Introduction
The issue of human behavior is complicated, and a wide range of variables can affect how decisions are made. Decent individuals sometimes act inappropriately and make dubious decisions to appear more likable, hide a mistake, and many other reasons. People then begin to justify their behaviors and rationalize their conduct. Thus, the paper aims to discuss why good people can act unethically and how to avoid rationalizing such behavior.
Main Body
Dignified humans can present themselves from the disadvantaged side because the behavioral mechanism is rather compound. For example, people frequently depict themselves as being better than they are, which is known as self-enchantment bias (Harris et al., 2015). The self-interested egocentrism bias is strongly connected to the self-enhancement effect. People frequently conclude that self-interested results are both desirable and ethically acceptable (Harris et al., 2015).
Any decision-making is distinguished by various factors, including emotions, intuition, other unconscious processes, and people’s cognitive, deliberate reasoning (Harris et al., 2015). Most of the time, though, individuals are unaware of these effects. These unintentional influences have the potential to produce or contribute to a variety of biases or decision traps that may negatively impact how people assess ethics and values, leading to blind spots and worse decision-making.
Sometimes, people try to rationalize their behavior, but this is not the best decision. When individuals do not feel bad about something, they do not need to justify it. Thus, rationalization is an attempt to avoid feeling guilty and change the perspective of the actions.
Instead, it is necessary to accept the negative emotion and admit if there is a certain reason behind it instead of suppressing the negativity. Discovering the source of discomfort, whatever that may be, allows one to be truthful and make a sensible choice (Harris et al., 2015). Choosing honesty and acceptance of uncomfortable feelings will allow us to stop hiding behind over-rationalization and start embracing sincerity and rightfulness.
Conclusion
Overall, while people frequently feel confident in thinking that they are aware of the aspects that affect decision-making, it is not always the case. Discovering and reducing ethical blind spots is thus a crucial step in enhancing decision-making. By being aware of possible biases, individuals can be better prepared to combat potentially harmful ingrained behaviors and utilize them to their advantage. While doing this, individuals can improve their capacity to stay ethical and fair towards people and, most importantly, themselves.
Reference
Harris, J. D., Hernandez, M., & Guarana, C. (2015). Ethics beneath the surface. SSRN. Web.