Dirty work, clean hands
Subtitle: the moral psychology of indirect agency
By: Neeru Paharia, Karim S. Kassam, Joshua D. Greene, Max H. Bazerman
Contributors: Kassam, Karim S.; Greene, Joshua David, 1974-; Bazerman, Max H.; Harvard Business School
Series: Working paper / Harvard Business School -- 09-012; Working paper (Harvard Business School) -- 09-012
Publisher: Harvard Business School
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Boston
Language: eng
Number of pages: 30
Description: When powerful people cause harm, they often do so indirectly through other people. Are harmful actions carried out through others evaluated less negatively than harmful actions carried out directly? Four experiments examine the moral psychology of indirect agency. Experiment 1 reveals effects of indirect agency under conditions favoring intuitive judgment, but not reflective judgment, using a joint/separate evaluation paradigm. Experiment 2 demonstrates that effects of indirect agency cannot be explained by perceived lack of foreknowledge or control on the part of the primary agent. Experiment 3 indicates that reflective moral judgment is sensitive to indirect agency, but only to the extent that indirectness signals reduced foreknowledge and/or control. Experiment 4 indicates that effects of indirect agency result from a failure to automatically consider the potentially dubious motives of agents who cause harm indirectly.
Notes: "August 2008"--Publisher's web site.

Includes bibliographical references.