What is the difference between ethical and unethical behavior? (2024)

Unethical behavior can be defined as actions that are against social norms or acts that are considered unacceptable to the public.

Ethical behavior is the complete opposite of unethical behavior. Ethical behavior follows the majority of social norms and such actions are acceptable to the public.

Examples of ethical and unethical behavior:

Unethical: “A student used plagiarism on their final written assignment to get a higher grade” This is unethical because it goes against social norms and the majority of the people would find this act unacceptable.

Ethical: “A student worked hard on research for their final written assignment and used in text citations and references to earn a higher grade” This is ethical because it does not go against social norms and the majority of the people would find this act acceptable.

References

Gino, F. (2016). Understanding ordinary unethical behavior: Why people who value
morality act immorally. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 3, 107-111. https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/Gino%202015%20%20Understanding%20Ordinary%20Unethi cal%20Behavior_73a2aae2- 8013-46fb-bd35-5c1fb5a75c4b.pdf

• Last Updated Dec 10, 2020
• Views 104398
• Answered By Bethany Marston

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