Organic Foods Harshen How We Judge Others

Organic foods change the way we judge other people, according to a new study just published online in Social Psychological and Personality Science. In the experiment, mere exposure to images of organic foods versus comfort foods or non-organic foods altered how people rated moral transgressions, such as students stealing library books or a congressman accepting bribes. In another part of the experiment, people exposed to the organic foods volunteered less time to help with a fictitious study. The work by Kendall Eskine of Loyola University New Orleans builds on the idea of "moral licensing”— that doing of a virtuous deed gives us license to engage in less ethical behavior.