Publications
Publications
- Journal of Applied Psychology
Automatic Ethics: Implicit Assumptions and Ethical Managerial Conduct
By: Scott J. Reynolds, Keith Leavitt and K. A. DeCelles
Abstract
We empirically examine the reflexive or automatic aspects of moral decision making. To begin, we develop and validate a measure of an individual’s implicit assumption regarding the inherent morality of business. Then, using an in-basket exercise, we demonstrate that an implicit assumption that business is inherently moral impacts day-to-day business decisions and interacts with contextual cues to shape moral behavior. Ultimately, we offer evidence supporting a characterization of employees as reflexive interactionists: moral agents whose automatic decision-making processes interact with the environment to shape their moral behavior.
Keywords
Citation
Reynolds, Scott J., Keith Leavitt, and K. A. DeCelles. "Automatic Ethics: Implicit Assumptions and Ethical Managerial Conduct." Journal of Applied Psychology 95, no. 4 (July 2010): 752–760.