From inconsistency to hypocrisy: When does “saying one thing but doing another” invite condemnation?
Section snippets
Negative interpersonal consequences
“Saying one thing but doing another” can have a variety of negative interpersonal consequences. The same transgression can spark harsher moral condemnation and punitive sentiment when it is inconsistent with values the transgressor has previously endorsed than when it is not (e.g., Effron, Jackman, Markus, Muramoto, & Muluk, 2018; Laurent, Clark, Walker, & Wiseman, 2013; Powell & Smith, 2012) – an inconsistency penalty in judgments of wrongdoing (Effron, Lucas, & O'Connor, 2015). Even minor
Theoretical model
We propose that when an audience witnesses an actor saying one thing but doing another, the audience asks itself two sets of questions, whether implicitly or explicitly. First, are the words and deeds misaligned (and if so, how much)? – and second, why are the words and deeds misaligned? The first question is about the extent to which inconsistency is perceived and the second is about how it is interpreted. Whereas perception refers to the detection of a stimulus (Colman, 2015), interpretation
Word-deed misalignment
Word-deed misalignment (“misalignment” for short) occurs when a person says and does different things (Simons, 2002). It is an objective description of behavior rather than a subjective perception. Misalignment itself is neither good nor bad, and the term conveys no information about a person’s motives or character. The relationship between words and deeds falls on a continuum of misalignment. For example, Ron Shaich’s decision to lay off cashiers and automate their job is at least somewhat
When do people perceive words and deeds as misaligned?
Having distinguished among key constructs, and done a deep dive into what counts as hypocrisy, we now turn to the first psychological process in our model: perceiving the misalignment (see Fig. 1). Before people grapple with whether to interpret word-deed misalignment as hypocrisy, they must determine whether, and how much, the words and deeds are misaligned (i.e., whether an actor has displayed low BI). Sometimes, identifying misalignment is easy because words and deeds are blatantly
When do people interpret misalignment as hypocrisy?
We now turn to the second psychological process in our model: interpreting the misalignment (see Fig. 1). Once an audience has perceived that an actor’s words and deeds are misaligned, what determines whether they interpret the misalignment as hypocritical? Research has documented several factors (see Table 2), which support our argument that people think of hypocrisy as claiming an undeserved moral benefit.
Summary of theoretical model
According to our model, an actor’s word-deed misalignment is more likely to provoke negative reactions from an audience when (a) the audience perceives the actor’s misalignment, and (b) the audience interprets it as hypocrisy (see Fig. 1). We have now reviewed a number of factors that influence these perceptions and interpretations, and that should thus affect how negatively audiences react to word-deed misalignment. An important contribution of the model is to clarify the distinctions and
Why is misalignment so prevalent?
Given that word-deed misalignment’s interpersonal consequences can be so negative, its apparent prevalence in organizations is striking. One explanation is that many people are actually motivated by hypocrisy: They want to reap the benefits of feeling or appearing moral without paying the requisite costs (Batson, 2002, Batson, 2016, Kurzban, 2010). Evidence for this explanation comes from laboratory experiments in which participants allocate resources selfishly despite simultaneously striving
Practical implications
“Walk your talk,” leaders are advised (e.g., Kouzes and Posner, 2011, Simons, 2008); in other words, minimize misalignment. However, given that some misalignment is inevitable in managing the complexities of organizations – and can even be strategic and beneficial – this is easier said than done. An alternative is to avoid words and let deeds speak for themselves. However, given the power of words to inspire followers (Bass, 1999, Burns, 1978), we do not recommend that leaders avoid espousing
Conclusion
When individuals, teams, or organizations fail to practice what they preach, they are often penalized with negative interpersonal reactions, such as distrust and moral condemnation, which can snowball into organizational problems like poor performance, employee turnover, and deviant behavior. Yet audiences who witness word-deed misalignment do not always react negatively, and sometimes even react positively. Given the virtual impossibility of keeping one’s words and deeds perfectly aligned –
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