Nazis by Kraut: A Playful Application of Moral Self-Licensing

Abstract

Doing something moral gives one a license to do something immoral. This form of moral compensation is called "moral self-licensing". Interestingly, the moral behavior can take place in another domain than the subsequent immoral behavior. For example, buying eco-friendly products gives one a license to steal. This article is based on the idea that a healthy diet has a moral dimension. As a consequence, consuming a healthy product should give one a license for immoral behavior. This research supports this hypothesis on a playful study. This study shows that drinking sauerkraut juice contributes to a stronger support of Nazi-esque right wing ideology than drinking either nothing or a less-healthy beverage (Nestea).

(Not) Eating for the environment: The impact of restaurant menu design on vegetarian food choice

“…However, it is also possible that nudging pro-environmental food choice may backfire for the frequent vegetarian eaters and thus encourage them to order meat or fish instead. This prediction is in line with previous research on moral licensing, according to which undertaking a behavior that is considered healthy or morally desirable can lead one to subsequently make a less healthy or morally desirable choice (Blanken, van de Ven, & Zeelenberg, 2015;Chiou, Yang, & Wan, 2011;Fishbach & Dhar, 2005;Messner & Brügger, 2015). In the context of food consumption, eating vegetarian meals is usually perceived as morally superior and healthier compared to eating non-vegetarian foods (Fox & Ward, 2008;Ruby & Heine, 2011).…”

“…Indeed, what may have been the mechanism behind the present finding that the interventions we created decreased vegetarian food choice for frequent vegetarian eaters? One possible explanation concerns the phenomenon known as moral licensing, according to which undertaking an action that is perceived as healthy or morally desirable can influence a person to subsequently make a less healthy or morally desirable choice (Chiou et al, 2011;Fishbach & Dhar, 2005;Messner & Brügger, 2015). When it comes to eating, vegetarian foods are usually perceived as morally superior or healthier relative to other foods (Radnitz, Beezhold, & DiMatteo, 2015;Ruby & Heine, 2011), and our exploratory analyses suggest that this was also the case in the present experiment, given that participants perceived vegetables as healthier than meat or fish.…”

What Is the Research Impact of (The Ideal Of) Scientific Truth?

“…Instead, what we then get is activism masquerading as research in the pursuit of some supposed 'greater good'. Furthermore, the moral self-licensing we all engage within (see Messner & Brügger, 2015) then inadvertently justifies antagonising any means that potentially might contradict the experiment/basic/applied/research/ assessment/agenda/career goal, as the distinction between these categories has lost their meaning.…”

Development of a scale to measure reasons for eating less healthily after exercise: the compensatory unhealthy eating scale

“…viewing foods as ‘good’ foods and ‘bad’ foods), the Moral Licensing explanation might be applicable to compensatory eating after exercise (cf. Messner & Brügger, 2015 ). That is, exercise (a ‘good’ behaviour) might provide moral grounds for future indulgence (a ‘bad’ behaviour).…”