Why you aren’t as ethical as you think you are - Bazerman and Tenbrunsel, Blind Spots, 2011, 61-76.
Prediction errors p. 62-66
Behavior forecasting error
“Want Self” vs. “should self” p. 66-72
Recollection biases p. 72-76
New Year’s resolutions
Health maintenance
Social dilemmas
Conflict between group and individual interests
Examples:
Nuclear disarmament
Group projects
Global warming
Clinical trials
Theory vs. reality
Want = emotional, impulsive, selfish
Should= cold-blooded, rational, controlled
Ethical behabior
Actual behavior
Dominates before and after a decision
Dominates during a decision
Leads to unethical behavior
Motivations are different at these two times
Ethical fading = lose sight of ethics and focus on personal/business/legal motivations
Example
Ford Pinto
Visceral responses dominate at time of decision
Confronting our unethical behabior causes dissonance, which must be relieved
Cleansing
Physical
Psychological
Moral disengagement = able to behave unethically and still believe ourselves to be ethical people
Revisionist historians p. 74
Self-serving biases (link to critical thinking, Gerras, my add)
Rationalize our role
Change definition of ethical behavior
Ex. Bill Clinton changing definition of “sexual relations”
Deflect blame
Blame others for our failures
Take credit for our successes
Economy
Our boss
Family
Our own intuition
Our own intelligence
Ex. Enron boss
Ex. Cheating on taxes or Olympics… everyone is doing it
Ex. Desensitization: Ten one-hour decisions rather than one 10-hour decision