Premium
When Values and Behavior Conflict: Moral Pluralism and Intrapersonal Moral Hypocrisy
Author(s) -
Graham Jesse,
Meindl Peter,
Koleva Spassena,
Iyer Ravi,
Johnson Kate M.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
social and personality psychology compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.699
H-Index - 53
ISSN - 1751-9004
DOI - 10.1111/spc3.12158
Subject(s) - hypocrisy , intrapersonal communication , moral disengagement , psychology , social cognitive theory of morality , moral psychology , social psychology , moral authority , operationalization , pluralism (philosophy) , interpersonal communication , moral reasoning , moral development , epistemology , political science , law , philosophy
The authors review the various ways moral hypocrisy has been defined and operationalized by social psychologists, concentrating on three general types: moral duplicity, moral double standards, and moral weakness . While most approaches have treated moral hypocrisy as an interpersonal phenomenon, requiring public claims, preaching (versus practicing), or judgments of others (versus oneself), this paper also considers intra personal moral hypocrisy – that is, conflicts between values and behavior that may exist even in the absence of public pronouncements or judgments. Current attempts to understand and combat intrapersonal moral hypocrisy are aided by moral pluralism , the idea that there are many different moral values, which may come into conflict both between and within individuals. Examples are given to illustrate how taking into account individual differences in values can help to reduce moral hypocrisy. The authors close by considering the possibility that in a pluralistic world, reducing intrapersonal moral hypocrisy might not always be a normatively desired end goal.