RT Journal Article
T1 Always looking for a moral identity: The moral licensing effect in men convicted of domestic violence
A1 Vecina Jiménez, María Luisa
A1 Marzana, Daniela
AB People who act in accord with moral standards enjoy a strong moral self-concept, but people with a strong moral concept do not always behave morally: sometimes they exhibit consistent behaviors and sometimes compensatory behaviors. Through two studies, this paper shows that people who do wrong enjoy a stronger moral self-concept and regulate their moral behavior accordingly. Specifically, men in court-mandated psychological treatment for having employed violence against their partners manage to preserve a very positive moral self-concept. They also exhibit moral self-regulation: when prompted to consider their high moral self-concepts, they recalled performing significantly more prosocial behaviors in the previous year (consistency effect), and immediately following this, they relaxed their future intentions to act in prosocial manners over the next year (licensing effect). This novel connection between intimate partner violence and moral regulation allows us to observe the dark side of feeling too moral in a sensitive sample.
PB Elsevier
SN 0732-118X
YR 2016
FD 2016-04
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/129409
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/129409
LA eng
NO Vecina, M. L., & Marzana, D. (2016). Always looking for a moral identity: The moral licensing effect in men convicted of domestic violence. New Ideas in Psychology, 41, 33-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2016.02.001
NO We would like to thank the ASPACIA Fundation who participated in this study for their cooperation. This study received funding from the MEC (PSI2012-35811), what we also thank.
NO Fundación Aspacia
NO Ministerio de Educación y Cultura (España)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 25 feb 2026