Don't Waste Time On Decisions That Don't Matter

There are certain people for whom the morning morality effect has a particularly strong significance. Smith and Kouchaki have found that people who are "more moral" are also more likely to slip the longer they have been awake.

This finding really is not particularly hard to understand. Sticking to a stringent moral code takes brain power. The more decisions you have to make, the more your brain wants a time out, and the more likely the metaphorical demon is to sit on your metaphorical shoulder.

All of that is not implied by these four experiments, of course, but there is a significant body of psychological research that supports this idea.

What kinds of mental activity increase the likelihood of immoral or unethical behavior, and forgetting about it later?

• Facebook and other social media. Having to decide whether you "like" a post or a picture and phrasing comments that can be interpreted in multiple ways by your friends and the public drains mental energy.
• Video gaming. Games are great for increasing coordination and speed of response, but too much gaming is a brain drain that impedes moral, sensitive personal interactions.
• Smiling faces. People who exhibit a positive affect, who seem upbeat, happy, and energetic, are less likely to be processing moral decisions. When you smile your way through your day, you are somewhat more likely not to stick to your own moral code. Whether or not this a bad thing, however, depends on which rules you break, or not.
• Slipping the first time. Before you break a moral rule you consider to be important, your brain's executive function centers work to make sure you don't. Once you do break the rule, however, you tend to forget it and break it again. Selective forgetfulness reduces cognitive dissonance and helps you feel more comfortable emotionally.

So what can you do to keep from succumbing to temptation because you are fatigued?

• If you place your hand over your heart, you are more likely to be truthful, and others are more likely to believe you are truthful. 
• Hang out with honest people. Our "gut" reactions, processes that are automatic, fast, and effortless. When we act on our gut, we are making a comparison between the current situation and a situation we have encountered before. The more you associate with other honest individuals, the more likely you are to remember situations in which honesty or ethical behavior is required by your personal morality.
• If you break rules to help someone else, for example, you tell a white lie about how someone looks, or you say you feel fine when you know the other person feels terrible, make a habit of taking a moment to evaluate what you get out of breaking your own moral code. Most of us are more likely to lie, cheat, or steal not just when it benefits someone else, but when it benefits another person and ourselves. This phenomenon is known as self-interested altruism.

See Also: 10 Ways to Stop Making Yourself Miserable