危险的道德优越感
我们当中有很多人认为自己比一般人更努力、更聪明而且驾驶技术更娴熟。我们还认为，自己在道德上更胜一筹。2014年的一项研究发现，就连被判有罪的囚犯都认为自己在道德上更优秀，不仅好于一般的囚犯，还超过监狱外的一般人。
The study, at a prison in the south of England, asked inmates to rate themselves against the average prisoner and the average member of the community for traits such as morality, kindness, honesty, self-control and being law-abiding.
这项研究是在英格兰南部的一所监狱展开的，它请囚犯们在道德、善良、诚实、自控和遵纪守法等特质方面，把自己与普通囚犯和普通社区成员进行比较。
Although the convicts were serving sentences for violence, robbery, drug offences and burglary, they rated themselves as virtuous. Only on one trait did they think they were not superior to the average non-prisoner: being law-abiding. They felt they and people outside were equally law-abiding.
尽管这些罪犯正因暴力、抢劫、吸毒和盗窃服刑，但他们认为自己是品行端正的。他们只在一种特质上不认为自己优于那些没有犯法的普通人：遵纪守法。他们认为，自己和监狱外的人一样守法。
Now a new study in the Social Psychological and Personality Science journal has shown that people, this time in the non-prison population, think they are more just and virtuous than average. But it goes on to pose an interesting question: can people’s sense of moral superiority lead them to behave dishonestly?
现在，《社会心理和人格科学》(Social Psychological and Personality Science)期刊发表的一项新研究显示，人们(这次是监狱外的人群)认为，他们比一般人更公正和品德高尚。但这篇论文接着提出了一个有趣的问题：人们的道德优越感会不会导致他们做出不诚实的行为?
The researchers, Ben Tappin and Ryan McKay of Royal Holloway, University of London, say previous studies provide competing answers on this issue. Some research has found that the illusion of moral superiority can lead people to behave badly because, like the prisoners in the first study, they think they really are, deep down, good people. Other research shows that “to the extent that people value belief-behaviour consistency”, people who think they are honest behave honestly.
伦敦大学(University of London)皇家霍洛威学院(Royal Holloway)的研究员本•塔平(Ben Tappin)和瑞恩•麦凯(Ryan McKay)表示，之前的研究就这个问题给出了相互对立的答案。一些研究发现，道德优越感的幻觉可能导致人们做出糟糕的行为，因为与第一项研究中的囚犯一样，他们认为，自己在内心深处真的是好人。还有一些研究表明，“从人们重视言行一致的角度来说”，那些认为自己诚实的人会做出诚实的行为。
“We defer to future research to test these hypotheses,” the Royal Holloway study says. I was, however, struck by the first hypothesis because I thought it might explain a puzzle: why do companies that believe themselves to be ethically virtuous find themselves doing unvirtuous things?
皇家霍洛威学院的研究称：“我们交给未来的研究来测试这些假说。”然而，第一种假说让我印象深刻，因为我认为，它或许可以解释一个谜题：为什么认为自己注重道德的企业，会发现自己做着不高尚的事情?
Two examples are the banks HSBC and Wells Fargo, which have both found themselves in trouble. Last year, HSBC confessed that the tax evasion scandal at its Swiss private banking arm was a “source of shame”. The scandal was all the more striking because Stephen Green, HSBC’s previous boss, had written a book called Good Value: Reflections on Money, Morality and an Uncertain World.
两个例子是汇丰银行(HSBC)和富国银行(Wells Fargo)，它们都发现自己陷入了麻烦。去年，汇丰坦承，其瑞士私人银行的逃税丑闻是“羞耻之源”。这桩丑闻更加引人关注的原因是汇丰前任首席执行官葛霖(Stephen Green，见上图)曾写过一本名为《优秀价值观：反思金钱、道德和不确定世界》(Good Value: Reflections on Money, Morality and an Uncertain World)的著作。
Wells Fargo admitted this year that its staff had tried to meet their sales targets by setting up accounts for customers without their consent. Warren Buffett, head of Berkshire Hathaway, Wells Fargo’s biggest shareholder, described it as “a great bank that made a terrible mistake”.
