Price-fixers had to sanitize illegality to preserve their self-respect

Evidence

Those taking part in the scheme also had the vexing psychological problem of how to retain their self-respect while engaging in criminal conduct. This required sanitizing the illegal behavior and diminishing personal responsibility for it. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1388 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Boesky seems to have achieved it by transforming the moral issue of inflicting harm into a lesser ethical violation of trader rules: “I think ‘immoral’ is probably the wrong word to use… . I prefer the word ‘unethical’” (Stewart, 1991). — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1429 (#expands, via linked claim)

Because individuals have to live with themselves, they strive to preserve a self-view as decent, self-respecting people. There is no self-view more personally devastating than self-loathing. Consider the powerful sway of self-respect in the following examples. An individual goes to great lengths to return a lost wallet containing 34,000. His self-respect trumps material gain: “The money is something, but the feeling inside is worth a heck of a lot more than the money.” Gil Meche, a pitcher for the Kansas City Royals, provides an even more striking example of the extraordinary power that self-respect can exert over one’s behavior (Kepner, 2011). Because of shoulder injuries, Meche was unable to pitch but was guaranteed the remaining 12 million in his contract. In an astonishing decision, he declined the money. As he explained, it was the right thing to do, “Once I started to realize I wasn’t earning my money, I felt bad.” He went on to explain that his self-respect meant more to him than the money. “I didn’t feel like I deserved it. I didn’t want to have those feelings again.” — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 223 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Wrongdoers reframe immoral acts as mere rule violations to preserve self-regard — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 1429; Self-respect can override material incentives worth millions of dollars — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 223; Disguising corrupt payments as legitimate weakens moral restraint over wrongdoing — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 1465 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Criminals must preserve self-respect by sanitizing and deflecting blame for misconduct. #corroborates (0.95) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1388
• Wrongdoers reframe immoral acts as mere rule violations to preserve self-regard #expands (0.92) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1429
• Self-respect can override material incentives worth millions of dollars #complicates (0.75) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 223