Moral licensing

Moral licensing refers to behavioural patterns identified by psychology experiments where individuals who complete a ‘good act’ – say buying a green product - then feel licensed to conduct a ‘bad act’, such as buying non-green products.

Our aims

Woman unpacking green vegetables from a reusable fabric shopping bag.

Such behaviour could pose a significant problem for policy-makers in business or government seeking to change consumption behaviour.

However, moral licensing also challenges other findings in both psychology and economics - which suggests that individuals act in a consistent fashion.

Theoretical research we have conducted suggests it may be possible to reconcile these two approaches, and we will conduct a number of empirical projects to test the theoretical predictions.

Project leader

Green, flowery wall and steps

Themes

Our four research themes explore how we can achieve less resource-intensive ways of life.
Large seminar at The University of Manchester.

Working groups

We are developing research collaborations on emerging new themes.
Wild flowers growing on tramlines in Manchester.

Publications

Our work is published in a wide range of books, journals and reports.
University of Manchester campus.

Impact

Our research contributes to policy and directly influences a range of public and private organisations.