Harvard University, Boston, MA 02163, USA.
Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2011 Mar;37(3):330-49. doi: 10.1177/0146167211398138.
People routinely engage in dishonest acts without feeling guilty about their behavior. When and why does this occur? Across four studies, people justified their dishonest deeds through moral disengagement and exhibited motivated forgetting of information that might otherwise limit their dishonesty. Using hypothetical scenarios (Studies 1 and 2) and real tasks involving the opportunity to cheat (Studies 3 and 4), the authors find that one's own dishonest behavior increased moral disengagement and motivated forgetting of moral rules. Such changes did not occur in the case of honest behavior or consideration of the dishonest behavior of others. In addition, increasing moral saliency by having participants read or sign an honor code significantly reduced unethical behavior and prevented subsequent moral disengagement. Although dishonest behavior motivated moral leniency and led to forgetting of moral rules, honest behavior motivated moral stringency and diligent recollection of moral rules.
人们经常会做出不诚实的行为，而不会对自己的行为感到内疚。这种情况何时以及为何会发生？在四项研究中，人们通过道德解脱为自己的不诚实行为辩护，并表现出对可能限制其不诚实行为的信息的有意遗忘。通过假设情景（研究 1 和 2）和涉及欺骗机会的真实任务（研究 3 和 4），作者发现一个人的不诚实行为会增加道德解脱和对道德规则的有意遗忘。在诚实行为或考虑他人不诚实行为的情况下，这种情况不会发生。此外，通过让参与者阅读或签署荣誉准则来提高道德显著性，可显著减少不道德行为，并防止随后的道德解脱。虽然不诚实的行为促使人们对自己宽容，但也导致对道德规则的遗忘，但诚实的行为促使人们严格遵守道德规范，并勤奋地回忆起道德规范。
