鈥淧eople cheat on their taxes, on their spouses, in sports and cards. They commit petty theft and other immoral acts when nobody is looking. People lie to friends and family, and justify these as harmless, 鈥榳hite鈥� lies,鈥� states a recent Huffington Post , 鈥淏reaking the Rules 鈥� And Feeling Good About It.鈥�
The article points out that we typically only hear about egregious breaches of ethical behavior, but it鈥檚 the smaller moral lapses that add up.
A Warning
"When we rationalize our white lies, we are unconsciously lying to ourselves. Rationalization provides us with a warning, often ignored. Yet, failing to heed these warnings听creates a damaging disconnect between our values and actions.听This disconnect is perhaps more troublesome than the ultimate severity or circumstances surrounding the misdeed,鈥� comments Liz Stapp, an instructor of CESR鈥檚 Business Applications of Social Responsibility course.
It appears people don鈥檛 lie and cheat simply because they can get away with it. At some point their conscience kicks in and they feel some aversion to behaving unethically. So it seems people want it both ways: to gain something through their dishonesty, but also to maintain their perception of themselves as ethically moral.
So how do people rationalize their everyday white lies?
Scientists have discovered a few ways. If someone feels their ethical breach benefits themselves as well as others, their guilt decreases - a phenomenon called 鈥渁ltruistic cheating.鈥� Another mode of rationalization is called 鈥渕oral licensing,鈥� when a person鈥檚 selfless, generous acts give them permission to act immorally later on.
Don Oest, a CESR Instructor of The World of Business, has observed students trying to vindicate themselves by explaining that their unethical act hasn鈥檛 harmed others:
鈥淚 believe that people either consciously or sub-consciously rationalize that telling 鈥榳hite鈥� lies is okay because they don鈥檛 believe it is really harming a third-party.听When I have asked students if they cheated on an exam and they admit to it, they strongly believe they are not doing anything unethical because they haven鈥檛 harmed the student they cheated from, even though they are benefitting from that other student鈥檚 hard work.鈥�
Atonement for Unethical Behavior
A third rationalization pointed out by the article, is when a person 鈥渁tones鈥� to preserve their sense of moral integrity after they鈥檝e acted unethically. Atonement can come in the form of a partial confession or referencing another person鈥檚 immoral behavior to justify their own.
Lorna Christoff, instructor of Leadership Challenges: Exercises in Moral Courage, concludes, 鈥淧eople often find rationalization easier when they can remain ignorant of the negative consequences, even when that ignorance is purposefully manufactured or fostered by themselves.鈥澨�
Learning More
Leadership Challenges: Exercises in Moral Courage is a highly-rated CESR class that examines . Executives share their personal stories about critical business dilemmas they have faced throughout their careers.听Contact the CESR office for more information.