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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 15, 2025

Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice

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Published on: June 5, 2016

Purity is linked to cooperation but not necessarily through self-control.

Samuel Murray^1,2,3, Santiago Amaya^1,4, William Jiménez-Leal^1,5

¹Laboratorio de Juicios y Emociones Morales, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia.

The Behavioral and Brain Sciences

|October 4, 2023

Summary

Victimless pleasures are often seen as immoral because they reduce self-control. However, this study questions the link between self-control and cooperation, finding exceptions to this rule.

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Area of Science:

Moral Psychology
Behavioral Economics
Social Psychology

Background:

The moralization of behaviors is often linked to their perceived impact on self-control.
Fitouchi et al. propose that activities are moralized based on whether they enhance or diminish self-control.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the proposed relationship between self-control and the moralization of behaviors.
To examine whether victimless pleasures and restrained behaviors align with predictions based on self-control alteration.

Main Methods:

The study likely involved theoretical analysis and examination of existing examples or case studies.
It critically evaluates the predictions derived from the self-control theory of moralization.

Main Results:

Several behavioral examples were identified that contradict the theory's predictions.
These counterexamples suggest that the link between self-control and moralization is not universally applicable.

Conclusions:

The general relationship between self-control and cooperation, as proposed by Fitouchi et al., is called into question.
Further research is needed to understand the complex factors influencing the moralization of behaviors beyond self-control.