Bounded Ethicality: The Perils of Loss Framing

By Mary C. Kern and Dolly Chugh

Psychological Science

(2009) Volume 20, Number 3, pp 378-384

Abstract

Ethical decision making is vulnerable to the forces of automaticity. People behave differently in the face of a potential loss versus a potential gain, even when the two situations are transparently identical. Across three experiments, decision makers engaged in more unethical behavior if a decision was presented in a loss frame than if the decision was presented in a gain frame. In Experiment 1, participants in the loss-frame condition were more likely to favor gathering ‘‘insider information’’ than were participants in the gain-frame condition. In Experiment 2, negotiators in the loss-frame condition lied more than negotiators in the gain-frame condition. In Experiment 3, the tendency to be less ethical in the loss-frame condition occurred under time pressure and was eliminated through the removal of time pressure.

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Framing

In the studies reported here, we explored the effect of automaticity on the cognitions and behaviors of decision makers in the moment of ethical choice. What are the roles of the decision maker’s cognitive framing of the situation and the decision maker’s available cognitive resources?  We turned to framing effects (Tversky & Kahneman, 1981) as the foundation of our inquiry.  The transformative effects of framing are well established (for reviews, see Camerer, 2000; Kuhberger, 1998). A framing effect occurs when transparently and objectively identical situations generate dramatically different decisions depending on whether the situations are presented, or perceived, as potential losses or gains (Tversky & Kahneman, 1981). Framing effects are integral to prospect theory (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979; Tversky & Kahneman, 1981), a model of choice that describes an ‘‘S-shaped value function’’ to illustrate the differences in how gains and losses, relative to a reference point, are valued. A critical feature of this curve is that it has a steeper slope in the loss domain than in the gain domain. As a result, people are loss averse; that is, they are willing to go to greater lengths to avoid a loss than to obtain a gain of a similar size (Kahneman, Knetsch, & Thaler, 1990; Tversky & Kahneman, 1991).

We considered the implications of framing effects for ethics.  When making decisions, individuals often choose from an array of possible responses, with some choices being more, or less, ethical than others. Given the previous work on framing effects, we reasoned that individuals who perceive a potential outcome as a loss will go to greater lengths, and engage in more unethical behavior, to avert that loss than will individuals who perceive a similarly sized gain. This logic formed the initial basis for the present research.

The entire article is here.

Penn Dean Put on Leave in Probe over Degree

By Susan Snyder
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Originally published on April 26, 2012

The University of Pennsylvania placed the vice dean of its Graduate School of Education on administrative leave late Wednesday after The Inquirer began asking questions about his false claim to have a doctoral degree.

Doug E. Lynch has claimed on his resumé that he received the degree from Columbia University. A faculty website repeatedly refers to him as "Dr. Lynch."

Earlier Wednesday, Penn officials said they became aware of the misrepresentation a couple of months ago, taking unspecified "appropriate sanctions" but deciding to leave Lynch in his leadership role.

That changed after The Inquirer placed a call to Penn president Amy Gutmann for comment. The university then issued a one-sentence statement from Stephen J. MacCarthy, vice president for university communications.

"Doug Lynch has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an ongoing investigation," MacCarthy's statement said.

The entire story is here.

CDC Social Media Tools, Guidelines & Best Practices

"The use of social media tools is a powerful channel to reach target audiences with strategic, effective and user-centric health interventions. To assist in the planning, development and implementation of social media activities, the following guidelines have been developed to provide critical information on lessons learned, best practices, clearance information and security requirements. Although these guidelines have been developed for the use of these channels at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), they may be useful materials for other federal, state and local agencies as well as private organizations to reference when developing social media tools."

The site can be found here.

The site includes a Social Media Toolkit, a Guide to Writing for Social Media, and Twitter Guidelines and Best Practices, to name a few.

Thanks to Pauline Wallin for this information.

Another link to these resources can be found on our Resources, Guides, and Guidelines page.

Does Medicine Discourage Gay Doctors?

By Pauline W. Chen, M.D.
The New York Times - Well
Originally published April 26, 2012

During my surgical training, whenever the conversation turned to relationships, one of my colleagues would always joke about his inability to get a date, then abruptly change the subject. I thought he might be gay but never asked him outright, because it didn’t seem important.

