Moral hypocrisy and acting for reasons

This chapter considers remaining empirical challenges to the idea that we’re commonly motivated to do what’s right for the right reasons. Two key factors threaten to defeat claims to virtuous motivation, self-interest (egoism) and arbitrary situational factors (situationism). Both threats aim to identify defective influences on moral behavior that reveal us to be commonly motivated by the wrong reasons. However, there are limits to such wide-ranging skeptical arguments. Ultimately, like debunking arguments, defeater challenges succumb to a Defeater’s Dilemma: one can identify influences on many of our morally relevant behaviors that are either substantial or arbitrary, but not both. The science suggests a familiar trade-off in which substantial influences on many morally relevant actions are rarely defective. Arriving at this conclusion requires carefully scrutinizing a range of studies, including those on framing effects, dishonesty, implicit bias, mood effects, and moral hypocrisy (vs. integrity).

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The Motivational Power of Moral Beliefs

10.1093/oso/9780198811572.003.0007 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Joshua May

Keyword(s):

Moral Identity ◽

Motivated Reasoning ◽

Difficult Case ◽

Moral Integrity ◽

Normative Judgment ◽

Moral Beliefs ◽

Moral Hypocrisy ◽

Moral Licensing ◽

Self Interest

Even if we can rise above self-interest, we may just be slaves of our passions. But the motivational power of reason, via moral beliefs, has been understated, even in the difficult case of temptation. Experiments show that often when we succumb, it is due in part to a change in moral (or normative) judgment. We can see this by carefully examining a range of experiments on motivated reasoning, moral licensing, moral hypocrisy, and moral identity. Rationalization, perhaps paradoxically, reveals a deep regard for reason, to act in ways we can justify to ourselves and to others. The result is that we are very often morally motivated or exhibit moral integrity. Even when behaving badly, actions that often seem motivated by self-interest are actually ultimately driven by a concern to do what’s right.

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A dynamic perspective of moral choice: Revisiting moral hypocrisy

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes ◽

10.1016/j.obhdp.2021.02.005 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 164 ◽

pp. 203-217

Author(s):

Stephanie C. Lin ◽

Dale T. Miller

Keyword(s):

Moral Choice ◽

Moral Hypocrisy ◽

Dynamic Perspective

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Corporate hypocrisy

Visión de Futuro - Vol 23, No 1 (2019) ◽

10.36995/j.visiondefuturo.2021.26.01.005.en ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Manuel Alfonso Garzón Castrillón

Keyword(s):

Two Dimensions ◽

Review Article ◽

Moral Hypocrisy ◽

Brand Reputation ◽

Short And Long Term ◽

Corporate Social ◽

Temporal Direction ◽

Practical Implications ◽

Made In

This review article aimed to contribute to the understanding of the importance of coherence between saying and acting to prevent companies from being perceived from the perspective of business hypocrisy and affecting the brand, reputation, trust and credibility in the company. It was carried out based on the Methodi Ordinatio, addressing its theoretical origins and then approaching the concept, later venturing into the different studies that have approached it from corporate social responsibility (CSR), ethics; reputation, interest groups (stakeholders), and communication, subsequently in relation to the consequences that it generates in world-known organizations, their statements and the criticism made, subsequently an analysis of three aspects or facets is made in which it is presented namely: moral hypocrisy; behavioral hypocrisy and how to attribute business hypocrisy, the next point presents a typology that involves two dimensions: an orientation that refers to the attention span, in the short and long term of participants when making or responding to accusations of hypocrisy and a temporal direction, which refers to the point of comparison, past or future, finally reaches some conclusions, and some practical implications.

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Acting for reasons, apt action, and knowledge

Synthese ◽

10.1007/s11229-012-0230-8 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 190 (17) ◽

pp. 3865-3888 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Susanne Mantel

Keyword(s):

Acting For Reasons

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