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- 2021
- Article
Does Observability Amplify Sensitivity to Moral Frames? Evaluating a Reputation-Based Account of Moral Preferences
By: Valerio Capraro, Jillian J. Jordan and Ben Tappin
A growing body of work suggests that people are sensitive to moral framing in economic games involving prosociality, suggesting that people hold moral preferences for doing the “right thing”. What gives rise to these preferences? Here, we evaluate the explanatory power...
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- December 2020
- Article
Why Connect? Moral Consequences of Networking with a Promotion or Prevention Focus
By: F. Gino, T. Casciaro and M. Kouchaki
Networks are a key source of social capital for achieving goals in professional and personal settings. Yet, despite the clear benefits of having an extensive network, individuals often shy away from the opportunity to create new connections because engaging in...
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Keywords:
Networking;
Impurity;
Morality;
Motivation;
Regulatory Focus;
Networks;
Attitudes;
Moral Sensibility
- 2020
- Article
The Upside to Feeling Worse Than Average (WTA): A Conceptual Framework to Understand When, How, and for Whom Worse-Than-Average Beliefs Have Long-Term Benefits
By: Ashley V. Whillans, Frances Chen and Alex Jordan
Our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are shaped in critical ways by our beliefs about how we compare to other people. Past research has predominantly focused on the consequences of believing oneself to be better than average (BTA). Research on the consequences of...
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- February 2020
- Article
Being 'Good' or 'Good Enough': Prosocial Risk and the Structure of Moral Self-regard
By: Julian Zlatev, Daniella M. Kupor, Kristin Laurin and Dale T. Miller
The motivation to feel moral powerfully guides people’s prosocial behavior. We propose that people’s efforts to preserve their moral self-regard conform to a moral threshold model. This model predicts that people are primarily concerned with whether their...
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- April 2018
- Article
Consumers Avoid Buying from Firms with Higher CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratios
By: Bhavya Mohan, Tobias Schlager, Rohit Deshpandé and Michael I. Norton
We document a novel driver of consumer behavior: pay ratio disclosure. Swiss corporation performance data gathered during a legally mandated pay ratio referendum reveals that salient high pay ratios are associated with decreased firm sales (Pilot Study). An...
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Keywords:
Pay Ratio;
Wage Fairness;
Purchase Intention;
Customers;
Wages;
Fairness;
Consumer Behavior
- April 2018
- Article
The Power of Voice in Stimulating Morality: Eliciting Taxpayer Preferences Increases Tax Compliance
By: Cait Lamberton, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve and Michael I. Norton
Decisions about paying taxes represent one of the most common moral quandaries faced by citizens. In the
present research, we argue that taxpayer compliance can be raised by increasing “voice”: allowing taxpayers
to express non-binding preferences about the way their...
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Keywords:
Morality;
Public Policy;
Ethics;
Moral Sensibility;
Taxation;
Policy;
Attitudes;
Governance Compliance
- March 2018
- Article
Polluted Morality: Air Pollution Predicts Criminal Activity and Unethical Behavior
By: Jackson G. Lu, Julia J. Lee, F. Gino and Adam D. Galinsky
Air pollution is a serious problem that influences billions of people globally. Although the health and environmental costs of air pollution are well known, the present research investigates its ethical costs. We propose that air pollution can increase criminal and...
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- 2018
- Working Paper
The Upside to Feeling Worse than Average: A Conceptual Framework to Understand When, How, and for Whom Worse-than-Average Beliefs Have Long-Term Benefits
By: Ashley V. Whillans, Frances Chen and Alex Jordan
Our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are shaped in critical ways by our beliefs about how we compare to other people. Past research has predominantly focused on the consequences of believing oneself to be better than average (BTA). Research on the consequences of...
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- 2018
- Chapter
On the Distinction between Selfish and Unethical Behavior.
