The role of emotions and cognitive biases in ethical decisions

Abstract

Ethical sensemaking is a process of gathering and organizing information in a meaningful way to guide understanding of a situation. Ethical situations in organizations are dynamic with new information often emerging over time. How one processes new information and incorporates it into their understanding of a situation can be affected by emotions, decision framing, and the degree to which the new information confirms or conflicts with initial information about the situation. This study examined the impact of the discrete emotions of anger and guilt, ethical framing, and confirmation bias on ethical sensemaking processes and decision ethicality when new information was introduced, information that either conflicted with or was consistent with what participants already knew about a challenging organizational situation. Anger and guilt negatively impacted several sensemaking strategies. Anger led to lower decision ethicality compared to both guilt and neutral conditions. Mediational effects of confirming and conflicting information on emotions and sensemaking processes were also found. Practical and theoretical implications and areas for future research are discussed.