Developmental Origins of Strategic Moral Self-Licensing

Abstract

This study seeks to determine the developmental origins of strategic moral self-licensing, which is the process of planning to use past moral behavior in order to license oneself to partake in future immoral behavior. An empirical study was conducted to investigate whether preschoolers, after given the opportunity to demonstrate moral behavior through a helping task, will engage in morally consistent behavior or strategic moral self-licensing behavior. Results did not show evidence of preschoolers engaging in strategic moral-self licensing, but instead suggested moral consistency. With this said, the current study provided another stepping stone to understand the mechanism behind moral decision making in both children and adults. The limitations of this study and also implications for future studies are discussed, in addition to suggesting that the tendency to practice strategic moral self-licensing develops in a later stage of one’s life.