Unable to resist temptation: How self-control depletion promotes unethical behavior
Across four experimental studies, individuals who were depleted of their self-regulatory resources by an initial act of self-control were more likely to "impulsively cheat" than individuals whose self-regulatory resources were intact. Our results demonstrate that individuals depleted of self-control resources were more likely to behave dishonestly (Study 1). Depletion reduced people's moral awareness when they faced the opportunity to cheat, which, in turn, was responsible for heightened cheating (Study 2). Individuals high in moral identity, however, did not show elevated levels of cheating when they were depleted (Study 3), supporting our hypothesis that self-control depletion increases cheating when it robs people of the executive resources necessary to identify an act as immoral or unethical. Our results also show that resisting unethical behavior both requires and depletes self-control resources (Study 4). Taken together, our findings help to explain how otherwise ethical individuals predictably engage in unethical behavior.
Year of publication: |
2011
|
---|---|
Authors: | Gino, Francesca ; Schweitzer, Maurice E. ; Mead, Nicole L. ; Ariely, Dan |
Published in: |
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. - Elsevier, ISSN 0749-5978. - Vol. 115.2011, 2, p. 191-203
|
Publisher: |
Elsevier |
Keywords: | Impulsive cheating Unethical behavior Ego depletion Dishonesty Self-control Self-regulatory resources Moral identity Ethical decision making |
Saved in:
Online Resource
Saved in favorites
Similar items by person
-
Unable to resist temptation: How self-control depletion promotes unethical behavior
Gino, Francesca, (2011)
-
Unable to resist temptation: How self-control depletion promotes unethical behavior
Gino, Francesca, (2011)
-
Don't stop believing : rituals improve performance by decreasing anxiety
Brooks, Alison Wood, (2016)
- More ...