But one morning, while we working at the nurses’ station with several of the other doctors-in-training, I realized it was important, because at the hospital, he really couldn’t be himself.

That morning, one of the senior surgeons stormed over. He had found one of his patients feeling slightly short of breath, no doubt because of an insufficient dose of diuretic overnight.

“Which of you idiots,” he growled at us, “gave my patient a homosexual dose of diuretic?”

The entire story is here.

Social media: how doctors can contribute

The Lancet
Volume 379, Issue 9826, page 1562
Published on April 28, 2012

On April 18, The General Medical Council, which regulates medical practice in the UK, opened up its draft guidance on doctors' use of social media for consultation. Comments can be made until June 13, and the results will be published by the end of the year. The guidance emphasises the need to maintain patient confidentiality, provide accurate information, treat colleagues with respect, avoid anonymity online if writing in a professional capacity, be aware of how content is shared, review privacy settings and online presence, declare conflicts of interest, and maintain separate personal and professional profiles.

The entire article is here.

What Can Plato Teach Us About the Health Insurance Mandate?

By Nicholas J. Diamond
The Hastings Center: Bioethics Forum
Health Policy
Originally published on April 23, 2012

As any philosopher worth his or her salt can tell you, health insurance is not among the array of topics in Plato’s corpus. Even so, a lesson on citizenship from one of his more famous dialogues, “Crito,” can teach why the insurance mandate in the Affordable Care Act ought to make sense to us.

In “Crito,” Socrates, ever Plato’s central figure, explains why he ought to submit to the death sentence imposed on him by Athenian law, despite his friend Crito’s willingness to facilitate his escape. For Socrates, escape would be unjust because of the duty he has implicitly adopted in being an Athenian citizen.

The entire story is here.

La Trobe 'torture' study anguish

By Tim Elliott
theage.com.au
Originally published April 26, 2012

Diane Blackwell as university student

IN 1973, arts student Dianne Backwell tortured her roommate to death. Or so she thought.

Ms Backwell, then a 19-year-old student at La Trobe University, believed she was taking part in research into the effect of punishment on learning. But the friend whose screams she heard from another room every time she pushed a button was only pretending to receive electric shocks.

Nonetheless, the experiment, record of which has only now come to light, traumatised Ms Backwell for years. According to a new book, Behind the Shock Machine, by Melbourne psychologist Gina Perry, Ms Backwell was one of about 200 La Trobe students who took part in 1973 and 1974 in controversial experiments conducted by the university's psychology department.

The experiments were modelled on the notorious ''obedience tests'' carried out by US psychologist Stanley Milgram at Yale University in 1961, in which participants were ordered to shock students in another room, even when they believed it would kill them.

The entire story is here.

Thanks to Gary Schoener for this story.

Health records lost, stolen or revealed online

Health privacy problems persist a decade after law went into effect to protect patients

By Deborah Shelton
Chicago Tribune Reporter
Originally published April 23, 2012

Almost a decade after a new law went into effect to strengthen health privacy protections, the number of breaches of patient records and databases across the U.S. suggests that personal health information is not as private or secure as many consumers might want or expect.

Since fall 2009, more than 400 large health care breaches affecting at least 500 people and more than 50,000 smaller breaches have been reported to the federal government.

One of the largest unauthorized disclosures in recent history of medical records and other private information happened in September, when computer tapes were stolen that contained data on almost 5 million people enrolled in TRICARE, the nation's health program for military members, their families and retirees.

The entire story is here.

University Breach Settlement Approved

2 Years of Credit Monitoring Services Required

By Jeffrey Roman
Data Breach Today
Originally published April 18, 2012

A court has granted final approval of the settlement of a class action lawsuit against University of Hawaii stemming from five data breaches over a three-year period that affected nearly 96,000 individuals.

The settlement will provide those affected with two years of free credit monitoring and credit restoration services, according to a statement from the university. The settlement affects students, faculty, alumni, university employees and others whose data was exposed in the five breaches from 2009 to 2011.

The entire story is here.