The Slippery Slope of Green Deeds: A Scoping Review of Moral Licensing in Studies on Proenvironmental Behaviors

The moral licensing theory (MLT) has been increasingly used to explain why proenvironmental behaviors (PEBs) sometimes lead to a decreased interest in sustainability (moral licensing), or how polluting actions might be followed by PEBs (moral cleansing). To shed light on how the MLT has been used in the studies on PEBs, this scoping review: (1) identifies PEBs that have been explored; (2) analyzes behavioral impacts of the observed effects; (3) formulates recommendations on the application of the MLT. The analysis of 49 publications has demonstrated that over 80% of the studies have successfully replicated the moral licensing effect, which led to concrete solutions for encouraging PEBs. However, researchers tend to overlook specific paths through which the effect occurs, which can undermine the interpretation of results. This article proposes a checklist of nine items that could allow scholars to benefit from the application of the MLT while mitigating potential drawbacks.