富国银行今年承认，其员工曾试图在客户不知情的情况下为客户开立账户，以达到自己的销售目标。富国银行最大股东伯克希尔哈撒韦公司(Berkshire Hathaway)掌门人沃伦•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)称其为“一家犯下严重错误的伟大银行”。
There are possible explanations for these falls from grace. HSBC had acquired its Swiss bank and said it had not integrated it properly. Wells Fargo appeared to be a classic case of financial incentives distorting employees’ behaviour.
这些堕落故事可能有一些合乎情理的解释。汇丰收购了其瑞士银行，但该行表示没有整合好。富国银行似乎是金钱激励扭曲员工行为的典型案例。
But I wondered about the “better than average” research cited above. Could the illusion of moral superiority apply to organisations as well as individuals? And could companies believe they were so superior morally that the occasional lapse into immorality did not matter much? The Royal Holloway researchers said they had recently conducted experiments examining just these issues and were preparing to publish the results. They had found that political groups with a sense of moral superiority felt justified in behaving aggressively towards opponents. In experiments, this meant denying them a monetary benefit.
但上面提到的“好于一般人”的研究让我感到好奇。道德优越感的幻觉是否既适用于个人也适用于公司?公司是否有可能认为，自己在道德上优于其他企业，因此偶尔的故态复萌并不重要?皇家霍洛威学院的研究人员表示，他们最近做了一些实验，考察了这些问题，并准备发表结果。他们发现，具有道德优越感的政治集团认为自己有理由对对手做出咄咄逼人的行为。在实验中，这意味着不让对手获得金钱利益。
“It isn’t difficult to imagine a similar scenario arising in a competitive organisational context. To the extent that employees may perceive their organisation to be morally superior to other organisations, they might feel licensed to ‘cut corners’ or behave somewhat unethically — for example, to give their organisation a competitive edge.
“在竞争性的组织背景下想象一副类似的场景并不困难。就员工可能认为自己所在公司在道德上优于其他公司而言，他们可能认为自己有权‘走捷径’或做出某种不道德行为，例如，为了让自己的公司获得一种竞争优势。”
“These behaviours may be perceived as justified . . . or even ethical, insofar as they promote the goals of their morally superior organisation,” they told me.
这些研究人员告诉我：“这些行为可能被视为合情合理……甚至合乎道德，因为这些行为有利于实现他们所在的道德优越公司的目标。”
In explaining its behaviour, HSBC suggested that inquiring too closely into its customers’ tax affairs might have led to them taking their business elsewhere. The Wells Fargo incentives were originally put in place to drive the opening of new accounts, which would have given the bank an advantage over its competitors.
汇丰在解释其行为时暗示，过多地询问其客户的税收事宜可能会让客户把业务转往其他银行。富国银行的激励举措最初是为了推动开设新账户，这原本会赋予该行相对于竞争对手的优势。
What both cases show is that the illusion of moral superiority can be dangerous. A company that believes it embodies ethical virtue can develop blindness to its lapses. It can begin to think that, as it is a force for good in the world, anything that it does to advance itself must be good, too.
这两个案例表明，道德优越感的幻觉可能是危险的。认为自己体现高尚道德的公司，可能会无视其过失。它可能会开始认为，既然自己是世界上的仁义力量，任何增进自己利益的行为都必定是善举。
When it emerges that outsiders, or regulators, do not see it that way, the institutions and their supporters often conclude that this is a rare deviation from goodness. It may be, but the damage can be far-reaching and long-lasting. Maintaining a corporate reputation is a daily task, however virtuous you think you are.
当外部人士或监管者不这么认为时，这些公司及其支持者往往会总结称，那是罕见的偏离善举的行为。或许是这样，但其损害可能是深远和长久的。维护公司的声誉是一项日常任务，不管你认为它的品德有多么高尚。
