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Overcoming Bias Commenter's avatar

Isn't it a two-way street, though? Sure, the troubled artist is permitted to be more lax morally, but then the rest of us feel less of a compulsion to contribute to his welfare. The priest, to take this all the way to the other end of the spectrum as far as moral expectations go, has virtually zero leeway in his behavior, but if he needs a helping hand we are much more likely to help him out. So, yes, artists might be able to get away with more, but they don't get that for free.

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Overcoming Bias Commenter's avatar

An underappreciated component of moral motivation is its signaling function in the domain of long-term mate selection. It's less rewarding to cut a good moral figure when your mating opportunities permit more self-indulgent behavior. See Geoffrey Miller on women's preferences for creative men as short-term flings (and across the menstrual cycle), and Julia Pradel on how long-term, but not short-term, relationship desires predict people's attraction to altruistic others.

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