The hypocrisy trap: how changing what we criticise can improve our lives
Our lives are full of accusations of hypocrisy — against politicians, companies, and each other. Yet despite this noise, little seems to change. Join us for this talk where Michael Hallsworth will discuss his recent book The Hypocrisy Trap: How Changing What We Criticize Can Improve Our Lives.
In discussion with Liam Delaney, Dr Hallsworth will explore how the "hypocrisy trap" — our relentless drive to expose inconsistency — either breeds more hypocrisy or exhausts our belief in shared standards altogether.
Drawing on the latest behavioural science studies, he demonstrates why accusations ratchet up over time, why they rarely convert opponents, and how purity tests can backfire. Rather than trying to eliminate hypocrisy altogether, we can find practical ways to criticize it better: distinguishing between corrosive double standards and tolerable compromises, rewarding progress over perfection, and using new tactics to become more consistent ourselves. The session connects these insights to politics, business, and everyday life, offering a toolkit for moving from outrage to outcomes.
The event will be followed by a book signing.
Meet our speakers
Michael Hallsworth is Chief Behavioural Scientist at The Behavioural Insights Team. For the last 20 years he has been an official and an advisor for governments and companies around the world. He was a founder of a 250-person consultancy business and co-authored the book Behavioral Insights (MIT Press). Michael has a PhD in behavioural economics from Imperial College London and has held positions at Princeton University, Columbia University, and the University of Pennsylvania. His research has been published in The Lancet, the Journal of Public Economics, and Nature Human Behaviour.
Liam Delaney is the Head of Department for Psychological and Behavioural Science at LSE. His career has focused at the intersection of economics, psychology, and public policy applications. He is developing research projects across three areas: the ethical foundations and trustworthiness of behavioural public policy, mental health and economic policy, and the measurement foundations of behavioural welfare economics.
More about this event
From the world to the lab and back again. The Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science is a growing community of researchers, intellectuals, and students who investigate the human mind and behaviour in a societal context. Our department conducts cutting-edge psychological and behavioural research that is both based in and applied to the real world.
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