12 checked facts

Morality

Everything on this site about morality — each one naming the study behind it.

You are more likely to lie after doing something good.
The moral licensing effect causes people to engage in unethical behavior after they have recently performed an act of …
You are more likely to lie if you wear counterfeit goods.
Studies suggest that wearing fake luxury products can induce a feeling of inauthenticity that leads to unethical behav…
You are more likely to lie after doing something ethical.
Moral licensing is the subconscious process where performing a good deed makes you feel entitled to act in your own se…
You are more likely to lie when you feel moral.
Mazar and Zhong (2010) found that individuals who performed or recalled virtuous actions, such as buying eco-friendly …
You judge side effects based on how much you like them.
In a 2003 study, participants were significantly more likely to label a side effect as 'intentional' when it was negat…
You view your own moral failures as situational accidents.
A 1971 study by Jones and Nisbett proposed that actors attribute their own behaviors to situational factors while obse…
You are more likely to lie when you feel anonymous.
A 2010 study found that people in a darkened room were more likely to cheat on a math test than those in a well-lit on…
You make more ethical decisions in the morning.
A 2014 study found that people are more likely to behave dishonestly as the day progresses.…
You judge the morality of acts by the outcome.
Outcome bias makes people judge a decision by its eventual outcome rather than the quality of the decision at the time…
Doing one good deed makes you act more selfishly.
Moral licensing occurs when performing a virtuous action provides a psychological credit that you spend on later behav…
You subconsciously assume people deserve their current fortune.
The just-world hypothesis leads you to conclude that existing social hierarchies and personal outcomes are the result …
You judge harmful inaction as less severe than action.
Research indicates that people rate harmful consequences resulting from inaction as more acceptable than identical har…