{"id":55522,"date":"2026-08-28T12:32:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T12:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/?p=55522"},"modified":"2026-10-12T12:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T12:42:08","slug":"new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/","title":{"rendered":"New article examines how people justify corrupt practices they condemn"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>New article examines how people justify corrupt practices they condemn<\/h2>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-55524\" src=\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/artigo-imr-1-300x158.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1342\" height=\"707\" srcset=\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/artigo-imr-1-300x158.png 300w, https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/artigo-imr-1-1024x538.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1342px) 100vw, 1342px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A new article by In\u00eas Ascenso, a PhD student at CEI-Iscte, and Marcelo Moriconi, also a researcher at CEI-Iscte, co-authored with Lu\u00eds de Sousa, examines the social and psychological mechanisms that help explain why people may engage in corrupt practices despite condemning them in principle.<\/p>\n<p>Published in the International Journal of Public Administration, the article \u201cDo as I Say, Not as I Do\u2019: Understanding Moral Rationalisations and Disengagements Behind \u2018Parochial\u2019 Corrupt Actions\u201d focuses on so-called \u201cparochial\u201d corruption in Portugal, which includes practices such as using personal connections to circumvent procedures or overcome difficulties in accessing services and resources.<\/p>\n<p>The research starts from an observation: although corruption is widely rejected, certain practices may be tolerated or even adopted in everyday life. To understand this apparent contradiction, the authors examine the relationship between injunctive norms (what people believe should be done) and descriptive norms (what they perceive others to be doing).<\/p>\n<p>Drawing on survey and focus group data, the findings show that although \u201cparochial\u201d corruption is generally considered undesirable, many people feel compelled to engage in such practices because they believe that \u201ceveryone does it\u201d and regard them as an effective way to overcome limitations or shortcomings in the system. The study also shows that, depending on the context, certain actions may not even be perceived as corruption. To reconcile the conflict between their values and their behaviour, individuals resort to various forms of moral rationalisation and disengagement, allowing them to justify their actions and reduce feelings of guilt.<\/p>\n<p>The findings therefore help explain how certain practices can be simultaneously condemned and tolerated, and how social norms and processes of justification contribute to their persistence.<\/p>\n<p>Read the full article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/10999922.2026.2706991\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Originally published at: <a href=\"https:\/\/cei.iscte-iul.pt\/2026\/08\/novo-artigo-analisa-como-as-pessoas-justificam-praticas-de-corrupcao-que-condenam\/\">https:\/\/cei.iscte-iul.pt\/2026\/08\/novo-artigo-analisa-como-as-pessoas-justificam-praticas-de-corrupcao-que-condenam\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new article by In\u00eas Ascenso, a PhD student at CEI-Iscte, and Marcelo Moriconi, also a researcher at CEI-Iscte, co-authored with Lu\u00eds de Sousa, examines the social and psychological mechanisms that help explain why people may engage in corrupt practices despite condemning them in principle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55524,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[316],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-noticias-en","category-316","description-off"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>New article examines how people justify corrupt practices they condemn | ODRP<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A new study by In\u00eas Ascenso, Marcelo Moriconi and Lu\u00eds de Sousa examines how social norms and moral rationalisation lead people to justify corrupt practices they condemn.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New article examines how people justify corrupt practices they condemn | ODRP\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new study by In\u00eas Ascenso, Marcelo Moriconi and Lu\u00eds de Sousa examines how social norms and moral rationalisation lead people to justify corrupt practices they condemn.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Observat\u00f3rio da Democracia e da Representa\u00e7\u00e3o Pol\u00edtica\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/observatorio.democracia.representacao.politica\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-28T12:32:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-12T12:42:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/artigo-imr-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ObservatorioDemocracia-Team\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Observatorioda4\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Observatorioda4\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ObservatorioDemocracia-Team\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ObservatorioDemocracia-Team\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/ab1878e95a55730f5159ccf3d9ba4ba7\"},\"headline\":\"New article examines how people justify corrupt practices they condemn\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-28T12:32:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-12T12:42:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/\"},\"wordCount\":308,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/artigo-imr-1.