Introduction to Behavioral Ethics | Concepts Unwrapped

Summary

The video script from 'Ethics Unwrapped' explores the complexities of ethics through the lens of behavioral ethics, challenging the traditional philosophical approach. It reveals that ethics isn't just about moral reasoning but is deeply influenced by situational factors and psychological biases. The script discusses how even well-intentioned individuals can make unethical decisions due to overconfidence, conformity, and role morality biases. It also highlights the impact of organizational and social pressures on ethical behavior, emphasizing the need for continuous ethical awareness and dialogue to navigate these challenges.

Takeaways

• 🤔 Ethics is traditionally studied in philosophy departments and through religious teachings, but these don't necessarily correlate with ethical behavior.
• 📚 The presence of study drugs and the pressure to maximize performance can lead students to make unethical choices.
• 🗣️ Behavioral ethics is a new field that explores how and why people make ethical or unethical decisions, focusing on situational factors.
• 👥 Conformity bias is the tendency to follow peer behavior rather than exercising independent ethical judgment.
• 😔 Selfishness and the desire to save face can prevent individuals from speaking up against unethical behavior.
• 🏢 Organizational and social pressures can make it difficult for people to act ethically, even if they have good intentions.
• 🌟 The study of behavioral ethics highlights situational factors that can overwhelm a person's character, leading to unethical actions.
• 🎭 Role morality refers to the different moral standards people use in various roles, such as being more ethical at home than at work.
• 💡 Overconfidence bias is the excessive confidence in one's moral character and ethical decision-making abilities.
• 🔍 Discussing ethics and promoting an ethical standpoint can help individuals discover their personal boundaries and make better decisions.
• 🧠 Ethics should be a continuous consideration, not just a response to specific situations, to foster a mindset of ethical decision-making.

Q & A

Why is the traditional approach to teaching ethics not always effective?

The traditional approach to teaching ethics, often associated with philosophical studies and moral sermons, may not be as effective because studies show that philosophers are not more ethical than others and there is no strong correlation between traditional measures of character and ethical actions.

What is behavioral ethics and how does it differ from traditional ethics teaching?

Behavioral ethics is a new field that studies how and why people make ethical and unethical decisions. It differs from traditional ethics teaching by focusing on situational factors and psychological biases that influence decision-making, rather than just moral reasoning.

What role do psychological biases play in unethical decision-making?

Psychological biases, such as conformity bias, role morality, and overconfidence bias, can lead people to make unethical decisions by influencing their judgment and actions, often in violation of their own ethical standards.

Why might someone feel pressured to use study drugs even if they are not prescribed them?

Some individuals might feel pressured to use study drugs due to a desire to maximize their performance and a fear of being at a disadvantage compared to peers who are using them, despite the unethical nature of such actions.

How can organizational and social pressures affect ethical behavior?

Organizational pressures, such as the need to advance a company's profit goals, and social pressures, like the desire to fit in or be popular, can make it difficult for individuals to act ethically, even if they have good intentions.

What is the conformity bias and how does it relate to ethical decision-making?

The conformity bias is the tendency for individuals to take cues for proper behavior, including ethical behavior, from their peers rather than exercising their own independent ethical judgment, which can lead to unethical decisions.

Why might someone choose not to speak up when they witness cheating?

A person might choose not to speak up when witnessing cheating due to selfishness, a desire to save face, or fear of the social consequences, even if they recognize the action as wrong.

What is role morality and how does it impact ethical behavior in different social roles?

Role morality refers to the tendency of individuals to use different moral standards depending on the 'role' they are playing in society, such as taking ethically questionable actions as employees to advance company goals that they would not take in their personal lives.

How can the overconfidence bias lead to unethical behavior?

The overconfidence bias leads to individuals being more confident than is objectively justified in their moral character and their ability to act ethically, which may cause them to underestimate the ethical implications of their actions or rationalize unethical behavior.

What is the importance of discussing ethics in promoting ethical decision-making?

