Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 2013
  • Article
  • Research in Organizational Behavior

Ethically Adrift: How Others Pull Our Moral Compass from True North, and How we Can Fix It

By: C. Moore and F. Gino
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

This chapter is about the social nature of morality. Using the metaphor of the moral compass to describe individuals' inner sense of right and wrong, we offer a framework to help us understand social reasons why our moral compass can come under others' control, leading even good people to cross ethical boundaries. Departing from prior work focusing on the role of individuals' cognitive limitations in explaining unethical behavior, we focus on the socio-psychological processes that function as triggers of moral neglect, moral justification and immoral action, and their impact on moral behavior. In addition, our framework discusses organizational factors that exacerbate the detrimental effects of each trigger. We conclude by discussing implications and recommendations for organizational scholars to take a more integrative approach to developing and evaluating theory about unethical behavior.

Keywords

Motivation and Incentives; Moral Sensibility; Behavior

Citation

Moore, C., and F. Gino. "Ethically Adrift: How Others Pull Our Moral Compass from True North, and How we Can Fix It." Research in Organizational Behavior 33 (2013): 53–77.
  • Find it at Harvard

About The Author

Francesca Gino

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • March–April 2023
    • Harvard Business Review

    You Need Two Leadership Gears: Know When to Take Charge and When to Get Out of the Way

    By: Lindy Greer, Francesca Gino and Robert Sutton
    • March 2023
    • Social Psychological & Personality Science

    Authentic First Impressions Relate to Interpersonal, Social, and Entrepreneurial Success

    By: David M. Markowitz, Maryam Kouchaki, Francesca Gino, Jeffrey T. Hancock and Ryan L. Boyd
    • January 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Mellody Hobson at Ariel Investments

    By: Lakshmi Ramarajan and Francesca Gino
More from the Authors
  • You Need Two Leadership Gears: Know When to Take Charge and When to Get Out of the Way By: Lindy Greer, Francesca Gino and Robert Sutton
  • Authentic First Impressions Relate to Interpersonal, Social, and Entrepreneurial Success By: David M. Markowitz, Maryam Kouchaki, Francesca Gino, Jeffrey T. Hancock and Ryan L. Boyd
  • Mellody Hobson at Ariel Investments By: Lakshmi Ramarajan and Francesca Gino
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College