Why We Act Unethically Without Knowing It
It's an uncomfortable message, but one increasingly supported by research. Many of us do unethical things even as we believe we are acting in the right.
- It may explain why bankers sold home mortgages to people who clearly could not afford them.
- It may explain why NASA supervisors approved the launch of the doomed space shuttle Challenger in extremely cold conditions, even when its own scientists advised against it.
- It may explain why you approved an obviously inflated expense report from an employee.
"Having gender or race biases without knowing that you have these biases, overclaiming credit without meaning to do so, being affected by conflicts of interest, and favoring an in-group--such as universities often do when they give preferential treatment to the children of alumni. All these unethical actions can occur without anyone realizing that they are doing anything wrong."
Why this occurs is a bit more complex. One reason is that we are fully aware of right and wrong when we plan something, but the "want-self" trumps the "should-self" when we actually make decisions.
Then there is "ethical fading," our ability to believe there is not an ethical component to a decision when there clearly is one. This can occur under pressure of the moment, such as at the close of a quarter when our energies are focused on making a sales quota. In addition, we are prone to look the other way if the unethical behavior by someone else works to our advantage.
There are things we can do to counter these tendencies, such as putting in place precommitments when we are in the planning stages of a decision. In one example mentioned in the the new book Blind Spots: Why We Fail to Do What's Right and What to Do about It, Philippine farmers who were likely to misspend their money stashed it in a "lockbox" that they could not access for awhile.
Just reviewing the data is another remedy, says Bazerman.
"If you firmly believe that you want to give women and minorities greater opportunities in your organization, but the data show that you always seem to see the white male as the best candidate, this might provide a hint."
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