Discussing ethics is crucial for individuals to discover their personal boundaries and to maintain an ethical framework in their minds. It helps in making ethics a forefront consideration in all decisions, not just a consideration in specific situations.

How can awareness and discussion of ethical issues help in maintaining ethical standards?

Being aware and discussing ethical issues can help individuals recognize when they are crossing ethical lines, encouraging them to act with integrity and make better-informed decisions, even in the face of temptation or pressure.

Outlines

00:00

🤔 The Misconceptions of Ethics and Behavioral Ethics

This paragraph discusses the common misconceptions about ethics, often associated with philosophical teachings or religious sermons. It challenges the notion that philosophers are inherently more ethical, citing studies that show no significant difference in ethical behavior between them and the general population. The narrative then shifts to personal experiences with unethical practices like the use of study drugs without prescription, driven by the desire to maximize performance. The paragraph introduces behavioral ethics, a field that examines the reasons behind ethical and unethical decision-making, often influenced by psychological biases and social pressures. It highlights how well-intentioned individuals can make poor decisions due to heuristics and organizational pressures, and how situational factors can override character, using examples like conformity bias and role morality.

05:01

🧠 Ethical Decision-Making and Personal Awareness

The second paragraph delves into the complexities of ethical decision-making, emphasizing that being a good person does not automatically equate to making good decisions. It acknowledges the potential for individuals to rationalize unethical actions or be unaware of the gravity of their decisions. The discussion includes the role of personal awareness in ethical behavior and the importance of discussing ethics to understand personal boundaries. The paragraph suggests that continuous dialogue about ethics is essential to fostering an ethical mindset, which should be a priority rather than an occasional consideration. It concludes with the idea that promoting ethics through conversation can help establish a framework for ethical thinking that is always at the forefront of one's mind.

Keywords

💡Ethics

Ethics refers to the moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity. In the context of the video, it is central to understanding why individuals often fail to act according to their ethical standards despite having a good moral compass. The script discusses how traditional views of ethics, often associated with philosophical study or religious teachings, may not necessarily translate into ethical actions in real-life situations.

💡Behavioral Ethics

Behavioral ethics is a field of study that examines how and why people make ethical or unethical decisions. It is highlighted in the video as a modern approach to teaching business ethics, focusing on the psychological and situational factors that influence decision-making. The script uses examples such as study drug use and cheating to illustrate how behavioral ethics can help explain why individuals might engage in unethical behavior despite their intentions.

💡Character

Character, in the video, is discussed in relation to moral qualities and ethical behavior. The script challenges the traditional belief that a person's character is a strong predictor of their ethical actions, noting that there is no strong correlation between character and ethical behavior. This is exemplified by the statement that philosophers are no more ethical than others, despite their expertise in moral reasoning.

💡Conformity Bias

Conformity bias is the tendency to follow the actions or beliefs of a group, even when they conflict with one's own ethical judgment. The video uses the example of students cheating on a quiz, where others notice but do not speak up, to demonstrate how conformity bias can lead to unethical behavior. This concept is integral to understanding the social pressures that can override individual ethical standards.

💡Role Morality

Role morality describes the different moral standards that individuals may apply depending on the 'role' they are playing in a given context. The video script mentions how people might act unethically in their role as employees to benefit their company, actions they would not condone in their personal lives. This concept helps explain why individuals might justify unethical behavior based on their perceived role responsibilities.

💡Overconfidence Bias

Overconfidence bias is the tendency of individuals to be excessively confident in their own moral character and ethical decision-making abilities. The video script suggests that this bias can lead people to underestimate the likelihood of making unethical decisions. It is illustrated through the dialogue where students believe they would always make good decisions, despite the potential for temptation or rationalization.

💡Organizational Pressures

Organizational pressures refer to the influences within a company or organization that can lead individuals to act unethically. The video script implies that such pressures can make it difficult for people to uphold their ethical standards, even if they wish to. This is a key concept in behavioral ethics, as it recognizes that external factors can significantly impact ethical decision-making.

