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

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5839.html
Authors: Gino, Francesca; Bazerman, Max H.; Moore, Don A.
Source: Harvard Business School
Year: 2008

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Abstract:

Even good people sometimes act unethically without their own awareness. This paper explores psychological processes as they affect the ethical perception of others' behavior, and concludes with implications for organizations. First, there is a tendency for people to overlook unethical behavior in others when recognizing such behavior would harm them. Second, people might readily ignore unethical behavior when others have an agent do their dirty work for them. Third, gradual moral decay leads people to grow comfortable with behavior to which they would otherwise object. Fourth, the tendency to value outcomes over processes can lead us to accept unethical processes for far too long.