Moral rationalization and the integration of situational factors and psychological processes in immoral behavior.

Abstract

Moral rationalization is an individual's ability to reinterpret his or her immoral actions as, in fact, moral. It arises out of a conflict of motivations and a need to see the self as moral. This article presents a model of evil behavior demonstrating how situational factors that obscure moral relevance can interact with moral rationalization and lead to a violation of moral principles. Concepts such as cognitive dissonance and self-affirmation are used to explain the processes underlying moral rationalization, and different possible methods of moral rationalization are described. Also, research on moral rationalization and its prevention is reviewed.

Cites (62)

1. A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
   Festinger, Leon · 1957
2. Untitled work
   1985 · Medical Entomology and Zoology
3. A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
   2017 · Macat Library eBooks
4. The psychology of interpersonal relations.
   Heider, Fritz · 1958
5. The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations.
   Newcomb, Theodore, Heider, Fritz · 1958 · American Sociological Review
6. The case for motivated reasoning.
   Kunda, Ziva · 1990 · Psychological Bulletin
7. Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and affect.
   Higgins, E. Tory · 1987 · Psychological Review
8. Beyond pleasure and pain
   Higgins, E. Tory · 1997 · American Psychologist
9. Civilization and Its Discontents
   Freud, Sigmund · 2018 · Princeton Readings in Political Thought
10. Moral Disengagement in the Perpetration of Inhumanities
    Bandura, Albert · 1999 · Personality and Social Psychology Review

Show all 62 references

Cited by (11)

1. Rationalizing meat consumption. The 4Ns
   Piazza, Jared, Ruby, Matthew B., Loughnan, Steve, Luong, Mischel, Kulik, Juliana, Watkins, Hanne M., Seigerman, Mirra · 2015 · Appetite
2. When Employees Do Bad Things for Good Reasons: Examining Unethical Pro-Organizational Behaviors
   Umphress, Elizabeth E., Bingham, John B. · 2011 · Organization Science
3. Normalizing Dirty Work: Managerial Tactics For Countering Occupational Taint
   E. Ashforth, Blake, E. Kreiner, Glen, A. Clark, Mark, Fugate, Mel · 2007 · Academy of Management Journal
4. Escaping affect: how motivated emotion regulation creates insensitivity to mass suffering.
   Cameron, C. Daryl, Payne, B. Keith · 2011 · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
5. Ethical Decision-Making Theory: An Integrated Approach
   Schwartz, Mark S. · 2016 · Journal of Business Ethics

See all 299