💡Selfishness

Selfishness is a personal quality that prioritizes one's own interests over the interests of others. In the video, selfishness is cited as a reason why individuals might not speak up against unethical behavior, such as cheating, to avoid personal discomfort or to maintain social standing. This concept is used to explore how personal motivations can conflict with ethical actions.

💡Situational Factors

Situational factors are the specific conditions or circumstances that can influence a person's behavior. The video emphasizes that situational factors, such as peer pressure or organizational culture, can often overwhelm an individual's character, leading to unethical actions. The script provides various examples of how situational factors can cause well-intentioned people to make poor ethical decisions.

💡Ethical Decision Making

Ethical decision making involves the process of choosing between options that are, or seem to be, morally acceptable. The video script discusses how understanding behavioral ethics can help individuals improve their ethical decision-making by recognizing potential biases and pressures. It suggests that being aware of these factors is crucial for making ethical choices, even in the face of temptation or social influence.

💡Ethical Environments

Ethical environments are settings that encourage and support ethical behavior among individuals. The video suggests that businesses and organizations can create such environments to foster ethical decision-making among their employees. This concept is important for understanding how external conditions can either hinder or promote ethical actions, and it is illustrated through the discussion of how organizations can influence individual ethics.

Highlights

Ethics is often associated with traditional philosophy, like Aristotle or John Stuart Mill, but behavioral ethics focuses on how people actually make ethical decisions.

There is no strong correlation between traditional measures of character and ethical actions, which is why 'good people' sometimes do bad things.

Behavioral ethics studies why well-intentioned people sometimes make bad decisions due to psychological biases and organizational pressures.

Study drugs are an example of unethical behavior in college, with students feeling pressure to cheat to maximize their academic performance.

People often refrain from reporting unethical behavior, such as cheating, due to social pressures and the fear of being unpopular or seen as 'that person.'

Conformity bias leads people to take cues for ethical behavior from their peers rather than exercising independent moral judgment.

Role morality allows individuals to apply different ethical standards depending on their role in society, such as taking ethically questionable actions at work to advance a company’s goals.

Overconfidence bias makes people believe they are more ethical than they actually are, leading to moral blind spots.

A personal anecdote highlights the impact of harmful words, such as homophobic slurs, and the justice that can follow when individuals are held accountable.

Situational factors, like organizational and social pressures, can overwhelm a person’s character, leading them to act unethically despite their intentions.

Students often observe cheating but refrain from reporting it, feeling that it's unnecessary even though they know it's wrong.

Discussing ethics regularly helps individuals discover and clarify their own moral boundaries.

Promoting ethical discussions can create a framework where people have ethical considerations at the forefront of their minds at all times.

Businesses and organizations can benefit from understanding behavioral ethics, as it helps create ethical environments where employees' decision-making can improve.

Ethics should not be treated as an occasional topic but should be integrated into everyday decisions and discussions to foster ethical behavior.

Transcripts

[Professor Robert Prentice] Most people understand that ethics is important, but when they think

of studying it, they conjure up visions of Aristotle or John Stuart Mill because ethics

has traditionally been taught in philosophy departments.

Or, they think of preachers giving sermons to build up the character of their parishioners.

These are important ways to think about ethics, but studies show that philosophers aren't

any more ethical than the rest of us, even though they are likely better at moral reasoning.

And, it turns out, there's no strong correlation between traditional measures of character

and ethical actions, which is why we constantly read in the newspaper about good people

doing bad things.

[John] Something that I experienced coming into college and something I did not experience

in high school at all was the presence of study drugs and of people buying those illegally

off of other people.

The feeling that I got was that, you know, I want to maximize my performance and I deserve

to maximize my performance, and so I'm going to take these things even though I’m not

prescribed them.

I totally felt like if I wasn’t taking those things then I wouldn’t get to...

do my best in college.

That's just a really unfortunate thing for you to feel as you come in as a freshman that

if you’re not cheating you’re not trying.

