Do people who make ethical mistakes, intend to? Was someone like Markus Jooste of Steinhoff infamy born unethical – and if not, how did he come to be the person who rationalised his behaviour and decisions the way he did in front of a joint sitting of Parliamentary committees this month?

I’ve learnt from reading the work of scientists in the field of behavioural ethics that having moral intent is one of four keys to ethical action. And amazingly, that we as individuals can improve our moral intent in simple ways, and organisations can provide an environment that makes it easier (or more difficult) to be ethical.

What is ethical intent? Intent is a conscious or unconscious preference for a desired outcome (King & Powell, 2006).

Where does it fit in? Moral intent is the third of four steps in ethical decision-making (Rest, summarised in Prentice, 2015):

1. Moral awareness. You perceive the ethical dimensions of an issue you face.
2. Moral decision-making. You are able to decide on a course of action that is ethical.
3. Moral intent. You want to act on that ethical decision.
4. Moral action. You have the motivation and courage to act upon that desire.

Moral intent means that even if I recognise that I’m facing an ethical issue, and am capable of making a decision that is ethical, I still need to want to be ethical.

Most people wish to be ethical and think of themselves as ethical, but can slip into unethical choices and practices.

How does it happen that I make unethical choices if I want to be ethical? Your or my ability to rationalise is among the most critical facilitators of unethical behaviour. Think about how Markus Jooste and his lawyers carefully rationalised his behaviour during their day in Parliament.

Rationalisations are the reasons people give themselves permission to act unethically, says Prentice (2015). ‘I am an ethical person, but it is ok for me to act unethically in this instance because . . . ‘

We rationalise immoral behaviour in different ways:

• By denying responsibility. ‘I know this is wrong, but the senior partner asked me to do it.’
• By denying injury. ‘I know this is wrong, but no-one will really be hurt by a small lie.’
• By denying there was a victim. ‘I know this is wrong, but that client was so stupid he deserved to get ripped off.’
• By social weighting. ‘I know this is wrong, but other people get away with far worse.’
• By appealing that they had a higher loyalty. ‘I know this is wrong, but I have a family to feed’, or ‘I am known for my loyalty to my boss’.
• By using the metaphor of the ledger. ‘I know this is wrong but I have been mistreated at work so that makes it okay.’

How can you or I improve our ethical behaviour?

The first thing is to know that we make most of our decisions, “including those that are ethically tinged”, instinctively rather than rationally (Drumwright et al, 2015).

“Years of research, much of it summarised by Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman, make it clear that most human decision-making is done intuitively, by the unconscious (brain) . . . before the conscious parts of the brain engage”.

What does this mean? It means you should trust your gut – but not always!

Humans’ innate sense often gets it right, “as when people get a bad feeling in their ‘gut’ when they are about to violate an important cultural rule” (Drumwright et al, 2015).

That said, our intuition gets it wrong, too. The emotions of disgust, anger, shame, guilt, or empathy may lead us to make ethical judgments we cannot logically defend, and which are the result of, for example, favouring our societal in-group.

Secondly, says Prentice (2015), people who are intent on living a moral life must pay attention to their own rationalisations, watching themselves carefully.

If you or I hear ourselves saying, ‘It’s not my fault’, or ‘No-one will really be hurt’, or ‘She deserved it’ to ourselves or others, warning bells should go off in our heads – because these words almost certainly signal that an unethical decision is about to be made.

Thirdly, and this sounds really simple but it works, researchers say that making a verbal commitment out loud – to yourself or others – to being ethical, gives each of us a standard against which to compare our imminent (good or bad) behaviour. Prentice (2014) says he encourages his students to declare out loud to parents, friends, mentors, anyone who will listen, their intent to live an ethical life and to be ethical in their careers.

More about what organisations can do to support ethical decision-making on another day.

References

Drumwright, M., Prentice, R. and Biasucci, C. 2015. ‘Behavioural Ethics and Teaching Ethical Decision-Making’. Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education Vol 13 Number 3.

King, C. and Powell, T. 2006. ‘The Role of Intent in Ethical Decision-Making: The Ethical Choice Model’. Conference paper downloaded from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED504671.pdf

on 28 August 2018

Prentice, R. 2014. ‘Teaching Behavioural Ethics.’ Journal of Legal Studies Education, Vol 31 Issue 2.

Prentice, R. 2015. ‘Behavioural Ethics: Can it help lawyers (and others) be their best selves?’ Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy Vol 29, 2015