A Spillover Effect of Altruistic Cheating: When Benefiting Others Goes Wrong

This study investigated the interplay between justifications for altruistic cheating, i.e. unethical behavior for the benefit of others, and ethical dissonance. In two experimental studies, we examined how altruistic cheating might contribute to the ethical dissonance's diffusion, by weakening the moral shackles and spilling over to self-serving unethical acts.