Unable to resist temptation: How self-control depletion promotes unethical behavior |
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Authors: | Francesca Gino Maurice E. Schweitzer Nicole L. Mead Dan Ariely |
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Affiliation: | 1. Francesca Gino, Harvard Business School, Harvard University, Baker Library 447, Boston MA 02163, USA;2. Maurice E. Schweitzer, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, 3730 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA;3. Nicole L. Mead, Tilburg Institute for Behavioral Economics Research, Tilburg University, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands;4. Dan Ariely, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, 1 Towerview Drive, Durham, NC 27708, USA |
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Abstract: | 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. |
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Keywords: | Impulsive cheating Unethical behavior Ego depletion Dishonesty Self-control Self-regulatory resources Moral identity Ethical decision making |
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