Clinical Psychologist and business ethics expert Robert Hoyk, PhD was kind enough to take the time to answer a few questions about his practical and must read book (co-authored with Paul Hersey) practical and eye opening book The Ethical Executive: Becoming Aware of the Root Causes of Unethical Behavior: 45 Psychological Traps that Every One of Us Falls Prey To.
Thanks to Robert Hoyk for discussing what causes ethical failure on the part of executives, and how to prevent ethical dilemmas from happening within a company.
What was the background to writing this book The Ethical Executive: Becoming Aware of the Root Causes of Unethical Behavior: 45 Psychological Traps that Every One of Us Falls Prey To?
Robert Hoyk, PhD: My father was someone who was very ethical. He went to seminary to become a minister but dropped out right before he graduated due to depression. He ended up in a large corporation.
My father’s depression deeply affected me and influenced me to study psychology. When I was getting my doctorate, I read an article that delineated how cult behavior could be explained by psychological principles.
I went on to develop a successful private practice, but along the way I built strong ties to the business world. Super salesman, Anthony Parinello became a friend. For CEO Ron Campbell, I wrote an advanced course on communication skills for Situational Leadership.
Later, when newspaper headlines were replete with corporate disasters, I thought about the article I had read in graduate school about cult behavior. I picked up a newspaper and declared out loud, “I bet I know why this is happening!” And The Ethical Executive was born.
How is this book different from other books on the topic of business ethics?
Robert Hoyk, PhD: Most books on business ethics do a good job with their primary task: given different situations, they tell us what is the right thing to do. The problem is, even if we know what the right behavior is we often don’t do it. Why does this happen? Often we become ensnared in psychological traps.
In our book, we describe forty-five traps that every one of us falls prey to. Some of these traps distort our perception of right and wrong—so we >actually believe our unethical behavior is right. The traps are psychological in nature, and if we’re not aware of them they are like illusions—webs of deception.
Sometimes a trap is so powerful or triggers such automatic behavior that we act on it without being aware that other options exist. At other times, we are aware of other choices but the trap overrides these potential actions.
Ethical behavior in business will improve when ethics is integrated with psychology. Ethics can continue its important task of telling us what we should be doing and psychology can help us stop our immoral behavior and motivate us to do the right thing.
The Ethical Executive, places a major focus on the root causes of unethical behavior—psychological dynamics. It inaugurates a new priority in the field that will lead to a clearer vista and fresh solutions.
When we hear of CEOs and other top executives being indicted for breaches of ethics and given long prison sentences, are those people primarily evil or are they very often just like everyone else?
Robert Hoyk, PhD: Probably, 85 to 95 percent of executives are just like everyone else. The vast majority of people care about ethics, but are vulnerable to the traps described in our book.
Do people who commit serious ethical mistakes consider themselves to be ethical people?
Robert Hoyk, PhD: Yes, most of them. In fact, people who rate themselves as above average on ethical behavior commit more ethical mistakes than those who rate themselves as average.
Robert Hoyk, PhD (photo left)
In the book you describe three main categories of ethical traps. What are these traps and why are they so dangerous for otherwise ethical people?
Robert Hoyk, PhD: The three main categories of traps are Primary, Defensive, and Personality.
Primary Traps cause people to behave unethically. These are the main traps that pull us in; the traps that provoke us or trick us into illegal or unethical transgression.
An example of a Primary Trap is Power. The more the powerholder uses his power, the more he attributes the successes of his employees to his own leadership (“My orders and influence caused the workers to perform effectively”); Over time, the more the powerholder attributes the success of his employees to his own leadership, the more he begins to devalue his employees. (“It was my success! Not theirs! They were just following orders.”)
Defensive Traps are in a very different category. Although some of them can at times be included with Primary Traps, these traps are basically attempts to find easy ways to reverse course after a transgression has already been committed.
