Three Attempts to Replicate the Moral Licensing Effect

Bibliographic Data

ID5338517
AuthorsIrene Blanken (Tilburg University), Niels Van De Ven (0000-0002-6730-9200, Tilburg University), Marcel Zeelenberg (0000-0002-7100-4223, Tilburg University), Marijn H C Meijers (0000-0003-3783-7499, University of Amsterdam)
Year2014
Volume45
Issue3
Pages232-238
Publication date2014-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1864-9335 • E-ISSN: 2151-2590
PublisherHogrefe Verlag (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1027/1864-9335/a000189
OpenAlexW2072223631
LanguageEN
Citations received21
References cited17

The present work includes three attempts to replicate the moral licensing effect by Sachdeva, Iliev, and Medin (2009) . The original authors found that writing about positive traits led to lower donations to charity and decreased cooperative behavior. The first two replication attempts (student samples, 95% power based on the initial findings, NStudy1= 105, NStudy2= 150), did not confirm the original results. The third replication attempt (MTurk sample, 95% power based on a meta-analysis on self-licensing, N = 940) also did not confirm the moral licensing effect. We conclude that (1) there is as of yet no strong support for the moral self-regulation framework proposed in Sachdeva et al. (2009) (2) the manipulation used is unlikely to induce moral licensing, and (3) studies on moral licensing should use a neutral control condition

Power (physics · Replicate · Replication (statistics · Sample (material · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology

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