Research conducted by Russell Johnson of Michigan State University, who is an expert on the psychology of the workplace, has found that ethical conduct can have an unpleasant side-effect. It is called moral licensing, which, in simple terms, occurs when you allow yourself to indulge after first doing something positive. Then, as described by the management-issues.com website, you are suddenly more likely to excuse the ensuing misbehaviour. The research was published online in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
When leaders felt mentally fatigued and morally licensed after they had displayed ethical behaviour, they were more likely to behave towards their subordinates in an abusive way over the next few days.
Solution? Make ethical behaviour mandatory
Moral licence appears when people feel they exhibited the ethical behaviour on a completely voluntary basis. Therefore, companies could formally require ethical behaviour in order to make it less likely for people to feel they've earned credit. Their actions would be aligned with what is mandatory. Ethical behaviour could also be formally rewarded with social praise or money but these rewards need to come relatively soon after the ethical behaviour; otherwise they cannot counteract the moral licensing.
How to combat mental fatigue
Mental fatigue and moral licensing lead to ridicule, insults and expressions of anger towards employees. To prevent that happening, managers should:
- schedule some breaks during the working day
- get sufficient sleep, eat healthily and exercise
- unplug from work outside the office (including e.g. shutting off their smart phone at night)
-jk-