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The Hypocrisy Trap

How Changing What We Criticize Can Improve Our Lives

Author Michael Hallsworth On Tour
Ebook
The MIT Press
On sale Oct 14, 2025 | 288 Pages | 9780262384988
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How our desire to stamp out hypocrisy is backfiring—and how learning to target our criticisms better can improve our politics, business, and personal relationships.

In our increasingly distrusting and polarized nations, accusations of hypocrisy are everywhere. But the strange truth is that our attempts to stamp out hypocrisy often backfire, creating what Michael Hallsworth calls The Hypocrisy Trap. In this groundbreaking book, he shows how our relentless drive to expose inconsistency between words and deeds can actually breed more hypocrisy or, worse, cynicism that corrodes democracy itself.

Through engaging stories and original research, Hallsworth shows that not all hypocrisy is equal. While some forms genuinely destroy trust and create harm, others reflect the inevitable compromises of human nature and complex societies. The Hypocrisy Trap offers practical solutions: ways to increase our own consistency, navigate accusations wisely, and change how we judge others’ actions. Hallsworth shows vividly that we can improve our politics, businesses, and personal relationships if we rethink hypocrisy—soon.
  • Introduction
  • Part One: Building the trap: What we get wrong about hypocrisy and why it matters
  • The drive to criticize
  • We hate hypocrisy
  • We see hypocrisy everywhere
  • We enjoy taking down hypocrites
  • Hypocrisy is woven into society
  • The hypocrites we like
  • The hypocrisy trap
  • The real impact of hypocrisy
  • The Trust Machine
  • The Purity Regime
  • Everyday Compromises
  • Brazen Power Plays
  • Part Two: Understanding the trap: How Hypocrisy Really Works
  • A brief history of thinking about hypocrisy
  • Maybe we should ask some people what they think?
  • New insights into hypocrisy
  • Inconsistency
  • What type of inconsistency is it?
  • What’s the extent of the inconsistency?
  • Injustice
  • Why we hate free riders
  • Why democracy puts us on alert for hypocrisy
  • Hunter-gatherers on the lookout for hypocrisy
  • Motivation
  • What happened because of the hypocrisy?
  • Benefits
  • Social status
  • Self-image
  • Double standards hypocrisy
  • “Rules for thee but not for me”
  • “Blood is thicker than water”
  • Dominance and prestige
  • Part Three: Escaping The Trap: What We Can Do
  • Taking a different view of hypocrisy
  • Politics
  • Business
Michael Hallsworth is a leading figure in applying behavioral science to real-world challenges. For the last 20 years he has been an official and an advisor for governments around the world. The coauthor of the book Behavioral Insights, he built a 250-person consultancy business and has held positions at Princeton University, Columbia University, Imperial College London, and the University of Pennsylvania.
Michael Hallsworth View titles by Michael Hallsworth

About

How our desire to stamp out hypocrisy is backfiring—and how learning to target our criticisms better can improve our politics, business, and personal relationships.

In our increasingly distrusting and polarized nations, accusations of hypocrisy are everywhere. But the strange truth is that our attempts to stamp out hypocrisy often backfire, creating what Michael Hallsworth calls The Hypocrisy Trap. In this groundbreaking book, he shows how our relentless drive to expose inconsistency between words and deeds can actually breed more hypocrisy or, worse, cynicism that corrodes democracy itself.

Through engaging stories and original research, Hallsworth shows that not all hypocrisy is equal. While some forms genuinely destroy trust and create harm, others reflect the inevitable compromises of human nature and complex societies. The Hypocrisy Trap offers practical solutions: ways to increase our own consistency, navigate accusations wisely, and change how we judge others’ actions. Hallsworth shows vividly that we can improve our politics, businesses, and personal relationships if we rethink hypocrisy—soon.

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • Part One: Building the trap: What we get wrong about hypocrisy and why it matters
  • The drive to criticize
  • We hate hypocrisy
  • We see hypocrisy everywhere
  • We enjoy taking down hypocrites
  • Hypocrisy is woven into society
  • The hypocrites we like
  • The hypocrisy trap
  • The real impact of hypocrisy
  • The Trust Machine
  • The Purity Regime
  • Everyday Compromises
  • Brazen Power Plays
  • Part Two: Understanding the trap: How Hypocrisy Really Works
  • A brief history of thinking about hypocrisy
  • Maybe we should ask some people what they think?
  • New insights into hypocrisy
  • Inconsistency
  • What type of inconsistency is it?
  • What’s the extent of the inconsistency?
  • Injustice
  • Why we hate free riders
  • Why democracy puts us on alert for hypocrisy
  • Hunter-gatherers on the lookout for hypocrisy
  • Motivation
  • What happened because of the hypocrisy?
  • Benefits
  • Social status
  • Self-image
  • Double standards hypocrisy
  • “Rules for thee but not for me”
  • “Blood is thicker than water”
  • Dominance and prestige
  • Part Three: Escaping The Trap: What We Can Do
  • Taking a different view of hypocrisy
  • Politics
  • Business

Author

Michael Hallsworth is a leading figure in applying behavioral science to real-world challenges. For the last 20 years he has been an official and an advisor for governments around the world. The coauthor of the book Behavioral Insights, he built a 250-person consultancy business and has held positions at Princeton University, Columbia University, Imperial College London, and the University of Pennsylvania.
Michael Hallsworth View titles by Michael Hallsworth

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