Bounded Ethicality

In contrast to the search for the few “bad apples”, my colleagues and I argue that the majority of unethical events occur as the result of ordinary and predictable psychological processes.  As a result, even good people engage in unethical behavior, without their own awareness, on a regular basis.  This argument is developed and documented in much of my recent work.  The following is a partial list of recent work that develops this idea:

Bazerman, M.H., & Tenbrunsel, A.E. Mind Your Gap: Why You're Less Ethical than You Think You Are. Princeton University Press, in preparation.

Kramer, R.M., Tenbrunsel, A.E., & Bazerman M.H. (Eds.), Social Decision Making: Social Dilemmas, Social Values, and Ethical Judgments, Psychology Press, 2009.

Bazerman, M.H. (Ed.) Quanto Sei (a)Morale?: Leadership Etica E Psicologia Della Decisione. (A Behavioral Decision Perspective to Ethics). Il Sole 24 Ore (Italian), 2009. (Edited collection of papers on ethics by Max H. Bazerman and colleagues.)
Bazerman, M.H. & Greene, J.D.  In Favor of Clear Thinking: Incorporating Moral Rules into a Wise Cost-benefit Analysis.   Perspectives on Psychological Science, in press.

Gino, F., & Bazerman, M.H. When misconduct goes unnoticed: The acceptability of gradual erosion in others’ unethical behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2009, 45(4), 708-719.

Tenbrunsel, A.E., Wade-Benzoni, K.A., Medvec, V.H., Thompson, L., & Bazerman, M.H. The reality and myth of sacred issues in negotiations. Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, 2009, 2(3), 263-284.

Paharia, N., Kassam, K.S., Greene, J.D. & Bazerman, M.H.  Dirty Work, Clean Hands: The Moral Psychology of Indirect Agency. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2009, 109(2), 134-141.

Bazerman, M.H., Tenbrunsel, A.E., & Wade-Benzoni, K.A. When “Sacred” Issues Are at Stake. Negotiation Journal, 2008, 24(1), 113-117.
Wade-Benzoni, K.A., Li, M., Thompson, L.L., & Bazerman, M.H.  The Malleability of Environmentalism. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 2007, 7, 163-189.

Kramer, R.M., Tenbrunsel, A.E., & Bazerman, M.H. Social Dilemmas, Social Values, and Ethical Judgments: Touchpoints and Touchdowns in a Distinguished Scholarly Career. In R.M. Kramer, A.E. Tenbrunsel, & M.H. Bazerman (Eds.), Social Decision Making: Social Dilemmas, Social Values, and Ethical Judgments, Psychology Press, 2009.

Gino, F., Moore, D.A., &. Bazerman, M.H. See No Evil: Why We Fail to Notice Unethical Behavior. In R.M. Kramer, A.E. Tenbrunsel, & M.H. Bazerman (Eds.), Social Decision Making: Social Dilemmas, Social Values, and Ethical Judgments, Psychology Press, 2009

Tenbrunsel, A.E., Diekmann, K.A., Wade-Benzoni, K.A., &. Bazerman, M.H. Why We Aren’t as Ethical as We Think We Are: A Temporal Explanation. In B.M. Staw and A. Brief (Eds.), Research in Organizational Behavior, in press.

Moore, D.A., Tetlock, P.E., Tanlu, L., & Bazerman, M.H. Conflicts of Interest and the Case of Auditor Independence: Moral Seduction and Strategic Issue Cycling.  Academy of Management Review, 2006 31(1), 1-20.

Caruso, E., Epley, N., & Bazerman, M.H.  The Costs and Benefits of Undoing Egocentrism Responsibility Assessments in Groups.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2006, 91(5), 857-871.

Epley, N., Caruso, E., & Bazerman, M.H.  When Perspective Taking Increases Taking: Reactive Egoism in Social Interaction.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2006, 91(5), 872-889.

Bazerman, M.H., Moore, D.A., Tetlock, P.E., & Tanlu, L.  Reports of solving the conflicts of interest in auditing are highly exaggerated.  Academy of Management Review, 2006, 31(1), 1-7.

Caruso, E.M., Epley, N., & Bazerman, M.H. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Perspective Taking in Groups. In Mannix, E., Neale, M.A., & Tenbrunsel, A.E. Research on Managing Groups and Teams. Elsevier, 2006.

Chugh, D, Bazerman, M.H., & Banaji, M.R.  Bounded Ethicality as a Psychological Barrier to Recognizing Conflicts of Interest.   To appear in Moore, D., Cain, D., Loewenstein, G., & Bazerman, M.H (Eds.).  Conflicts of Interest: Problems and Solutions from Law, Medicine and Organizational Settings.  London: Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Bazerman, M.H (Eds.). Conflicts of Interest: Problems and Solutions from Law, Medicine and Organizational Settings. London: Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Moore, D., Cain, D., Loewenstein, G., & Bazerman, M.H (Eds.). Conflicts of Interest: Problems and Solutions from Law, Medicine and Organizational Settings. London: Cambridge University Press, 2005.

Bazerman, M.H., & Banaji, M.R.  The Social Psychology of Ordinary Unethical Behavior.  Social Justice Research, 2004, 17, 111-115.  (intro to special issue on the topic of bounded ethicality).

Banaji, M.R., Bazerman, M.H., & Chugh, D. How (Un)ethical are you? Harvard Business Review, December, 2003.

Bazerman, M.H., Loewenstein, G, & Moore, D.A.  Why Good Accountants Do Bad Audits.  Harvard Business Review, November, 2002.

Bazerman, M.H., & Loewenstein, G. Taking the Bias out of Bean Counting. Harvard Business Review, January, 2001, page 28.

 

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