimal sequence of parents’ linguistic input for supporting children’s language acquisition thus varies for vocabulary and for syntax.


Dialogue ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-447
Author(s):  
MILLICENT CHURCHER

This paper critiques Jesse Prinz’s rejection of Adam Smith’s model of impartial spectatorship as a viable corrective to empathic bias. I argue that Prinz’s case is unconvincing, insofar as it rests on an underdeveloped account of Smith’s view of critical self-regulation. By presenting a more detailed and attentive reading of Smithean impartial spectatorship, and exploring Smith’s compelling account of structural supports for sympathetic engagement, this paper demonstrates how Smith’s work is able to constructively engage with contemporary concerns regarding empathy’s role in guiding moral behaviour.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-74
Author(s):  
Josette Marie Steel ◽  

Abstract: While there is a great deal of research into various Energy Psychology (EP) methods, the subjective experience of the client has not yet been investigated. In this self-study, the Tapas Acupressure Technique (TAT) Protocol for Stressful Events was used for 10 sessions over a period of 3 weeks to explore whether TAT would be an effective tool for managing stress and increasing feelings of self-worth. The Sorensen Self-Esteem Test was used as a baseline self-esteem pre and post test to measure self-worth and positive and negative emotional states. A list of 10 free association words was collected before and after each treatment session and at the end of the treatment period. Quantitative analysis showed an increase in overall sense of self-worth and an increase in positive states. Negative and positive states varied throughout the treatment period while self-worth increased, suggesting that TAT enabled increased emotional self-regulation when dealing with stressful situations. Scores on the Sorensen Self-Esteem Test improved by 28% on follow-up. A qualitative analysis of the free association words suggests an increase in feelings of balance and calm and a decrease in negative self-image. Keywords: TAT, Tapas Acupressure Technique, energy psychology, protocol for stressful events, self-esteem, Sorensen Self-Esteem Test, stress management, stress reduction


Author(s):  
Daniela Stockmann

In public discussions of social media governance, corporations such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter are often first and foremost seen as providers of information and as media. However, social media companies’ business models aim to generate income by attracting a large, growing, and active user base and by collecting and monetising personal data. This has generated concerns with respect to hate speech, disinformation, and privacy. Over time, there has been a trend away from industry self-regulation towards a strengthening of national-level and European Union-level regulations, that is, from soft to hard law. Hence, moving beyond general corporate governance codes, governments are imposing more targeted regulations that recognise these firms’ profound societal importance and wide-reaching influence. The chapter reviews these developments, highlighting the tension between companies’ commercial and public rationales, critiques the current industry-specific regulatory framework, and raises potential policy alternatives.


2021 ◽  
pp. 263-285
Author(s):  
Jack Bauer

This chapter examines how the transformative self facilitates long-term self-regulation. Most research on self-regulation targets the immediate moment (referred to here as micro self-regulation) or personal events that last weeks or months (meso self-regulation). In contrast, the transformative self functions as a tool for macro self-regulation in one’s attempt to shape one’s life over time (for which evolving life stories are especially well suited). Hedonic, transformative self-regulation comes in the forms of realistic optimism, self-improvement motivation, cybernetic feedback motives, intentional self-development, and the flexible pursuit of goals. Eudaimonic, transformative self-regulation is especially helpful for adaptation to life’s difficulties and is found in dual-process models of adaptation to loss and potential trauma. These dual processes aim to regulate and balance both affect and meaning-making. The quiet ego represents a synthesis of these forms of self-regulation, balancing detached awareness (e.g., mindfulness), inclusive identity (e.g., interdependence, compassion), perspective-taking (e.g., value perspectivity), and growth-mindedness.


2020 ◽  
pp. 104225872092989
Author(s):  
Maike Lex ◽  
Michael M. Gielnik ◽  
Matthias Spitzmuller ◽  
Gabriel H. Jacob ◽  
Michael Frese

We adopt a self-regulation perspective to present a model of the development of passion in entrepreneurship. We argue that entrepreneurial self-efficacy and performance influence the two components of passion—positive feelings and identity centrality—over shorter and longer time horizons, respectively. Furthermore, we argue for the recursive effects of passion on entrepreneurial self-efficacy and performance. Three longitudinal studies with measurements over three weeks ( n = 65) and three months ( n = 150 and n = 180) support our hypotheses. We contribute to a theory of passion that integrates the different time horizons over which the components of passion change.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shinsuke Ikeda ◽  
Takeshi Ojima

Abstract We propose a dynamic model of consumer behavior under limited self-control, emphasizing the fatiguing nature of self-regulation. The temptation theory is extended in a two-good setting with tempting and non-tempting goods, where self-regulation in moderating tempting good consumption depreciates mental capital (willpower). The resulting non-homothetic feature of consumer preferences helps describe self-regulatory behavior in such an empirically relevant way that it depends on the nature of the tempting good (luxury or inferior) and on consumer wealth. First, richer consumers are more self-indulgent and impatient in consuming tempting luxuries, whereas less so in consuming tempting inferiors: impatience is marginally increasing in wealth for jewels whereas decreasing for junk foods. Second, self-control fatigue weakens implied patience for tempting good consumption. Third, upon a stressful shock, with the resulting increasing scarcity of willpower, self-indulgence and impatience for tempting good consumption increase over time. Fourth, naive consumers, unaware of the willpower constraint, display weaker self-control in the long run than sophisticated consumers in the same wealth class would do.


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