Stumbling Into Bad Behavior; New York Times, 4/20/11

Max H. Bazerman and Ann E. Tenbrunsel, New York Times; Stumbling Into Bad Behavior:

"Regulators, prosecutors and journalists tend to focus on corruption caused by willful actions or ignorance. But in our research, and in the work of other scholars who study the psychology of behavioral ethics, we have found that much unethical conduct that goes on, whether in social life or work life, happens because people are unconsciously fooling themselves. They overlook transgressions — bending a rule to help a colleague, overlooking information that might damage the reputation of a client — because it is in their interest to do so."