Bringing Ethics into Focus: How Regulatory Focus and Risk Preferences Influence (Un)ethical Behavior
31 Pages Posted: 20 May 2010
Abstract
In four laboratory studies, we find that regulatory focus induced by situational cues (such as the framing of a task or incentive schemes) influences people’s likelihood to cross ethical boundaries. A promotion focus leads individuals to be more likely to act unethically than a prevention focus (Studies 1, 2, and 3). These higher levels of dishonesty are explained by the influence of a person’s induced regulatory focus on his or her behavior toward risk. A promotion focus leads to risk-seeking behaviors, while a prevention focus leads to risk avoidance (Study 3). Through higher levels of dishonesty, promotion focus also results in higher levels of virtuous behavior (Studies 2 and 3), thus providing evidence for compensatory ethics. Our results also demonstrate that an organization’s framing of ethics influences individuals’ ethical behavior and does so differently depending on an individual’s induced regulatory focus (Study 4).
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
-
The Dishonesty of Honest People: A Theory of Self-Concept Maintenance
By Nina Mazar, On Amir, ...
-
Stretching the Truth: Elastic Justification and Motivated Communication of Uncertain Information
-
By Christopher K. Hsee, Frank Yu, ...
-
Dishonesty in Everyday Life and its Policy Implications
By Nina Mazar and Dan Ariely
-
The Endowed Progress Effect: How Artificial Advancement Increases Effort
By Joseph Nunes and Xavier Dreze
-
Do Green Products Make Us Better People?
By Nina Mazar and Chen-bo Zhong
-
Favorable Interpretations of Ambiguity and Unstable Preferences for Fairness
-
By Lisa L. Shu, Francesca Gino, ...
-
The Abundance Effect: Unethical Behavior in the Presence of Wealth
By Francesca Gino and Lamar Pierce
-
Social Value Orientation as a Moral Intuition: Decision-Making in the Dictator Game
By Gert Cornelissen, Siegfried Dewitte, ...