The Gilgamesh Effect: The ethical consequences of disconnection

Chris Macdonald

Abstract


A number of recent experiments have revealed that the mere thought of human connection can increase ethical-decision making whereas the thought of human disconnection can decrease ethical decision-making. This paper provides an appropriate name for the phenomenon, reviews the evidence, and highlights its relevance.


Keywords


Ethics, Psychology; Connection; Loneliness; Love; Human connection; Ethical decision-making; Social isolation; Priming; Individualism; Money;

Full Text:

PDF

References


Bargh J A, Chen M, Burrows L. 1996. Automaticity of social behavior: Direct effects of trait construct and stereotype activation on action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 71(2) 230-244

dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.75.4.862

Dijksterhuis A, Spears R, Postmes T, Stapel D, Koomen W, Knippenberg A, Scheepers D. 1998. Seeing one thing and doing another: Contrast effects in automatic behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 75(4) 862-871

dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.75.4.862

Egeland B, Sroufe A. 1981. Developmental sequelae of maltreatment in infancy. Wiley, New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development 11 77-92

doi.org/10.1002/cd.23219811106

Flegal KM, Kit BK, Orpana H, Graubard BI. 2013. Association of all-cause mortality with overweight and obesity using standard body mass index categories: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of the American Medical Association 309 71–82 doi.org/10.1001/jama.2012.113905

Gino F, Pierce L. 2009. The abundance effect: Unethical behavior in the presence of wealth. Organizational Behaviour Human Decision Processes 109:(2) 142–155

doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2009.03.003

Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Baker M, Harris T, Stephenson D. 2015. Loneliness and Social Isolation as Risk Factors for Mortality: A Meta-Analytic Review. Sage, Perspectives on Psychological Science 10(2) 227-237

doi.org/10.1177/1745691614568352

Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Layton JB. 2010. Social relationships and mortality risk: A meta-analytic review. PLoS Medicine 7(7) e1000316

doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316

Kouchaki M, Smith-Crowe K, Brief AP, Sousa C. 2013. Seeing green: Mere exposure to money triggers a business decision frame and unethical outcomes. Organizational Behaviour Human Decision Processes 121:(1) 53-61

doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2012.12.002

Macdonald C. 2019. Money, a disconnecting agent: Reminders of money trigger a feeling of disconnection which increases the likelihood of unethical decisions. The Open Science Journal, 4:(1) 1-10

doi.org/10.23954/osj.v4i1.2200

Macdonald C. 2020a. Lexicon connection priming and ethics: As our sense of human connection decreases, so too does our ethical decision-making. The Open Science Journal, 5:(1) 1-5

Macdonald C. 2020b. Graphical connection priming and ethics: As our sense of human connection decreases, so too does our ethical decision-making. The Open Science Journal, 5:(1) 1-6

McMillan FD. 2016. The psychobiology of social pain: Evidence for a neurocognitive overlap with physical pain and welfare implications for social animals with special attention to the domestic dog (Canis familiaris). Elsevier, Physiology & Behavior 167(1) 154-171

doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.09.013

Vohs KD. 2015. Money Priming Can Change People's Thoughts, Feelings, Motivations, and Behaviors: An Update on 10 Years of Experiments. Journal of experimental psychology General 144:(4) e86-e93

dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0000091




DOI: https://doi.org/10.23954/osj.v5i2.2316

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Open Science Journal (OSJ) is multidisciplinary Open Access journal. We accept scientifically rigorous research, regardless of novelty. OSJ broad scope provides a platform to publish original research in all areas of sciences, including interdisciplinary and replication studies as well as negative results.