Why is being a hypocrite bad

The results showed that participants viewed the target more positively when he or she condemned the bad behavior in the scenario, but only when they had no information about how the character actually behaved. This suggests that we tend to interpret condemnation as a signal of moral behavior in the absence of direct information.

And additional data suggest that people dislike hypocrites even more than they dislike liars. In a third online study, participants had a lower opinion of a character who illegally downloaded music when he or she condemned the behavior than when he or she directly denied engaging in it. A final study showed that if an individual condemns a transgression he or she engages in, and then admits to an unrelated but equally serious transgression, participants do not forgive the hypocrisy.

The research helps to shed light on why hypocrisy — whether it comes from an authority figure or a loved one — really seems to rub us the wrong way:. Together, these findings indicate that we dislike hypocrites because we feel duped — they benefit from the signal that moral condemnation sends while engaging in the very same immoral behavior.

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What Causes Hypocrisy? At the root of hypocrisy is fear and low self-esteem. We use hypocrisy to avoid looking at our shortcomings and figure out our part in it. It typically stems from a sincere belief that we should not be held to the same standards as others because we have better intentions. Our belief is juster, nobler, and sincerer. It feels good to be morally superior to someone else.

It helps us to avoid humility, which is a very painful emotion. Even the best of us use hypocrisy when we feel attacked. At the root of hypocrisy is a strong desire to be loved and accepted. The fear of humility and judgment is so powerful, that we use doublethink and cognitive dissonance to avoid facing ourselves.

To stop being a hypocrite, we must first examine our own moral code and determine whether there are any contradictions in it. Objective morality is the best tool to help us overcome hypocrisy. Objective morality is the belief that meaning is not open for interpretation, and that something is true regardless of who is involved in a situation.

The research shows that people dislike hypocrites more than those who openly admit to engaging in a behavior that they disapprove of. Intuitively, it seems that we might dislike hypocrites because their word is inconsistent with their behavior, because they lack the self-control to behave according to their own morals, or because they deliberately engage in behaviors that they know to be morally wrong.

All of these explanations seem plausible, but the new findings suggest that it's the misrepresentation of their moral character that really raises our ire. Rand presented each participant with four scenarios about characters engaging in possible moral transgressions: a member of a track team using performance-enhancing drugs, a student cheating on a take-home chemistry exam, an employee failing to meet a deadline on a team project, and a member of a hiking club who engaged in infidelity.

In each scenario, participants read about a conversation involving moral condemnation of a transgression. The researchers varied whether the condemnation came from a "target character" who subjects would later evaluate or somebody else, as well as whether the scenario provided direct information about the target character's own moral behavior.

Participants then evaluated how trustworthy and likeable the target character was, as well as the likelihood that the target character would engage in the transgression.

The results showed that participants viewed the target more positively when he or she condemned the bad behavior in the scenario, but only when they had no information about how the character actually behaved. This suggests that we tend to interpret condemnation as a signal of moral behavior in the absence of direct information. This feeds into hypocrisy in other ways too. Most humans have a self-serving bias , where we evaluate our own abilities and performance far more highly than is actually the case.

People who achieve a certain level of intellectual achievement in certain contexts can reverse this , but we mostly think overly-well of ourselves. In some cases, this can lead to hypocrisy.

A pilot would be well within her rights to stop an untrained person from assuming control of a plane, even though she does that all the time. Not very nice, granted. May even not be a conscious decision.

Not that this makes any difference to the outcome, as far as most are concerned. Surely it would prevent people from doing things they openly condemn? Again, it depends on the situation. But other times, it gets more serious.