My dissertation explores the rational and emotional foundations of ethical decision making. Traditional research has associated ethical superiority with an analytic, rational decision making process and has suggested that emotions (e.g., empathy or anger) undermine ethics because they lead people to breach ethical principles such as the norm of impartiality. In contrast, my dissertation suggests that rational decision making may actually license unethical behavior when it reduces the experience of emotions such as guilt. Consequently, it may advance ethics in some situations, but interfere with ethics in others. Thus, rational decision making can act as a double-edged sword, making it particularly important to consider contexts and individual emotions when evaluating the ethical implications of rationality.

Last modified

• 08/16/2018

Creator

• Chen-Bo Zhong

DOI

• https://doi.org/10.21985/N2MQ70

Subject

• Management and Organizations

Keyword

• Management
• Business Administration

Date created

• 2007-09-28

Resource type

• Dissertation

Rights statement

• In Copyright