Evaluating strategies for enchancing moral judgments: a dissection of ACED IT

Abstract

Unethical behavior is an unfortunate occurrence that can arise from business, social, academic, and personal settings. Past ethical decision making models have generally focused on purely conscious processes for selecting moral behavior, with more recent models outlining the influence of automatic intuitions on the process. The majority of these models recognize the impact of moral judgments on ethical behaviors, and thus highlights a prominent avenue for influencing those behaviors. The present studies investigate the influence of a cognitive guide map (ACED IT) on moral judgments. Specifically, from which sections of the tool that the effect on moral judgments originates and how those sections may be modified to ensure it. Results indicate that use of the full ACED IT form and two of its sections, the Create and Evaluate section along with the Decide and Implement section, positively influence moral judgments. Further, the generation of four or more possible solutions within the Create and Evaluate section is what leads to the effect on moral judgments.