Blame the shepherd not the sheep: Imitating higher-ranking transgressors mitigates punishment for unethical behavior

• Main Authors: BAUMAN, Christopher W., TOST, Leigh Plunkett, ONG, Madeline
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2016
• Subjects: Behavioral ethics; Retributive justice; Punishment; Imitation; Social learning; Rank; Status; Blame; Applied Behavior Analysis; Industrial and Organizational Psychology; Organizational Behavior and Theory
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/5095; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/6094/viewcontent/BaumanTostOng2016OBHDP_afv.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Do bad role models exonerate others’ unethical behavior? Based on social learning theory and psychologicaltheories of blame, we predicted that unethical behavior by higher-ranking individuals changes howpeople respond to lower-ranking individuals who subsequently commit the same transgression. Fives...