How do we put a number on hypocrisy? In this episode, we'll Frankenstein a formula for hypocrisy, to help us dissect what factors make hypocrisy (or as I call them, the spinning gears and pulled levers in the Willy Wonka hypocrisy machine).

Listen to find out how to rate a hypocrite.

Here is the formula:

Hypocrisy (H) is the observed difference between someone’s claimed beliefs (CB) minus their perceived behavior (PB), with an intent (I) to gain something from that claim, as perceived by a given audience (A) divided by their gained success (G) times 9

H = ((CB - PB) × I × A) / (G × 9)

(The “x 9” is added as a scaling factor to yield 1-100 results)

Here are some examples of the formula being put to use:

Barely a hypocrite:

• Claimed Belief (CB): 6
• Perceived Behavior (PB): 4 → Gap = 2
• Intent to Gain (I): 2
• Audience Relevance (A): 2
• Gained Success (G): 8

Formula: H = (6 - 4) × 2 × 2 ÷ (8 × 9) = 8 ÷ 72 ≈ 11

Big ol' hypocrite:

• Claimed Belief (CB): 9
• Perceived Behavior (PB): 2 → Gap = 7
• Intent to Gain (I): 9
• Audience Relevance (A): 9
• Gained Success (G): 7

Formula: H = (9 - 2) × 9 × 9 ÷ (7 × 9) = 567 ÷ 63 = 90

Episode sources:

• Brunero, J. (2024). Hypocrisy and Conditional Requirements

• Alicke, M. D. (2000). Culpable control and the psychology of blame

• Alicke, M., Gordon, E., & Rose, D. (2013). Hypocrisy: what counts?

• Collins, T. P. (2017). Hypocrisy in American Political Attitudes: A Defense of Attitudinal Incongruence.
• Lee Best, L. (year unknown) Are you a hypocrite?