Dr. Luis Sebastián Contreras-Huerta and collaborators have published a new article in Scientific Reports (Nature). The study explores why people who harshly judge others for moral transgressions often fail to live up to their own moral standards
The findings reveal that hypocritical blame—condemning others for actions one might also commit—is linked not to a lack of moral values, but to a reduced motivation to bear the personal costs of moral action, such as physical or mental effort. Individuals with higher hypocritical blame were less willing to help others and invested less effort when they did, highlighting a motivational gap between moral judgment and moral behavior.
This research provides new insight into the psychological and motivational processes underlying moral action, bridging moral psychology, decision-making, and neuroscience.
Read the full paper here
Author’s summary on X (Twitter): @lsebastian_ch – paper summary
Image from Contreras-Huerta et al. (2025), Scientific Reports (CC BY 4.0).
