Something to think about:
Ethical Double Standards
By Dave Clark, correspondent
SUMMARY: On the whole, Americans aren't as nice as
they think they are.
A Cornell University study reveals that people generally
have high moral standards for others but not
themselves. But ironically, most people also think they're
more ethical than the average person.
For instance, let's say that you find $20 on a public
sidewalk. How much of that, if any, would you give to
charity?
One woman responded this way: "If I find it, I would try
to find its owner."
But when asked what she thought the average person
would do with the money, the woman responded: "I think
they probably would spend it."
Cornell psychology professor Dr. David Dunning said
Americans have one thing in common: they overestimate
themselves.
"People tend to think they're more moral, more kind,
more altruistic than their peers," Dunning said. "They
have other people's moral character pretty much right,
but they're overly charitable about themselves."
Dunning's study, which involved a variety of
experiments, is reported in the Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology. More often than not, the
research showed, people failed to live up to their self-
imposed standards.
Nick Epley, of Harvard University, said the report makes
an important social statement.
"I think in everyday life this serves as a caution for
people to be careful," Epley said. "(T)hese kinds of
errors in predictions -- thinking we would behave more
admirably than we actually would -- leads to a kind of
cynicism, a kind of lack of understanding or compassion
or empathy when we see other people engage in
unethical, or what we consider to be immoral, behavior."
Epley said the study has an ironic conclusion: People
don't use their wisdom about others to successfully
predict their own conduct.
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August 23, 2001
