Moral licensing occurs when someone who initially behaved morally subsequently acts less morally. We apply reputation-based theories to predict when and why moral licensing would occur. Specifically, our pre-registered predictions were that (1) participants observed during the licensing manipulation would have larger licensing effects, and (2) unambiguous dependent variables would have smaller licensing effects. In a pre-registered multi-level meta-analysis of 111 experiments (N = 19,335), we found a larger licensing effect when participants were observed (Hedge’s g = 0.61) compared to unobserved (Hedge’s g = 0.14). Ambiguity did not moderate the effect. The overall moral licensing effect was small (Hedge’s g = 0.18). We replicated these analyses using robust Bayesian meta-analysis and found strong support for the moral licensing effect only when participants are observed. These results suggest that the moral licensing effect is predominantly an interpersonal effect based on reputation, rather than an intrapsychic effect based on self-image.

No abstract

This article argues that Statius Siluae 1.6 may be understood as an enactment of the politics of freedom in Flavian Rome. In describing Saturnalia and praising the emperor simultaneously, the poem engages with two different types of rhetoric and employs figurative language in an attempt to reconcile the two. Nevertheless, the literal meanings of these figures of speech come into play in the poem. In several instances analyzed here, the various ways of understanding libertas come into conflict. This literary conflict of figurative language reenacts the political contestation over the meaning of libertas at Rome.

No abstract

No abstract