Implicit Dimensions of Moral Licensing in Citizen-State Interactions

Moral licensing refers to the paradoxical effect that individuals derive moral justification for deviant behavior from prior moral actions. As a form of moral disengagement, moral licensing is one of the psychological micro-foundations of deviant behavior in the public sector that manifests in various forms, such as rule violation, corruption, and discrimination in citizen-state interactions, causing severe harm by undermining efficiency, equity, and trust in citizen-state interactions. Research on moral identity and motivational psychology suggests that implicit components of cognition – such as implicit associations and latent moral or stereotypical concepts of self and others – may influence moral licensing behavior but, to date, this connection has not yet been explored. This conceptual study discusses the implicit dimensions of moral licensing in citizen-state interaction by synthesizing previously unconsolidated streams of scholarship into one refined framework covering both citizens’ and state agents’ perspectives to inspire future empirical research to understand the phenomenon in its entirety. With this novel conceptual contribution, this study significantly advances the theoretical understanding of the implicit dimensions of moral justification in citizen-state interaction as a precursor for deviant behavior. Its framework culminates in five prepositions and an agenda for future research.