Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
submittedVersion
Publication Date
2-2013
Abstract
Recent research on the dynamics of moral behavior has documented two contrasting phenomena—moral consistency and moral balancing. Moral balancing refers to the phenomenon whereby behaving ethically or unethically decreases the likelihood of engaging in the same type of behavior again later. Moral consistency describes the opposite pattern—engaging in ethical or unethical behavior increases the likelihood of engaging in the same type of behavior later on. The three studies reported here supported the hypothesis that individuals’ ethical mind-set (i.e., outcome-based vs. rule-based) moderates the impact of an initial ethical or unethical act on the likelihood of behaving ethically on a subsequent occasion. More specifically, an outcome-based mind-set facilitated moral balancing, and a rule-based mind-set facilitated moral consistency.
Keywords
moral balancing, moral consistency, ethical mind-sets, ethical behavior, morality, goals, decision making
Discipline
Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics | Organizational Behavior and Theory
Research Areas
Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources
Publication
Psychological Science
Volume
24
Issue
4
First Page
482
Last Page
488
ISSN
0956-7976
Identifier
10.1177/0956797612457376
Publisher
SAGE
Citation
Cornelisson, Gert; BASHSHUR, Michael Ramsay; Rode, Julian; and Le Menestrel, Marc.
Rules or Consequences? The Role of Ethical Mind-Sets in Moral Dynamics. (2013). Psychological Science. 24, (4), 482-488.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/3593
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612457376
Included in
Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons, Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons