Double Standards: What They Are and How to Respond to Them

• Using double standards intentionally involves an informed, conscious decision to do so and happens mostly when a person thinks that the double standards could help them achieve some goal (helping someone that they favor, hurting someone that they dislike etc.)
• Using double standards unintentionally means a person fails to acknowledge the double standard, and is generally driven by some motivation, often emotional in nature.

To find out if you're dealing with a double standard or not, consider these 2 questions:

• Are two (or even more) things (persons, situations etc.) being treated differently?
• If there is a different treatment, is there a proper, valid justification for it?

A double standard occurs when there is unequal treatment that is not properly justified.

• Make sure that you're really dealing with a double standard and start asking the person in question to explain their reasoning.
• Emphasize the logical and moral concerns related to the double standard you're considering and help the person applying the standard internalize those concerns.
• If none of the above ideas work, choose an alternative one based on the circumstance (for example, you can try escalating the issue to someone who can resolve it or put a distance between you and the the person who’s applying the double standard).

Make sure that whenever you treat similar things differently, you have valid justification for doing so.