Corruption in the Context of Moral Trade-offs

James Dungan, Adam Waytz and Liane Young
Additional contact information
James Dungan: James Dungan (corresponding author), Department of Psychology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA. E-mail: james.dungan@bc.edu
Adam Waytz: Adam Waytz, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. E-mail: a-waytz@kellogg.northwestern.edu
Liane Young: Liane Young, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA. E-mail: liane.young@bc.edu

Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, 2014, vol. 26, issue 1-2, 97-118

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

Keywords: Corruption; hypocrisy; fairness; loyalty; whistle-blowing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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