Disguising unlawful payments weakens restraint without reducing guilt’s self-costs.
Evidence
Anil Kumar initially turned down the offer to become a tipster in exchange for payment through a hidden Swiss bank account or for a share of the profits from illegal trading, both of which he regarded as criminal. However, he agreed to the offer when he and Rajaratnam found a way to bundle the corrupt money with payments for lawful consulting services, thus adding a semblance of legitimacy to his activities. Masking the unlawful payment weakened restraint over transgressive conduct but did not diminish the self-devaluative costs. Kumar ended up viewing himself as a “reluctant felon” Others traded morality for substantial payments coupled with friendship. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1465
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships
- SEED: Angle: the ‘semblance of legitimacy’ mechanism — how moral disengagement operates through cosmetic reframing of conduct rather than denial, applicable to everything from insider trading to corrupt consulting fees.