Trust, authentic pride, and moral reasoning: a unified framework of relational governance and emotional self‐regulation

Abstract

EmiratesThis conceptual article introduces behavioral perspectives into the governance arena and undertakes a psychological assessment of managerial decision making in organizations by elaborating on the treatment of trust and (authentic and hubristic) pride in the extant literature. While trust is conceived by governance scholars as a device for monitoring relationships with others, we argue that authentic pride, contrary to hubris, could operate as an attribute of emotional self-regulation allowing corporate leaders to govern the social behavior of their own self. Contrasting the features of trust and authentic pride, we advance several propositions to capture their relevance and simultaneous importance as viable governance mechanisms in light of a manager's level of cognitive moral reasoning. Our study builds a unified theoretical framework of governance which integrates human agency, psychological states, and moral judgment to foster a deeper understanding of complex self-regulatory processes that are activated by decision makers in the execution of their roles.

Why bad feelings predict good behaviours: The role of positive and negative anticipated emotions on consumer ethical decision making

“…Our second research objective is bound with ranking the specific anticipated emotions that most affect each stage of the consumer ethical deliberation process and assess their relative importance to those outcomes. While a variety of positive and negative emotions can and have been considered in terms of their influence on ethical decision making (Gregory‐Smith, Smith, & Winklhofer, ; Schwartz, ), research suggests a primary role for guilt and pride (Agnihotri et al, ; Spraggon & Bodolica, ; Vitell et al, ). Recently, these emotions have been used to explain ethically questionable consumer situations (Steenhaut & Kenhove, ), sustainable choices (Antonetti & Maklan, , ) as well as pro‐environmental behaviours by consumers (Bissing‐Olson et al, ; Elgaaied, ; Onwezen et al, ).…”

“…Thus, it is expected that negative feelings will increase our ethical awareness and judgement, as well as our intentions to behave ethically and the likelihood that those intentions will be carried out. Therefore, it is proposed that: (Agnihotri et al, 2012;Spraggon & Bodolica, 2015;Vitell et al, 2013). Recently, these emotions have been used to explain ethically questionable consumer situations (Steenhaut & Kenhove, 2006), sustainable choices (Antonetti & Maklan, 2014a, 2014b as well as pro-environmental behaviours by consumers (Bissing-Olson et al, 2016;Elgaaied, 2012;Onwezen et al, 2013).…”

Can compliance restart integrity? Toward a harmonized approach. The example of the audit committee

“…This is the cornerstone of our harmonized approach: prudence as practical wisdom enables the generation of a culture of compliance that tends to minimize the errors in decision making-in a permanent reevaluation-and guides to efficient and legitimate leadership. Thus, in a prudential and balanced view of corporate culture (Kaptein, 2017), the exercise of integrity demands the harmonization of moral and technical engagements (Meyer, 2015;Moore, 2015), integrating competences and personal virtues (Morales-S anchez & Cabello-Medina, 2015;Spraggon & Bodolica, 2015) into the specific organizational character (Rua, Lawter, & Andreassi, 2017).…”

The influence of ability, benevolence, and integrity in trust between managers and subordinates: the role of ethical reasoning

“…This is a current and relevant debate in the business ethics literature. Thinking with ethical reasoning is essential for contructing consistent relationships based on trust (Spraggon & Bodolica ). Some authors defend the importance of having business ethics courses in the curricula of universities (DeGeorge ; Singer ).…”