The Effect of Implicit Moral Attitudes on Managerial Decision-Making: An Implicit Social Cognition Approach

Abstract

business ethics, ethical decision-making, implicit association test (IAT), implicit attitudes, implicit social cognition, mental processes, moral judgements,

What Sparks Ethical Decision Making? The Interplay Between Moral Intuition and Moral Reasoning: Lessons from the Scholastic Doctrine

“…Applying such claims to the ethical decision-making process, it seems reasonable to argue that the rationalist approach would consider moral reasoning as one of the processes of System 2, being the cognitive process system that any individual activates to evaluate carefully a situation, come up with a conscious and deliberate decision, and structure a course of action (Marquardt and Hoeger 2009;Provis 2015;Woiceshyn 2011). In contrast, intuitive judgment or moral intuition, being unconditional and spontaneously triggered, seems to be associated with the automatic reply of System 1 (see Fig.…”

“…In particular, the emotional processing is a significant mediator function played by affects and emotions channeling decision makers' intuiting toward affectively charged intuitions (Greene et al 2001;Haidt 2001). This emotional processing encapsulates the experiential state of the decision maker during the actual circumstances, therefore playing a significant role in determining intuitive moral judgments (Greene et al 2001;Marquardt and Hoeger 2009;Whitaker and Godwin 2013). For the purpose of a blended model of ethical decision making, it is important to acknowledge the existence of different types of emotions impacting on the ethical decision-making process, as will be presented clearly in the framework later, specifying that emotions affecting the intuitive and instinctual decision-making process, or moral intuition, belong to the 'hot' system.…”

“…As outcomes of the whole moral intuition process, we have affect-laden intuitions, in a more psychological fashion, or intuitive moral judgments, in a more ethical fashion, which represent an a priori response that emerges in a fast and automatic way (Haidt 2007;Marquardt and Hoeger 2009) and result from an affectively charging process (Dane and Pratt 2007;Greene et al 2001). While the two aforementioned processes of moral intuition are completely nonconscious, their outcome represented by intuitive moral judgments is accessible to the decision maker's conscious thinking (Dane and Pratt 2007;Hodgkinson et al 2008).…”

“…Although a few scholars have tried to shed some light on this aspect, which is considered a pre-stage of the cognitive process (Dane and Sonenshein 2014;Marquardt and Hoeger 2009;Sinclair and Ashkanasy 2005), such a theme remains scarcely investigated. For this purpose, we specifically use the concept of synderesis, a significant element of the scholastic theory on human morality and conscience (Aquinas, 1265(Aquinas, -12741947;Bonaventure, 1259;1956), a Catholic school of thought which has deeply influenced modern Christian social doctrine tradition (e.g., see Benedict XVI, On Conscience, 2007;Melé 2016).…”

Unpacking Intuition: A Process and Outcome Framework

“…reasoning is a post-hoc attribution (Monin, Pizzaro, & Beer, 2007) thereby creating an illusion of control (Dane & Pratt, 2009;Sonenschein, 2007). In an experimental study using a deliberative ethical decision-making task Marquardt and Hoeger (2009) found that managers' implicit (intuitive) moral attitudes exercised an important influence on their decision-making; they concluded that complex and deliberative decision-making processes in the context of business ethics are significantly affected by implicit moral attitudes. Even though individuals may ascribe their moral judgments and behaviors to rationality, intuitionist theories suggest that "individuals first use intuitions and then use post-hoc (moral) reasoning" (Sonenschein, 2007(Sonenschein, , p.1027.…”