Self-justification - Self-justification and Moral Choices

Self-justification and Moral Choices

Self-justification often comes into play when discussing why individuals make “immoral” decisions. To keep viewing themselves in a positive light, individuals may rationalize unethical or corrupt decision-making using the aforementioned self-justification strategies.

In a 1958 study on cheating, Mills administered a test to a sixth grade class that was impossible to pass without cheating. Before the test, he measured each student’s attitudes toward cheating. He then gave the 6th graders the test without supervision but with a hidden camera in the classroom. Half of the class cheated and half didn’t. Mills then measured each student’s attitude towards cheating after the test. He found that the students who did cheat developed a more lenient attitude towards cheating while the students who did not cheat developed stronger attitudes against cheating.

In Mills’ study, self -justification occurred. After each student decided whether or not to cheat, they justified this decision to make themselves feel good. In order to reduce their cognitive dissonance, the students that did cheat altered their thoughts on cheating: i.e.- “cheating isn’t that bad” or “cheating was required in order to achieve the prize” - to justify their actions. On the other hand, students that did not cheat may have justified a lack of success on the test to: “I have too good of morals to cheat” or “Cheating is never right.” In both instances, the student is trying to justify their actions and retain their self-concept.

This experiment shows potential dangers of self-justification. It seems that people who partake in unethical behavior may become slightly more accepting and comfortable with their actions.