Imagine this: You’re on a 1500 calorie/day diet when your spouse brings home freshly-baked cookies.  You decide to have just one, then realize you’ve exceeded your daily calorie limit. Oh, what-the-hell, you think, and eat four more — you’ll restart your diet tomorrow.

The “What-the-Hell” Effect is the actual term for this psychological phenomenon.

Have you ever finished some intense exercise, and then later rewarded yourself with an indulgent dinner or dessert? Moral licensing is a phenomenon via which human beings give ourselves permission to do something “bad,” because we’ve already done something “good.” We conduct psychological bargaining, and let ourselves off the hook because “we’ve earned it.”