Moral Self-Licensing: When Being Good Frees Us to Be Bad.

Why this matters here

Merritt, Effron, and Monin’s review of moral self-licensing shows that prior good deeds or virtuous self-image can psychologically free people to act less scrupulously later—past virtue becomes credit that reduces subsequent restraint. When Authority Is Misread extends that mechanism to how well-meaning posture can thin scrutiny of accumulating costs elsewhere. The article documents licensing in social psychology; the book asks how moral credit attached to leaders can keep authority standing after accountability has already drifted.