By: Jackson G. Lu, Ting Zhang, Derek D. Rucker and Adam D. Galinsky
- 2018
- Chapter
In Search of Moral Equilibrium: Person, Situation, and Their Interplay in Behavioral Ethics
By: Julia J. Lee and F. Gino
Book Abstract: This comprehensive and cutting-edge volume maps out the terrain of moral psychology, a dynamic and evolving area of research. In 57 concise chapters, leading authorities and up-and-coming scholars explore fundamental issues and current controversies. The...
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- Article
Is the Moral Domain Unique?: A Social Influence Perspective for the Study of Moral Cognition
By: J. Lees and F. Gino
The nature of the cognitive processes that give rise to moral judgment and behavior has been a central question of psychology for decades. In this paper, we suggest that an often ignored yet fruitful stream of research for informing current debates on the nature of...
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- Article
Moral Traps: When Self-serving Attributions Backfire in Prosocial Behavior
By: Stephanie C. Lin, Julian Zlatev and Dale T. Miller
Two assumptions guide the current research. First, people's desire to see themselves as moral disposes them to make attributions that enhance or protect their moral self-image: When approached with a prosocial request, people are inclined to attribute their own...
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Keywords:
Morality;
Attributions;
Decision Making;
Prosocial Behavior;
Moral Sensibility;
Behavior;
Perception
- Article
Is Saving Lives Your Task or God's?: Religiosity, Belief in God, and Moral Judgment
By: Netta Barak-Corren and Max Bazerman
Should a Catholic hospital abort a life-threatening pregnancy or let a pregnant woman die? Should a religious employer allow his employees access to contraceptives or break with healthcare legislation? People and organizations of faith often face moral decisions that...
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- 2016
- Chapter
Dishonesty Explained: What Leads Moral People To Act Immorally
By: F. Gino and D. Ariely
The last two decades have witnessed what seems to be an increasing number of cases of dishonesty, from corporate corruption and employee misconduct to questionable behaviors during the financial crisis and individual acts of unethical behavior in many spheres of...
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- 2016
- Chapter
How Moral Flexibility Constrains Our Moral Compass
By: F. Gino
Cheating, fraud, deception, uncooperative actions, and many other forms of unethical behavior are among the greatest personal and societal challenges of our time. While the media commonly focuses on the most sensational scams (e.g., Enron, Bernard Madoff), less...
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- January 2016
- Article
Blind Loyalty?: How Group Loyalty Makes Us See Evil or Engage in It
By: John Angus D. Hildreth, Francesca Gino and Max Bazerman
Loyalty often drives corruption. Corporate scandals, political machinations, and sports cheating highlight how loyalty's pernicious nature manifests in collusion, conspiracy, cronyism, nepotism, and other forms of cheating. Yet loyalty is also touted as an ethical...
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- Article
Dirty Deeds Unwanted: The Use of Biased Memory Processes in the Context of Ethics
By: Maryam Kouchaki and Francesca Gino
- Article
The What and Why of Self-deception
By: Zoë Chance and Michael I. Norton
Scholars from many disciplines have investigated self-deception, but defining self-deception and establishing its possible benefits have been a matter of heated debate—a debate impoverished by a relative lack of empirical research. Drawing on recent research, we first...
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Keywords:
Cognition and Thinking
- Article
Ethical Blind Spots: Explaining Unintentional Unethical Behavior
By: Ovul Sezer, F. Gino and Max H. Bazerman
People view themselves as more ethical, fair, and objective than others, yet often act against their moral compass. This paper reviews recent research on unintentional unethical behavior and provides an overview of the conditions under which ethical blind spots lead...
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- Article
Three Principles to REVISE People's Unethical Behavior
By: Shahar Ayal, Francesca Gino, Rachel Barkan and Dan Ariely
Dishonesty and unethical behavior are widespread in the public and private sectors and cause immense annual losses. For instance, estimates of U.S. annual losses indicate $1 trillion paid in bribes, $270 billion lost due to unreported income, as well as $42 billion...
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