Macbeth Effect

The Macbeth Effect is a finding that people engage in cleansing thoughts and even behavior when they experience a threat to their sense of moral purity. The authors, Chen Bo- Zhong and Katie Liljenquist, reported results in a 2006 article in Science titled, "Washing Away Your Sins: Threatened Morality and Physical Cleansing."

The Macbeth Effect was challenged in a 2018 article by Siev, Zuckerman, and Siev. Their meta-analysis did not support a strong effect. They suggested their may be an effect under certain conditions.


The effect was named Macbeth based on a work by Shakespear (link to a summary of Macbeth).

Reference

Siev, J., Zuckerman, S., Sieve, J.J. (2018). The relationship between immorality and cleansing: A meta-analysis of the Macbeth effect. Social Psychology, 49, 303-309. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000349

Zhong, C-B. & Liljenquist, K. (2006). Washing away your sins: Threatened morality and physical cleansing. Science, 313, 1451-1452.


My ad
Buy Creating Surveys on AMAZON available in multiple countries

Connections

My Page    www.suttong.com

My Books   AMAZON     GOOGLE PLAY STORE

FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton

TWITTER  @Geoff.W.Sutton

LinkedIN Geoffrey Sutton  PhD

Publications (many free downloads)

     

  Academia   Geoff W Sutton   (PhD)

     

  ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton   (PhD)