Beware of Rationalizations for Unethical Behavior
Why Do Good People Sometimes do bad things, in general? In the past, I have blogged about this issue. I have explored, “What Does “Doing good by being good” mean? Simply stated, it highlights the idea that when one acts with kindness and compassion (being good) it will lead to positive actions and outcomes (doing good). It suggests that a person’s inherent goodness, their moral character, is the foundation for their helpful and ethical behavior. This concept can be explored in various contexts, from personal relationships, community involvement, and/or business practices.
What Does Morality Require of Us?
How is it that people do things that are inconsistent with their own moral standards and values?
As moral individuals, we should commit to following ethical values to be a good person. Ethical values such as honesty, trustworthiness, responsibility, and integrity come to mind. Good people strive to do the right thing. They recognize that their actions have consequences. They are aware of the rights of others and act in a way they hope others would act if faced with a similar situation. This is the essence of Kantian rights.
Good people think with their head and act in concert with their heart, and they apply the knowledge and wisdom gained through a lifetime of experiences. Good people are honest, trustworthy, fair-minded, and empathetic towards others. Good people are accountable for their actions, accept responsibility for their behavior, and always consider the consequences of their actions and strive to learn from their mistakes and improve their behavior throughout their lifetime.
As I have written before, while good people sometimes do bad things it doesn’t mean they are bad people. Instead, circumstances may arise where they feel pressured by peers, or those they work with, to deviate from ethical behavior. This happens in business all the time.
The Greater Good
Sometimes, good people take actions they believe are for the ‘greater good,’ not understanding the harmful consequences. “We find ways to justify it, rationalize it, minimize it, frame it in a way that we can still feel OK about ourselves,” according to Lorne Michael Hartman of York University’s Schulich School of Business.
“The ends justify the means” is a saying derived from the literary works of Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli. It implies that a positive result merits any negative action necessary to achieve it. This sense of control is another reason why good people do bad things. An example would be going to extreme lengths of civil disobedience, like damaging property, to draw attention to their actions and attention to urgent societal issues.
Although people may feel uncomfortable with what is happening as they move down the “ethical slippery slope,” they convince themselves that “so long as it is legal, it is ethical” or that they are doing what is expected of them. Rationalization — the ability to justify our behavior — is one of our greatest moral failings. Behavior that would clearly be considered unethical by an outsider becomes acceptable to those involved because “this is the way things get done by others in my peer group or work team,” or “it doesn’t really hurt anyone.”
Bending the Rules at Work
Good people bend rules at work due to pressure for results, desire to help colleagues/company (even if unethical), seeing others do it (normalization), outdated rules, or feeling unfairly treated, justifying actions through rationalizations like “ends justify the means” or minimizing harm to maintain self-image while serving perceived organizational or personal needs, according to the Psychology of Compliance and research from The Conversation.
The Role of Organizational Culture
According to Hartman, “If you put an ethical, moral person into an unethical, dysfunctional culture and environment… the culture will win out almost every time.”
And even for those people who resist or report, such as whistleblowers, they may suffer the consequences, says Hartman, citing cases such as Boeing where those who spoke up about defective parts/systems faced firing and informal blacklisting.
“If an unethical salesperson wins sales awards by tricking customers, other employees will quickly learn what the organization really values,” says Lance Ferris from the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa, regardless of what is written in the company’s values statement. This occurred at Wells Fargo where some staff opened accounts customers didn’t ask for to enhance their sales record.
What Drives Unethical Behavior in the Workplace?
While we often assume unethical behavior is driven by personal greed, high-profile corporate scandals tell a different story. In cases like the Boeing 737 Max crashes, Volkswagen’s emissions scandal, Wells Fargo bogus accounts, and so many other fraudulent activities in business, news coverage suggest employees were motivated by a sense of obligation, loyalty or pressure to advance company goals, not by personal gain.
What’s striking is not just the number of people who participated, but how many recognized wrongdoing and remained silent. This pattern highlights a deeper problem: ethical failures rarely result from deliberate malice.
They emerge when ordinary people talk themselves into crossing lines they would normally respect. Understanding how that happens is essential if leaders want to create workplaces where employees don’t just know the right thing to do, but actually act on it, according to Hartman.
Rationalization for Unethical Action at Work
When employees face unrealistic goals, aggressive norms or leaders who silence dissent, the space for ethical reflection becomes increasingly narrow. Rationalization fills the gap, allowing people to maintain a sense of integrity even as their decisions drift further from their values.
Hartman identifies 7 ways to resist rationalization at work:
- Normalizing ethical dialogue.Ethical dilemmas often arise in grey areas, where there is no clear right or wrong answer. Leaders should encourage open discussions about ambiguous situations before they escalate into problems.
- Rewarding the process, not only the result.When outcomes are all that matter, employees are more likely to cut corners or bend rules to achieve targets. By recognizing the work process, organizations reinforce the importance of integrity alongside performance.
- Modelling moral humility.Leaders set the tone for acceptable behavior. When they admit mistakes, they signal ethics is about vigilance, not moral perfection.
- Building in “ethical speed bumps.”People are more likely to rationalize decisions under pressure. Interventions like checklists, second reviews or pausing to slow down can give employees the time to consider whether their actions align with ethical standards.
- Creating psychological safety.Employees must feel confident that raising concerns or questioning decisions won’t lead to fear of reprisal or harm to their careers. Creating psychologically safe workplaces reduces the likelihood of ethical lapses.
- Aligning incentives with values.When incentives focus only on short-term results or profit, employees are more likely to justify harmful shortcuts. Performance metrics should emphasize collaboration, accountability, feedback and conflict resolution.
- Supporting well-being and work-life balance.Stress and burnout make people more prone to self-justification. Policies that support well-being indirectly foster ethical workplace behavior.
These approaches reflect growing evidence that behavior change requires more than information. It requires habit formation, cultural reinforcement and aligned systems.
Doing Good by Being Good
“What Does “Doing good by being good” mean? Simply stated, it highlights the idea that when one acts with kindness and compassion (being good) it will lead to positive actions and outcomes (doing good). It suggests that a person’s inherent goodness, their moral character, is the foundation for their helpful and ethical behavior. This concept can be explored in various contexts, from personal relationships, such as Cosby, community involvement, and/or business practices, such as those committed by Madoff.
As moral individuals, we should commit to following ethical values to be a good person. Ethical values such as honesty, trustworthiness, responsibility, and integrity come to mind. Good people strive to do the right thing. They recognize that their actions have consequences. They are aware of the rights of others and act in a way they hope others would act if faced with similar situations.
Good people think with their head and act in concert with their heart, and they apply the knowledge and wisdom gained through a lifetime of experiences. Good people are honest, trustworthy, fair-minded, and empathetic towards others. Good people accept responsibility for the consequences of their actions and strive to learn from their mistakes; improve their behavior throughout their lifetime.
Blog posted on January 21, 2026, by Steven Mintz, Ph.D, Professor Emeritus Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Find out more about Steve’s activities at: https://www.stevenmintzethics.com/. Sign up for his blogs at: https://www.ethicssage.com and https://www.workplaceethicsadvice.com.