For the most part, Defensive Traps are maneuvers that are reactions to two internal stimuli: guilt and shame. Guilt and especially shame are very painful emotions. They call into question the positive view we have of ourselves. Defensive Traps are insidious because they are often very successful at annihilating or at least minimizing our guilt and shame. They help us deny our transgressions, thus setting us up for repeated unethical behavior.
An example of a Defensive Trap is Advantageous Comparison. Advantageous Comparison allows the individual who has committed an unethical transgression to lessen his guilt by comparing what he has done to something worse. For instance, “Damaging some property is no big deal when you consider that others are beating people up.”
Personality Traps are various personality traits that can make us more vulnerable to wrongdoing. These traps are dangerous because we’re often not aware that we have one or more of these traits.
An example of a Personality Trap is Social Dominance Orientation (SDO). SDO is a trait that delineates one’s “preference for inequality among social groups.” It is the wish that the groups and organizations you belong to (business teams, corporation, social class, gender, ethnicity, country, and so on) be “superior” and “dominate.” SDO can be measured by a questionnaire that has been developed by Felicia Pratto and her colleagues at Stanford University.
Do people often believe paradoxically that their unethical behavior is really ethical and doing the right thing?
Robert Hoyk, PhD: To ascertain how frequently this happens, we would need to utilize research. But it does happen. Let’s look at Trap 20: Obligation.
Throughout history, justification has been used to sanction acts of evil. Torture and murder have been committed for the sake of protecting one’s family or honor, purifying the race, safeguarding a way of life, serving God, and so on. Obligation is a particular type of justification. The dictionary definition of “obligation” is fulfilling a promise or commitment. Unethical behavior is readily given a moral connotation with the use of obligation: “I needed to keep my commitment, to do what I promised. My word is who I am.”
Is the recession more likely to create more unethical behavior?
Robert Hoyk, PhD: Yes. Let’s look at Trap 7: Tyranny of Goals. We can be inspired by our goals to succeed, to climb the corporate ladder, to achieve status and recognition—but our goals can also drive us. Goals can become all important. We can move too fast, take short cuts, do anything to reach our goals.
And we’re more apt to cheat and lie when we’re striving for an important goal and we encounter major roadblocks that stand in the way of achieving that goal. (Roadblocks include recessions.)
How can business people avoid falling into the ethical traps outlined in the book?
Robert Hoyk, PhD: First, it’s paramount that executives have a firm knowledge of the different traps. Voyagers who know the location of quicksand navigate around it. When we clearly identify danger, we can prepare for it and avoid it.
Second, “the most important thing an executive can do is hire a psychologist to be part of their ethics and compliance team.” A psychologist can help executives contend with strong emotions. Many of the traps incite powerful emotions that in turn pull victims toward wrongdoing. Emotions can bring us all to our knees. The most common emotions stirred up by traps are: anger, sadness, distress, shame, fear and anxiety.
What is the future of ethics in business?
Robert Hoyk, PhD: From the ages of ten to eighteen I had one passion—magic. I performed for birthday parties, community functions, schools, colleges—I even performed one time at the Magic Castle, a private club for magicians in Hollywood.
One trick I used to do utilized a crystal ball. I would have someone select a playing card and then gaze into the crystal ball. At first they saw nothing. But after a little while, the playing card they had selected appeared and its image filled the crystal ball.
I no longer have my crystal ball to tell the future. But I would hope, in the future, that business ethics is integrated with psychology. Ethics can continue its important task of telling us what we should be doing and psychology can help us stop our immoral behavior and motivate us to do the right thing.
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My book review of The Ethical Executive: Becoming Aware of the Root Causes of Unethical Behavior: 45 Psychological Traps that Every One of Us Falls Prey To by Robert Hoyk and Paul Hersey.
Robert Hoyk (photo left) is a Clinical Psychologist and has conducted research in several institutions. He has taught communication skills to executives, physicians, and couples. Robert lives in Laguna Beach, California with his wife, author, Julie Brickman.
