Social censure can outweigh self-approval in suppressing valued conduct

Evidence

It is not uncommon for individuals to find themselves in situations in which they are overtly or subtly punished for beliefs and activities they value highly. Principled dissenters and nonconformists often find themselves in such predicaments. The relative strength of self-approval for adhering to one’s moral standards and social censure for acting on them determines whether a morally valued course of action is pursued or forsaken. Under severe social threats, individuals often hold in check personally valued but socially chastised behavior in risky situations. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 224

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 224
• XREF: connects to: Behavior is regulated by legal, social, and self-evaluative sanctions; Conformity pressure suppresses dissent and alternative evaluation in policy decisions; The balance of self-approval against social censure decides whether principled action proceeds — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 125 (+6 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Behavior is regulated by legal, social, and self-evaluative sanctions; Conformity pressure suppresses dissent and alternative evaluation in policy decisions; The balance of self-approval against social censure decides whether principled action proceeds — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 125 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• The balance of self-approval against social censure decides whether principled action proceeds #corroborates (0.95) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 125
• Moral self-sanctions regulate conduct before external sanctions do #complicates (0.78) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 52