Other-serving double standards: People show moral hypercrisy in close relationships. (November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Weiss, Alexa; Burgmer, Pascal
• Is Part Of: Journal of social and personal relationships. Volume 38:Number 11(2021)
• Page Start: 3198
• Page End: 3218
• Publication Date: 2021-11
• Subjects: Close relationships -- double moral standards -- moral hypercrisy -- moral hypocrisy -- moral judgment -- zero-sum beliefs; Interpersonal relations -- Periodicals; Social interaction -- Periodicals; 302.05
• DOI: 10.1177/02654075211022836
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0265-4075

Abstract

Extending research on self-serving double moral standards (hypocrisy), we examine the reverse pattern of other-serving hypercrisy toward close relationship partners. In three studies ( N = 1, 019), for various imagined transgressions, people made more lenient moral judgments for their close friends (Studies 1 & 2) and romantic partners (Study 3) compared to themselves. This hypercrisy effect emerged both for transgressions toward third parties (Study 1) and toward each other (i.e., within the relationship; Studies 2 & 3). Moreover, it was moderated by perceptions of the relationship: Participants who more strongly believed their relationship to be a zero-sum game (i.e., needs can only be met competitively) showed greater leniency for themselves and attenuated hypercrisy for mutual transgressions (Studies 2 & 3). Investigating people's close others rather than strangers as targets of moral judgment thus suggests that other-serving hypercrisy is more prevalent than previously thought, but sensitive to people's conceptualizations of their relationships.