Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • Article
  • Psychological Science

Contagion and Differentiation in Unethical Behavior: The Effect of One Bad Apple on the Barrel

By: F. Gino, S. Ayal and D. Ariely
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

In a world where encounters with dishonesty are frequent, it is important to know if exposure to other people's unethical behavior can increase or decrease an individual's dishonesty. In Experiment 1, our confederate cheated ostentatiously by finishing a task impossibly quickly and leaving the room with the maximum reward. In line with social-norms theory, participants' level of unethical behavior increased when the confederate was an in-group member, but decreased when the confederate was an out-group member. In Experiment 2, our confederate instead asked a question about cheating, which merely strengthened the saliency of this possibility. This manipulation decreased the level of unethical behavior among the other group members. These results suggest that individuals' unethicality does not depend on the simple calculations of cost-benefit analysis, but rather depends on the social norms implied by the dishonesty of others and also on the saliency of dishonesty.

Keywords

Ethics; Behavior

Citation

Gino, F., S. Ayal, and D. Ariely. "Contagion and Differentiation in Unethical Behavior: The Effect of One Bad Apple on the Barrel." Psychological Science 20, no. 3 (March 2009): 393–398.
  • Find it at Harvard

About The Author

Francesca Gino

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • Harvard Business Review

    Managing a Polarized Workforce: How to Foster Debate and Promote Trust

    By: Julia A. Minson and Francesca Gino
    • January 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Institutionalized Entrepreneurship: Flagship Pioneering

    By: Gary Pisano and Francesca Gino
    • January 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Strategic Agility: Lessons from the Game of Poker

    By: Francesca Gino and Gary Pisano
More from the Authors
  • Managing a Polarized Workforce: How to Foster Debate and Promote Trust By: Julia A. Minson and Francesca Gino
  • Institutionalized Entrepreneurship: Flagship Pioneering By: Gary Pisano and Francesca Gino
  • Strategic Agility: Lessons from the Game of Poker By: Francesca Gino and Gary Pisano
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College