Corruption in the Context of Moral Trade-offs. (January 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dungan, James; Waytz, Adam; Young, Liane
• Other Names: Mishra Ajit guest-editor.; Samuel Andrew guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Journal of interdisciplinary economics. Volume 26:Number 1/2(2014)
• Page Start: 97
• Page End: 118
• Publication Date: 2014-01
• Subjects: Corruption -- hypocrisy -- fairness -- loyalty -- whistle-blowing; Economics -- Periodicals; 330.05
• DOI: 10.1177/0260107914540832
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0260-1079

Abstract

Moral psychology has begun to characterize the circumstances that lead people to commit moral violations. However, the decision to engage in corrupt behaviour may not always reflect a choice between right and wrong. Rather, the decision may represent a trade-off between competing moral concerns (for example, being fair and impartial to all versus loyal to one's own group). Taking the tension between fairness and loyalty as a case study, we demonstrate that the way people make trade-offs between competing moral norms predicts morally relevant behaviour, such as decisions to blow the whistle on unethical acts. We then suggest that this tension reflects a deeper distinction within our moral psychology, namely, a distinction between group-based norms (for example, loyalty) and norms that apply universally, independent of group membership (for example, fairness). Finally, we discuss what factors may influence the adoption of group-based versus group-independent norms and therefore, how these factors might deter or promote corruption. JEL: M14 Corporate Culture, Diversity, Social Responsibility