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  • 2009
  • Chapter
  • Social Decision Making: Social Dilemmas, Social Values, and Ethical Judgments

See No Evil: When We Overlook Other People's Unethical Behavior

By: Francesca Gino, Don A. Moore and M. H. Bazerman
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Abstract

It is common for people to be more critical of others' ethical choices than of their own. This chapter explores those remarkable circumstances in which people see no evil in others' unethical behavior. Specifically, we explore 1) the motivated tendency to overlook the unethical behavior of others when we recognize the unethical behavior would harm us; 2) the tendency to ignore unethical behavior unless it is clear, immediate, and direct; 3) the tendency to ignore unethical behavior when ethicality erodes slowly over time; and 4) the tendency to assess unethical behaviors only after the unethical behavior has resulted in a bad outcome, but not during the decision process.

Keywords

Decision Choices and Conditions; Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives

Citation

Gino, Francesca, Don A. Moore, and M. H. Bazerman. "See No Evil: When We Overlook Other People's Unethical Behavior." Chap. 10 in Social Decision Making: Social Dilemmas, Social Values, and Ethical Judgments, edited by R. M. Kramer, A. E. Tenbrunsel, and M. H. Bazerman, 241–263. Routledge, 2009.

About The Authors

Francesca Gino

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

Max H. Bazerman

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

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    Mellody Hobson at Ariel Investments

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    Ed Catmull: Lessons from Leading Pixar Animation Studios

    By: Francesca Gino, Linda Hill, Gary Pisano and Ruth Page
    • 2022
    • Behavioral Science & Policy

    Leadership & Overconfidence

    By: Don A Moore and Max H. Bazerman
More from the Authors
  • Mellody Hobson at Ariel Investments By: Lakshmi Ramarajan and Francesca Gino
  • Ed Catmull: Lessons from Leading Pixar Animation Studios By: Francesca Gino, Linda Hill, Gary Pisano and Ruth Page
  • Leadership & Overconfidence By: Don A Moore and Max H. Bazerman
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