Episode
Dr Michael Hallsworth on The Hypocrisy Trap
- Podcast
- The Human Risk Podcast
- Published
- Nov 16, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 3509
- Processing state
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- https://www.spreaker.com/episode/dr-michael-hallsworth-on-the-hypocrisy-trap--68574340
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Summary
We all intuitively know that hypocrisy is a bad thing. But what if it isn’t a flaw, but a feature? But maybe the real problem isn’t hypocrisy, it’s how we think about it. Episode Summary On this episode, I'm talking to Dr Michael Hallsworth , a leading behavioural scientist and the author of The Hypocrisy Trap. We explore a topic that’s instantly recognisable but not often properly understood. Hypocrisy is something we’re quick to spot in others, slow to acknowledge in ourselves, and often design around as if it were avoidable or inherently wrong. What Michael reveals — through personal stories, behavioural experiments, and a careful unpacking of what hypocrisy really means — is that our judgments of hypocrisy say more about us than about the people we’re criticising. In fact, hypocrisy isn’t just common; it’s structurally baked into how we navigate competing priorities, conflicting values and real-world trade-offs. And sometimes, paradoxically, a little hypocrisy might even be useful. That makes it incredibly relevant to human risk. In compliance, ethics, and organisational culture, we tend to assume people should act consistently with what they believe, and we often penalise them when they don’t. But as Michael explains, this assumption can lead us to build systems that are brittle, punitive or out of touch with how people actually behave. This conversation challenges that frame and offers a more human — and more effective — way of thinking about inconsistency, trust and moral judgment. Guest Biography - Michael Hallsworth Dr Michael Hallsworth is Chief Behavioural Scientist at the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) , where he applies behavioural science to policy, organisational design and real‑world behavioural change. He describes himself as someone “helping people a…