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

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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