Why Moral People Act Unethically

1. Why Moral People Act Unethically CBS Money Watch 16 May 2011

2. Overview • It’s not a coincidence that moralistic individuals often behave unethically • Social psychological research suggests a causal relationship between feeling moral and acting immorally • These findings that have important implications for the difficult task of instilling moral behavior in business leaders

3. Moral credentialing • If someone has behaved morally or in some other way established a moral image, that frees the person to subsequently engage in less ethical behavior–sort of the moral equivalent of permitting yourself to eat chocolate cake after you exercised • People who write about their positive traits donate less than those who write about their negative traits

4. Self-concept • Makes a huge difference in how one acts • There is evidence people who have acted badly in the past act very morally when given a second chance • As a manager you need to analyze how you react to problems • What options do you have? • What effect does your reaction have ? • In the short-run • In the long-run

5. Ethics Training • Paradoxically, providing people with lots of ethics training can actually backfire • Develops overconfidence • They have learned it and now have the right to violate it occasionally • How do you communicate it is a 100% requirement • How do you handle these types of issues?

6. Work Cited • http://www.bnet.com/blog/business-­‐psychology/why-­‐8216moral-­‐8217-­‐people-­‐ act-­‐unethically/365?promo=665&tag=nl.e665   Recovered  16  May  2011