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  • October 2011 (Revised December 2022)
  • Background Note
  • HBS Case Collection

Ethical Analysis: Moral Disengagement

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Celia Moore
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:6
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Abstract

Moral disengagement is a process that enables people to engage in negative behaviors, from small misdeeds to great atrocities, without believing that they are causing harm or doing wrong. When Conrad Black, the fallen Canadian mogul convicted of multiple counts of fraud and obstruction of justice, claims that he "would never dream of committing a crime in a thousand years," moral disengagement is what allows him to make that claim and believe it. This note provides an overview of the eight mechanisms of moral disengagement as first described by Albert Bandura, and provides examples of how they operate in our daily lives.

Keywords

Moral Sensibility; Social Psychology; Values and Beliefs

Citation

Sucher, Sandra J., and Celia Moore. "Ethical Analysis: Moral Disengagement." Harvard Business School Background Note 612-043, October 2011. (Revised December 2022.)
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About The Author

Sandra J. Sucher

General Management
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Related Work

    • October 2011 (Revised December 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    Ethical Analysis: Moral Disengagement

    By: Sandra J. Sucher and Celia Moore
Related Work
  • Ethical Analysis: Moral Disengagement By: Sandra J. Sucher and Celia Moore
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