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Sociology: Why Do People Turn a Blind Eye on Unethical Behavior
Since time immemorial, mankind’s coexistence has, to a large part, been greatly influenced by a set of rules of conduct, around which societies have formed and grown themselves the world over. It is these set of rules that principally guide a society’s members over what is considered ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ as they interact in various contexts, and therefore, regulate their behavior. Ethical behavior is what is considered ‘right’. Yet, while these rules have played an important part in their principal purpose of holding society together, it cannot go unnoticed that they are broken as they are observed in equal measure. In light of this, the question begs, why do people turn a blind eye on unethical behavior?
First, an individual is more likely to overlook someone else’s unethical behavior when such behavior serves their interest. As (Gino, Bazerman and Chugh) observed in their experiments, individuals with a vested interest in a particular matter of interest may find it challenging to approach a situation without ethical prejudice, even when they believe themselves, honest persons. This observation would greatly explain why a supervisor in a work environment may assign a junior a task that is not in compliance with the workplace's ethical guidelines. While the supervisor clearly recognizes such action as being unethical by virtue of the organization's guidelines, they consciously delegate the unethical task to a junior employee. In so doing, they ultimately and blatantly ignore not only their unethical behavior in disobeying company policy but also in assigning the very same unethical task to a fellow employee.
To further illustrate this, consider this argument from the compliant employee’s ethical domain and personal interest perspective. The