| Research suggests that when individuals have done a good deed, this grants them `license' to engage in more self-interested, immoral or asocial behaviors that otherwise would have discredited the individual. A number of studies across disciplines have found evidence of such licensing effects, yet our understanding of what causes these effects is limited. It is clearly counterproductive if a good deed is likely to be followed by a bad one. Such a regulatory pattern threatens people's moral integrity and undermines personal welfare, yet no research examines how to counteract it.;In Essay 1 "Removing Individuals' License to Misbehave," I present an intervention aimed at counteracting the licensing effect. I demonstrate that having participants engage in a physical act of closure---enclosing a written recall of their good deeds within an envelope---counteracts their licensing behavior. This intervention targets what I propose is a critical but overlooked condition for moral licensing to occur: the accessibility of one's previous good deeds. Furthermore, I contribute to our understanding of moral licensing by examining a novel moderator of the licensing effect, the actor-perceived specialness of one's good deed.;Research has found that changes in self-concept may mediate the licensing effect. In Essay 2 "Examining Self-Concept as a Mediator of Licensing Effects", I critically examine this process. Across three studies I replicate the licensing effect, but find no significant relationship with participants' self-concepts. In each study, self-concept was measured using scales previously established in the licensing context, yet none of these mediated participants' licensing behavior. Based on both theoretical as well as empirical findings, I propose that our current self-concept measures need to be re-examined.;By advancing our understanding of moral licensing behaviors and demonstrating how to counteract them, this dissertation provides significant practical and theoretical contributions for our understanding of moral licensing effects. |
