Moral credential effect
Also known as Moral licensing
The moral credential effect, also called moral licensing, is feeling freer to behave badly after doing something good or proving you are a good person. Past good deeds become a kind of credit that seems to excuse a later lapse.
Large recent replications found this effect much smaller than early studies suggested, or absent, so how reliable it is remains debated.
In everyday life
After volunteering at a food bank on Saturday, a man feels he has earned the right to skip his share of the housework all weekend.
Because you biked to work every day this week, you feel entitled to take a long, fuel-hungry drive just for fun on Sunday.
Why your mind does this
We rarely have full information about a person or situation, so the brain fills gaps with what usually holds true for similar cases. Relying on categories, rules of thumb and trusted sources saves a huge amount of time and effort. For most of history, following the group and trusting experienced elders was a safe bet.
Its family, in 30 seconds: Stereotypes
How to spot it
Notice when you think 'I've been good, so I deserve this' right before a choice you would normally avoid.
How to counter it
Judge each choice on its own merits, as if your earlier good deed had never happened.
Same family: Stereotypes
SourcesMonin & Miller (2001)·Wikipedia