Repeating the Past: Prevention Focus Motivates Repetition, Even for Unethical Decisions

Psychological Science

Volumn 25, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 179-187

  Zhang, Shu ^a   Cornwell, James F M ^a   Higgins, E Tory ^a  

^a Och Spine at New York Presbyterian Hospitals   (United States)

Author keywords

ethics; morality; motivation; prevention focus; regulatory focus; slippery slope

Indexed keywords

ADULT; DECISION MAKING; FEMALE; HUMAN; MALE; MORALITY; MOTIVATION; PHYSIOLOGY; YOUNG ADULT;

ADULT; DECISION MAKING; FEMALE; HUMANS; MALE; MORALS; MOTIVATION; YOUNG ADULT;

EID: 84891931601     PISSN: 09567976     EISSN: 14679280     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0956797613502363     Document Type: Article

References (41)

1. Ariely D.Predictably irrational: The hidden forces that shape our decisions. London, England: Harper; 2009:.
2. Ariely D.,Loewenstein G.,Prelec D.Coherent arbitrariness: Stable demand curves without stable preferences.Quarterly Journal of Economics. 2003;118:73-106.
3. Ashforth B. E.,Anand V.The normalization of corruption in organizations.Research in Organizational Behavior. 2003;25:1-52.
4. Beauvois J.-L.,Joule R.-V.,Brunetti F.Cognitive rationalization and act rationalization in an escalation of commitment.Basic and Applied Social Psychology. 1993;14:1-17.
5. Camacho C. J.,Higgins E. T.,Luger L.Moral value transfer from regulatory fit: "What feels right is right" and "what feels wrong is wrong.".Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2003;84:498-510.
6. Cialdini R. B.,Trost M. R.,Newsom J. T.Preference for consistency: The development of a valid measure and the discovery of surprising behavioral implications.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1995;69:318-328.
7. Clinard M. B.,Yeager P. C.Corporate crime. New York, NY: Free Press; 1980:.
8. Crowe E.,Higgins E. T.Regulatory focus and strategic inclinations: Promotion and prevention in decision-making.Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 1997;69:117-132.
9. Darley J. M.Social organization for the production of evil.Psychological Inquiry. 1992;3:199-218.
10. Fleming P.,Zyglidopoulos S. C.The escalation of deception in organizations.Journal of Business Ethics. 2008;81:837-850.
11. Förster J.,Friedman R. S.,Özelsel A.,Denzler D.Enactment of approach and avoidance behavior influences the scope of perceptual and conceptual attention.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2006;42:133-146.
12. Friedman R. S.,Förster J.The effects of promotion and prevention cues on creativity.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2001;81:1001-1013.
13. Gino F.,Bazerman M. H.When misconduct goes unnoticed: The acceptability of gradual erosion in others' unethical behavior.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2009;45:708-719.
14. Gino F.,Margolis J. D.Bring ethics into focus: How regulatory focus and risk preferences influence (un)ethical behavior.Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 2011;115:145-156.
15. Greve H. R.,Palmer D.,Pozner J.-E.Organizations gone wild: The causes, processes, and consequences of organizational misconduct.Academy of Management Annals. 2010;4:53-107.
16. Halvorson H. G.,Higgins E. T.Know what really motivates you.Harvard Business Review. 2013;91:117-120.
17. Higgins E. T.The "self digest": Self-knowledge serving self-regulatory functions.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1996;71:1062-1083.
18. Higgins E. T.Beyond pleasure and pain.American Psychologist. 1997;52:1280-1300.
19. Higgins E. T.Advances in experimental social psychology. Zanna M. P., ed. New York, NY: Academic Press; 1998:1-46.
20. Higgins E. T.Value from regulatory fit.Current Directions in Psychological Science. 2005;14:209-213.
21. Higgins E. T.Beyond pleasure and pain: How motivation works. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2012:.
22. Higgins E. T.,Friedman R. S.,Harlow R. E.,Idson L. C.,Ayduk O. N.,Taylor A.Achievement orientations from subjective histories of success: Promotion pride versus prevention pride.European Journal of Social Psychology. 2001;31:3-23.
23. Jordan J.,Mullen E.,Murnighan J. K.Striving for the moral self: The effects of recalling past moral actions on future moral behavior.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 2011;37:701-713.
24. Karp R.,Gold D.,Tan M.Teaching materials for negotiations and decision making. 2008. Brett J. M., ed. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University, Dispute Resolution Research Center; 1998:12.
25. Kern M. C.,Chugh D.Bounded ethicality: The perils of loss framing.Psychological Science. 2009;20:378-384.
26. Leonardelli G. J.,Lakin J. L.,Arkin R. M.A regulatory focus model of self-evaluation.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 2007;43:1002-1009.
27. Liberman N.,Idson L. C.,Camacho C. J.,Higgins E. T.Promotion and prevention choices between stability and change.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1999;77:1135-1145.
28. Mazar N.,Amir O.,Ariely D.The dishonesty of honest people: A theory of self-concept maintenance.Journal of Marketing Research. 2008;45:633-644.
29. Monin B.,Jordan A. H.Personality, identity, and character: Explorations in moral psychology. Narvaez D.Lapsley D. K., ed. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press; 2009:341-354.
30. Moore D. A.,Tetlock P. E.,Tanlu L.,Bazerman M. H.Conflicts of interest and the case of auditor independence: Moral seduction and strategic issue cycling.Academy of Management Review. 2006;31:10-29.
31. Pfarrer M. D.,Decelles K. A.,Smith K. G.,Taylor M. S.After the fall: Reintegrating the corrupt organization.Academy of Management Review. 2008;33:730-749.
32. Ruedy N. E.,Schweitzer M. E.In the moment: The effect of mindfulness on ethical decision making.Journal of Business Ethics. 2011;95:73-87.
33. Sachdeva S.,Iliev R.,Medin D. L.Sinning saints and saintly sinners: The paradox of moral self-regulation.Psychological Science. 2009;20:523-528.
34. Schrand C. M.,Zechman S.Executive overconfidence and the slippery slope to financial misreporting.Journal of Accounting & Economics. 2012;53:311-329.
35. Shah J.,Higgins E. T.,Friedman R. S.Performance incentives and means: How regulatory focus influences goal attainment.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1998;74:285-293.
36. Steinel W.,Utz S.,Koning L.The good, the bad and the ugly thing to do when sharing information: Revealing, concealing and lying depend on social motivation, distribution and importance of information.Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 2010;113:85-96.
37. Tangney J. P.,Stuewig J.,Mashek D. J.Moral emotions and moral behavior.Annual Review of Psychology. 2007;58:345-372.
38. Tenbrunsel A. E.,Messick D. M.Ethical fading: The role of self-deception in unethical behavior.Social Justice Research. 2004;17:223-236.
39. Weiss L.,Johar G. V.Products as self-evaluation standards. 2012;:.
40. Zhang S.,Higgins E. T.,Chen G.Managing others like you were managed: How prevention focus motivates copying interpersonal norms.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2011;100:647-663.
41. Zhong C. B.,Ku G.,Lount R. B.,Murnighan J. K.Compensatory ethics.Journal of Business Ethics. 2010;92:323-339.