Publications

SSRN

August 2023 (Revised December 2023)
Case

Automating Morality: Ethics for Intelligent Machines

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Tom Quinn

As autonomy became a more significant part of modern life – most notably in autonomous vehicles (AVs), such as Teslas – ethical debates about whether and how to impart ethics to machines heated up. Utilitarians pointed out that autonomous vehicles crashed much less... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Judgments; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Disruptive Innovation; Technology Adoption; Risk and Uncertainty; Cognition and Thinking; Technological Innovation; Auto Industry; Technology Industry; Africa; Asia; Europe; North and Central America; Oceania; South America

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September 2021
Article

Income More Reliably Predicts Frequent Than Intense Happiness

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, Ruo Mo, Adam Eric Greenberg, Bertus Jeronimus and Ashley V. Whillans

There is widespread consensus that income and subjective well-being are linked, but when and why they are connected is subject to ongoing debate. We draw on prior research that distinguishes between the frequency and intensity of happiness to suggest that higher income... View Details

Keywords: Life Satisfaction; Time Use; Happiness; Income; Money; Satisfaction

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Article

Values, Purpose, Meaning, and Expectations: Why Culture and Context Matter

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

The "rational person" standard, based on assumptions of economic self-interest, has long prevailed in legal reasoning. But understanding of decision making, behavioral choices, and possibilities for action must be enlarged to include a variety of factors that give... View Details

Keywords: Standards; Interests; Decision Making; Behavior; Value; Groups and Teams; Performance Expectations; Organizational Culture; Leadership; Business Cycles; Forecasting and Prediction; Motivation and Incentives

2011
Working Paper

The Dark Side of Creativity: Original Thinkers Can Be More Dishonest

By: Francesca Gino and Dan Ariely

Creativity is a common aspiration for individuals, organizations, and societies. Here, however, we test whether creativity increases dishonesty. We propose that a creative personality and creativity primes promote individuals' motivation to think outside the box and... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Behavior; Creativity; Motivation and Incentives; Personal Characteristics

2015
Working Paper

Thick as Thieves? Dishonest Behavior and Egocentric Social Networks

By: Jooa Julia Lee, Dong-Kyun Im, Bidhan Parmar and Francesca Gino

People experience a threat to their moral self-concept in the face of discrepancies between their moral values and their unethical behavior. We theorize that people's need to restore their view of themselves as moral activates thoughts of a high-density personal social... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Behavior; Social and Collaborative Networks

SSRN

2010
Article

The Ethical Mirage: A Temporal Explanation as to Why We Are Not as Ethical as We Think We Are

By: A. E. Tenbrunsel, K. Diekmann, K A. Wade-Benzoni and Max Bazerman

This paper explores the biased perceptions that people hold of their own ethicality. We argue that the temporal trichotomy of prediction, action and recollection is central to these misperceptions: People predict that they will behave more ethically than they actually... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Values and Beliefs; Framework; Research; Behavior; Cognition and Thinking; Perception; Prejudice and Bias

Web

Topics - HBS Working Knowledge

Communication (42) Investment Activism (12) Investment Banking (6) Investment Funds (12) Investment Portfolio (8) Investment Return (12) Investment (78) Job Cuts and Outsourcing (12) Job Design and Levels (7) Job Interviews (3) Job Offer (3) Job Search (11) Jobs and... View Details

28 Feb 2011
Research & Ideas

The Importance of ‘Don’t’ in Inducing Ethical Employee Behavior

In trying to encourage good moral conduct, it's common for a company to come up with a list of don'ts—wording policies such that they focus on unethical behavior employees should avoid rather than on ethical acts they should strive to achieve. Don't cheat. Don't lie.... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

Web

2023 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

failure and making it work for us. Why Startups Fail Professor Thomas Eisenmann (DBA 1998, MBA 1983) + More Info – Less Info Most startups fail. About two-thirds of venture capital investments do not earn a positive return. Surprisingly,... View Details

05 Mar 2009
What Do You Think?

How Frank or Deceptive Should Leaders Be?

Sridharan emphasized, "keep communication channels open for feedback to assuage any employee anxieties; be cautious in messaging about (the) here and now; stay positive about future plans!" Heather Neary raised questions for us... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

November 2022
Article

Opportunity Neglect: An Aversion to Low-probability Gains

By: Emily Prinsloo, Kate Barasz, Leslie K. John and Michael I. Norton

Seven preregistered studies (N = 2,890) conducted in the field, lab, and online document opportunity neglect: a tendency to reject opportunities with low probability of success, even when they come with little or no objective cost (e.g., time, money,... View Details

Keywords: Opportunities; Behavior; Risk and Uncertainty; Success; Perception

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Forthcoming
Article

Comparing the Value of Perceived Human Versus AI-Generated Empathy

By: Matan Rubin, Joanna Z. Li, Federico Zimmerman, Desmond C. Ong, Amit Goldenberg and Anat Perry

Artificial intelligence (AI) and specifically large language models demonstrate remarkable social–emotional abilities, which may improve human–AI interactions and AI’s emotional support capabilities. However, it remains unclear whether empathy, encompassing... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Emotions; Perception; Interpersonal Communication

May 2008
Journal Article

Future Lock-in: Future Implementation Increases Selection of 'Should' Choices

By: Todd Rogers and Max Bazerman

People often experience tension over certain choices (e.g., they should reduce their gas consumption or increase their savings, but they do not want to). Some posit that this tension arises from the competing interests of a deliberative “should” self and an affective... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Research; Behavior; Conflict of Interests

30 Sep 2019
Book

6 Steps to Building a Better Workplace for Black Employees

that prevents African Americans from ascending to leadership roles. The data is indeed bleak. While an increasing number of African Americans are earning bachelor’s and graduate degrees, the number of black people in management and senior executive View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

24 Oct 2023
Research & Ideas

When Tech Platforms Identify Black-Owned Businesses, White Customers Buy

“Business leaders need to think about the social impact of the business decisions they’re making—and then measure their impact.” “Even in markets where there is anti-Black bias on average, making it easy for people who want to support Black-owned businesses can have a... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Food & Beverage

23 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Men Want Powerful Jobs More Than Women Do

weeks ago, the audience booed her. “People were upset because they thought the paper suggested that we shouldn’t offer women positions of power,” Gino says. “And I want to make it clear that, no, that’s not what we’re saying at all.”... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

May 2019
Article

A Counterfeit Competence: After Threat, Cheating Boosts One's Self-Image

By: S. Wiley Wakeman, Celia Moore and F. Gino

In six studies, we show that after experiencing a threat to their abilities, individuals who misrepresent their performance as better than it actually is boost their feelings of competence. We situate these findings in the literature on self-protection. We show that... View Details

Keywords: Cheating; Self-perception; Self-protection; Competency and Skills; Identity; Perception; Performance

Article

Brand Tourists: How Non-Core Users Enhance the Brand Image by Eliciting Pride

By: Silvia Bellezza and Anat Keinan

This research examines how core consumers of selective brands react when non-core users obtain access to the brand. Contrary to the view that non-core users and downward brand extensions pose a threat to the brand, this work investigates the conditions under which... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Attitudes; Brands and Branding