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Vicarious dishonesty: When psychological closeness creates distance from one’s moral compass
Authors:Francesca Gino  Adam D Galinsky
Institution:1. Harvard Business School, Harvard University, Boston MA 02163, United States;2. Kellogg School Of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States
Abstract:In four studies employing multiple manipulations of psychological closeness, we found that feeling connected to another individual who engages in selfish or dishonest behavior leads people to behave more selfishly and less ethically themselves. In addition, psychologically connecting with a scoundrel led to greater moral disengagement. We also establish that vicarious justification is the mechanism explaining this effect: When participants felt psychologically close to someone who had behaved selfishly, they were more likely to consider the behavior to be less shame-worthy and less unethical; it was these lenient judgments that then led them to act more unethically themselves. These vicarious effects were moderated by whether the miscreant was identified with a photograph and by the type of behavior. Importantly, we establish a general process of vicariousness: psychological closeness produced both vicarious generosity and selfishness depending on the behavior of the person one feels psychologically connected to. These findings suggest an irony of psychological closeness: it can create distance from one’s own moral compass.
Keywords:Ethics  Dishonesty  Interdependence  Perspective taking  Psychological closeness  Unethical behavior  Vicarious self-justification  Vicarious dishonesty
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