The latest approach to teaching business ethics, which is highlighted in many of the short

videos in this series, comes from the new field called behavioral ethics, which studies

how and why people make the ethical and unethical decisions that they do.

[Claire] I think a lot of times we're concerned with our own image and how we will

be perceived by our peers and we want to be popular, we want to be seen as the cool kid

in school rather than sticking to our own ethical standards.

I think what keeps me from speaking up when someone is cheating is selfishness.

Because I want to save face and it doesn’t affect me.

[Kelly] No one wants to be "that" person.

[Kelly] Even if you are the person who stands up and corrects someone, if you don’t see it

fixing anything, you get discouraged.

Behavioral ethics focuses in large part upon why well-intentioned people sometimes make

bad decisions and do not live up to their own ethical standards.

Many psychological biases and decision-making heuristics or short cuts cause people to make

unethical decisions in violation of their own standards.

Sometimes these missteps are made consciously; more often they are made subconsciously.

Organizational pressures that exist inside many firms and social pressures that are ubiquitous

in society can also make it difficult for people to act ethically.

[James] I, you know, had this great image in my head that UT was super friendly to people

and didn’t ever feel the need to call anyone out on their sexual orientation.

As I turned around to leave they were like, "whatever faggot."

A professor was nearby and heard them say that and they got called to their dean or

something like that.

So it was kind of like justice!

You say things and you don’t even realize what an effect it can have on other people.

The study of behavioral ethics largely focuses upon these situational factors which,

the evidence indicates, can overwhelm a person's character.

For example, consider the conformity bias, which is the tendency people have to take

their cues for proper behavior, including ethical behavior, from their peers rather

than exercising their own independent ethical judgement.

[Dana] Last semester I was in a UGS class and we had a UGS discussion section.

We had been taking notes and someone was typing notes on their computer.

And then we were supposed to have a little quiz.

They had pulled up the articles that we were supposed to have read on the computer screen.

And then her and the guy next to her were looking on the screen while we were taking

the quiz.

And the TA didn’t notice, but I’m pretty sure me and a lot of the other students noticed

but we all didn’t say anything just because it would’ve been...

We just all didn’t feel the need to even though we knew it was wrong.

And then there's role morality, which describes the tendency many people have to use different

moral standards as they play different "roles" in society.

For example, to take ethically questionable actions in their role as loyal employees at

work to advance their company's profit goals that they would never take at home to put

money in their own pocket.

And there's the overconfidence bias, which is the tendency of people to be more confident

than is objectively justified regarding their moral character and their ability to act ethically.

[Krupa] I think that we all would all like to think that we would make good decisions,

and a lot of it I do think is innate.

I think that if you are a good person, generally you’re going to make good decisions.

[Kirk] No, I think I’m old enough now that I’m not naive to the fact that even though

I think I’m a good person, there will be times where I’m tempted to do something

wrong or may not even realize that it’s as big a deal that it really is.

I may, in my own mind, minimize it to my own advantage.

These concepts, and others covered in Ethics Unwrapped, certainly do not exhaust the ethical

traps that our minds can lay for us, but they make a good start at warning people who sincerely

want to act ethically about psychological biases and organizational pressures

that may trip them up.

This information should be very helpful to people who want to improve the ethicality

of their decision making and actions, and to businesses and other organizations that

wish to create ethical environments in which their employees' ethical decision making can flourish.

[Ghal] The thing about ethics is, you know, you can have a list of principles but you

don’t always realize when you’re crossing the line.

I try to do my best not to and always make sure I’m aware of what's going on.

But, I mean, it happens.

[Gaurav] Unless you talk about ethics, and unless you discuss issues, you won’t discover

your own personal boundaries.

[Luke] The more people we get talking about ethics, and promoting an ethical standpoint,

the more people are going to have it, you know, have that framework in their mind.

It shouldn’t be something you think about every once in a while when you’re in a certain

situation; it really should be something that’s in the forefront of your mind at all times.