1. Pro-Environmental Behavior Triggers Moral Inference, Not Licensing by Observers.
- Author
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Urban, Jan, Bahník, Štěpán, and Braun Kohlová, Markéta
- Subjects
ATTITUDES toward the environment - Abstract
Several studies have shown that moral licensing by observers makes observers more lenient in their judgment of subsequent immoral behaviors committed by a person. Environmental behavior is generally perceived as moral behavior, but it is not known whether it can trigger moral licensing by observers. In two pre-registered experimental laboratory studies (N
1 = 198, N2 = 501), we have tested whether prior engagement in pro-environmental behavior triggers licensing by observers and thus makes observers judge more positively actors' subsequent immoral behavior (Study 1) and their subsequent anti- and pro-environmental behaviors (Study 2). We found that people engaging in pro-environmental behavior were subsequently rated as more pro-environmental and moral, and their subsequent pro- and anti-environmental behaviors (but not outright immoral behavior) were rated as more moral by observers. As these effects also concern subsequent pro-environmental behaviors, they are broader than what licensing theory suggests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2023
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