Publications

June 2023
Article

Amplification of Emotion on Social Media

By: Amit Goldenberg and Robb Willer

Why do expressions of emotion seem so heightened on social media? Brady et al. argue that extreme moral outrage on social media is not only driven by the producers and sharers of emotional expressions, but also by systematic biases in the way people that perceive moral... View Details

Keywords: Emotion; Perception; Prejudice and Bias; Emotions; Social Media

05 May 2003
Research & Ideas

Sharing the Responsibility of Corporate Governance

"You mean me personally, or as a fund manager?" While it may be debatable what constraints ERISA imposes on fund managers' right to interject their own moral sentiments into the portfolio-management process, clearly the... View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

26 Sep 2024
HBS Case

If a Car Can Drive Itself, Can It Make Life-or-Death Decisions?

case quotes Harvard University psychology professor Joshua Greene saying, “Were a friend to call you from a set of trolley tracks seeking moral advice, you would probably not say, ‘Well, that depends. Would... View Details

Keywords: by Tom Quinn; Auto; Technology

Article

Memory Lane and Morality: How Childhood Memories Promote Prosocial Behavior

By: F. Gino and S. Desai

Four experiments demonstrated that recalling memories from one's own childhood lead people to experience feelings of moral purity and to behave prosocially. In Experiment 1, participants instructed to recall memories from their childhood were more likely to help the... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Behavior; Research; Emotions; Relationships; Judgments

February 2007 (Revised March 2007)
Module Note

The Sweet Hereafter Summary: Reasoning from Personal Perspective

By: Sandra J. Sucher

A summary of the major themes discussed in the sixth class of The Moral Leader (EC curriculum). View Details

Keywords: Perspective; Cognition and Thinking

2022
Chapter

Redirecting Rawlsian Reasoning Toward the Greater Good

By: Joshua D. Greene, Karen Huang and Max Bazerman

In A Theory of Justice, John Rawls employed the ‘veil of Ignorance’ as a moral reasoning device designed to promote impartial thinking. By imagining the choices of decision-makers who are blind to biasing information, one might see more clearly the organizing... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Judgments; Prejudice and Bias; Decision Making

June 1990 (Revised October 1991)
Case

Lake Pleasant Bodies Case (A)

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr.

Presents a classic dilemma in legal ethics--the conflict between an attorney's obligations as an attorney, in this case to protect a client's confidentiality, and his or her own moral obligations as a person. An attorney must decide how to respond to the father of a... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Moral Sensibility; Questionnaires; Attorney and Client Relationships; Social Psychology; Conflict Management; Legal Services Industry

Educators

November 2002
Compilation

Four Principles of Biomedical Ethics: Definitions and Examples

By: Sandra J. Sucher

Introduces four principles of biomedical ethics, excerpted from Principles of Biomedical Ethics, Tom L. Beauchamp and James F. Childress (Oxford University Press, 2001). The principles provide a conceptual framework for the analysis and resolution of moral problems... View Details

Keywords: Framework; Moral Sensibility; Health Care and Treatment; Distribution; Problems and Challenges; Research; Emotions; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Pharmaceutical Industry; Health Industry

2011
Working Paper

Memory Lane and Morality: How Childhood Memories Promote Prosocial Behavior

By: Francesca Gino and Sreedhari D. Desai

Four experiments demonstrated that recalling memories from one's own childhood lead people to experience feelings of moral purity and to behave prosocially. In Experiment 1, participants instructed to recall memories from their childhood were more likely to help the... View Details

Keywords: Judgments; Moral Sensibility; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Organizational Culture; Behavior; Emotions; Personal Characteristics; Welfare

January 2016
Article

Blind Loyalty?: How Group Loyalty Makes Us See Evil or Engage in It

By: John Angus D. Hildreth, Francesca Gino and Max Bazerman

Loyalty often drives corruption. Corporate scandals, political machinations, and sports cheating highlight how loyalty's pernicious nature manifests in collusion, conspiracy, cronyism, nepotism, and other forms of cheating. Yet loyalty is also touted as an ethical... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Groups and Teams

September 2001
Background Note

Financial Reporting Environment, The

By: Paul M. Healy, Amy P. Hutton, Robert S. Kaplan and Krishna G. Palepu

Provides a framework for understanding the role of financial reporting and various intermediaries as mechanisms for reducing both adverse selection and moral hazard problems in capital markets. Financial reports reduce adverse selection by providing basic information... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; Capital Markets; Venture Capital; Corporate Disclosure; Conflict of Interests

Educators

05 Dec 2005
What Do You Think?

Is Growth Good?

reporting, and rewarding end and effect—economic growth—than the means and causes of economic growth? Is there too long a lag time between the two to interest managers (and in some cases even policymakers)? Is there too great a physical and View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

25 Jun 2001
Lessons from the Classroom

Machiavelli, Morals, and You

butler in a moral sense. He wanted to give his whole life, a life of service—and 'service' is the word he used—to somebody who was serving a larger cause." Unfortunately, the larger cause Stevens believed himself for decades to be... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

March 2020 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Culture at Google

By: Nien-hê Hsieh, Amy Klopfenstein and Sarah Mehta

Beginning in 2017, technology (tech) company Google faced a series of employee-relations issues that threatened its unique culture of innovation and open communication. Issues included protests surrounding Google’s contracts with the U.S. government, restrictions of... View Details

Educators

21 Jan 2009
First Look

First Look: January 21, 2009

are relevant in moral psychology and have public policy implications. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-079.pdf Dishonest Deed, Clear Conscience: Self-Preservation through View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2016
Article

Vicarious Contagion Decreases Differentiation—and Comes with Costs

By: Ovul Sezer and Michael I. Norton

Baumeister et al. propose that individual differentiation is a crucial determinant of group success. We apply their model to processes lying in between the individual and the group—vicarious processes. We review literature in four domains—attitudes, emotions, moral... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Behavior; Groups and Teams; Attitudes; Emotions

Forthcoming
Article

Punitive but Discerning: Reputation Can Fuel Ambiguously-Deserved Punishment, but Does Not Erode Sensitivity to Nuance

By: Jillian J. Jordan and Nour Kteily

The desire to appear virtuous can motivate people to punish wrongdoers, a desirable outcome when punishment is clearly deserved. Yet claims that “virtue signaling” is fueling a culture of outrage suggest that reputation concerns may inspire even potentially unmerited... View Details

Keywords: Outrage; Signaling; Ideology; Moralistic Punishment; Reputation; Moral Sensibility

20 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

Blind Spots: We’re Not as Ethical as We Think

self-interest and, often, without regard for moral principles—is silent during the planning stage of a decision but typically emerges and dominates at the time of the decision. Not only will your self-interested motives be more prevalent... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

March 2017
Article

Creativity in Unethical Behavior Attenuates Condemnation and Breeds Social Contagion: When Transgressions Seem to Create Little Harm

By: Scott S. Wiltermuth, Lynne C. Vincent and F. Gino

Across six studies, people judged creative forms of unethical behavior to be less unethical than less creative forms of unethical behavior, particularly when the unethical behaviors imposed relatively little direct harm on victims. As a result of perceiving behaviors... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Perception; Creativity