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/\",\"name\":\"New article examines how people justify corrupt practices they condemn | ODRP\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/artigo-imr-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-28T12:32:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-12T12:42:08+00:00\",\"description\":\"A new study by In\u00eas Ascenso, Marcelo Moriconi and Lu\u00eds de Sousa examines how social norms and moral rationalisation lead people to justify corrupt practices they condemn.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/artigo-imr-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/artigo-imr-1.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"In\u00edcio\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New article examines how people justify corrupt practices they condemn\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Observat\u00f3rio da Democracia e da Representa\u00e7\u00e3o Pol\u00edtica\",\"description\":\"Um bem para a Cidadania\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Observat\u00f3rio da Democracia e da Representa\u00e7\u00e3o Pol\u00edtica\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/logo-observatorio-democracia-forms.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/logo-observatorio-democracia-forms.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":98,\"caption\":\"Observat\u00f3rio da Democracia e da Representa\u00e7\u00e3o Pol\u00edtica\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/observatorio.democracia.representacao.politica\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Observatorioda4\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/observatoriodrp\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/ab1878e95a55730f5159ccf3d9ba4ba7\",\"name\":\"ObservatorioDemocracia-Team\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/author\/observatoriodemocracia-team\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New article examines how people justify corrupt practices they condemn | ODRP","description":"A new study by In\u00eas Ascenso, Marcelo Moriconi and Lu\u00eds de Sousa examines how social norms and moral rationalisation lead people to justify corrupt practices they condemn.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New article examines how people justify corrupt practices they condemn | ODRP","og_description":"A new study by In\u00eas Ascenso, Marcelo Moriconi and Lu\u00eds de Sousa examines how social norms and moral rationalisation lead people to justify corrupt practices they condemn.","og_url":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/","og_site_name":"Observat\u00f3rio da Democracia e da Representa\u00e7\u00e3o Pol\u00edtica","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/observatorio.democracia.representacao.politica","article_published_time":"2026-08-28T12:32:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-10-12T12:42:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/artigo-imr-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"ObservatorioDemocracia-Team","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Observatorioda4","twitter_site":"@Observatorioda4","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ObservatorioDemocracia-Team","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/"},"author":{"name":"ObservatorioDemocracia-Team","@id":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/ab1878e95a55730f5159ccf3d9ba4ba7"},"headline":"New article examines how people justify corrupt practices they condemn","datePublished":"2026-08-28T12:32:18+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-12T12:42:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/"},"wordCount":308,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/artigo-imr-1.png","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/","url":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/","name":"New article examines how people justify corrupt practices they condemn | ODRP","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/artigo-imr-1.png","datePublished":"2026-08-28T12:32:18+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-12T12:42:08+00:00","description":"A new study by In\u00eas Ascenso, Marcelo Moriconi and Lu\u00eds de Sousa examines how social norms and moral rationalisation lead people to justify corrupt practices they condemn.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/artigo-imr-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/artigo-imr-1.png","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/new-article-examines-how-people-justify-corrupt-practices-they-condemn\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"In\u00edcio","item":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New article examines how people justify corrupt practices they condemn"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/","name":"Observat\u00f3rio da Democracia e da Representa\u00e7\u00e3o Pol\u00edtica","description":"Um bem para a Cidadania","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/#organization","name":"Observat\u00f3rio da Democracia e da Representa\u00e7\u00e3o Pol\u00edtica","url":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/logo-observatorio-democracia-forms.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/logo-observatorio-democracia-forms.jpg","width":400,"height":98,"caption":"Observat\u00f3rio da Democracia e da Representa\u00e7\u00e3o Pol\u00edtica"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/observatorio.democracia.representacao.politica","https:\/\/x.com\/Observatorioda4","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/observatoriodrp\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/ab1878e95a55730f5159ccf3d9ba4ba7","name":"ObservatorioDemocracia-Team","url":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/author\/observatoriodemocracia-team\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55522"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55528,"href":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55522\/revisions\/55528"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observatorio-democracia.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}