Lady Macbeth Effect

CORE DEFINITION

Named after Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth, who washes her hands while sleepwalking after the murder, the effect describes the bodily impulse to clean oneself or one's surroundings after acting immorally, and the finding that such cleansing reduces the felt sense of guilt. In experiments, participants who recall an unethical act show a stronger preference for cleaning products over alternatives. Because the washing restores a clean moral self-image, it can also lower the willingness to compensate the person harmed. Qualification: the effect concerns symbolic purification of moral self-image rather than hygiene, and it is measured in laboratory settings with modest effect sizes.