Alabama governor Robert Bentley’s misuse of campaign funds for an extramarital affair cost him more than his political career.
Ethics Unwrapped Blog
Ethics in the Field
Many of our Ethics Unwrapped videos present ideas produced by the new research field of behavioral ethics, which studies why people make the ethical (and unethical) decisions that they do. Much of the research comes from behavioral psychology and the “heuristics and biases” research stream created by Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman and his late […]
Being Your Best Self, Part 3: Moral Intent
Moral intent is the desire to act ethically when facing a decision and overcome the rationalization to not be ethical “this time.”
5 Tips for A Peaceful Holiday Season
Happy Ethical Holidays! In his recent book “Drunk Tank Pink,” marketing professor Adam Alter demonstrates how color affects many peoples’ decisions and actions in ways they do not realize or understand. A famous study shows, for example, that men arrested for public intoxication tend to be much less combative if confined in rooms painted pink […]
GVV Pillar 7: Reasons & Rationalizations
By anticipating the typical reasons & rationalizations given for ethically questionable behavior, you are able to identify and prepare well-reasoned responses.
In It To Win: Jack & Moral Equilibrium
By praxent
Abramoff’s version of moral equilibrium, which describes our tendency to keep a running scoreboard in our heads that compares our self-image as ethical people to our actual behavior.
In It To Win: Jack & Rationalizations
By praxent
Abramoff’s version of rationalizations, which are the excuses we make for not living up to our own, or society’s, ethical standards.
In It To Win: The Jack Abramoff Story
By praxent
Featuring former lobbyist and convicted felon Jack Abramoff, this 25-minute documentary explores the biases and pressures he faced, and the consequences of his unethical decisions.
Bounded Ethicality
By praxent
Bounded ethicality explains how predictable organizational pressures and psychological processes cause us to engage in ethically questionable behavior that is inconsistent with our own values and preferences.
Conflict of Interest
By praxent
Conflict of interest arises when we have incentives that conflict with our professional duties and responsibilities in ways that cause harm to others and to society.
Moral Equilibrium
By praxent
When we do something good we get to thinking of ourselves as pretty good people, and can then give ourselves license to fail to live up to our own ethical standards. This phenomenon is known as moral equilibrium.
The Atlanta School District Scandal
I was recently asked to give an ethics talk to a group of high school principals in training. For a time my mother was a public school teacher and a principal, and in my mind these people are to be greatly admired. Although a recent survey found teachers to be a pretty happy and satisfied […]