Moral Licensing: Why Good People Do Bad Things

Moral licensing is a universal psychological phenomenon where people use their good deeds as 'moral currency' to justify subsequent indulgences or unethical behavior, operating through a mental 'moral bank account' where deposits of virtuous actions can be 'withdrawn' to permit worse choices; this affects everyone, including highly ethical individuals, and can be overcome by reframing progress as identity rather than currency, using process-based self-talk over outcome-based rewards, and recognizing the word 'deserve' as a signal of licensing attempts.