Emotions and Ethics
We have seen before how a gap between our true feelings and the
feelings we display at work can cause distress. What happens when
there is a gap between our feelings and our true beliefs?
Joshua Greene is a philosopher and neuroscientist who uses
magnetic imaging of the brain to show how our minds and bodies
react to difficult questions. In one example, Greene asked a group
of subjects to consider a situation in which a trolley is racing
down a track, about to kill five people. The subjects have the
ability to steer the trolley onto another track, where it will kill
only one person. Most agree this feels like the right thing to
do—the best of possible evils.
Greene then asks his subject to consider the same situation with
one major shift: In this case, to save the five bystanders the
subject must push a large man in front of the trolley to stop it in
its tracks.
This time, Greene’s subjects felt the sacrifice was emotionally
wrong. Greene’s research shows that the difference between his
subjects’ valuations of life in these cases was that the second was
more emotional. The thought of pushing someone to his death,
understandably, had brought up strong feelings among the group. If
humans were computers, one person’s death might be seen as “less
bad” than the death of five. But human decisions are based on
emotion. It was considered emotionally—and therefore,
morally—unacceptable to push the man in front of the trolley to
save five others.
Greene’s magnetic images of his subject’s brains showed that
while considering the second scenario, people were using more of
their brains. Greene writes, “These differences in emotional
engagement affect people’s judgments” (Greene, et al., 2001).
Emotions are a powerful force in work and life. They are
spontaneous and unpredictable elements of human beings that
separate us from machines, and in some moments, from one another.
By learning to identify and maximize the uses of our emotions at
work, we can more appropriately respond to emotional
situations.
Lack of Leisure Time and Stress Around the Globe
As economist Steven Landsburg notes, “Compared with Europeans,
Americans are more likely to be employed and more likely to work
longer hours—employed Americans put in about 3 hours more per week
than employed Frenchmen. Most important, Americans take fewer (and
shorter) vacations” (Landsburg, 2006). That is, if they take a
vacation at all. A recent poll showed that 40% of Americans do not
plan to take a vacation within the next year (Egan, 2006).
Juliet Schor, a senior lecturer in economics and director of
women’s studies at Harvard University, adds to the portrait of the
overworked American with a shocking statistic on Americans’ free
time. According to Schor’s book, The
Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure,
Americans have 16.5 hours per week of leisure time after their work
and household obligations are fulfilled (Schor, 1993). This is a
huge concern, as research has established that recovery is a key to
well-being and that the lack of recovery can lead to health
concerns associated with stress (Sonnentag & Ziljlstra, 2006).
Even more challenged for leisure time are some Japanese employees,
working an average of 236 more hours per year than their American
counterparts and 500 more hours than employees in France or Germany
(Nishiyama & Johnson, 2006). Leisure and recovery are key
aspects to remaining healthy throughout one’s lifetime.
While Europeans normally plan on taking the month of August off,
Americans do not have a similar ritual. PricewaterhouseCoopers
became so concerned that they have instituted a 10-day shutdown as
a winter break and a 5-day shutdown around July 4 so that everyone
takes that time off without feeling peer pressure to work through
vacations.
Key Takeaways
Emotions play a role in shaping what we feel is ethical and what
is not. Leisure time is important for avoiding the exhaustion phase
of the stress cycle. Countries vary a great deal in how many hours
the average worker puts in at work, with Japan working the most
hours, followed by those in the United States.
Exercises
- Explain a time when you have seen emotions help someone to be
more ethical than they might have
otherwise been.
- Explain a time when you have seen emotions help someone to be
less ethical than they might have
otherwise been.
- Why do you think some countries have so much vacation time
compared to others? In your opinion, is this a problem or not?
Why?
References
Egan, T. (2006). The rise of the shrinking-vacation syndrome.
New York Times. Retrieved June 1, 2008,
from http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/us/20vacation.html.
Greene, J., Sommerville, R. B., Nystrom, L. E., Darley, J. M.,
& Cohen, J. D. (2001, September). An MRI investigation of
emotional engagement in moral judgment, Science, 2105–2108.
Landsburg, S. (2006, May 23). Why Europeans work less than
Americans. Forbes. Retrieved June 1,
2008, from http://www.forbes.com/2006/05/20/steven-
landsburg-labor_cx_sl_06work_0523landsburg.html.
Nishiyama K., & Johnson, J. (2006). Karoshi—death from
overwork: Occupational health consequences of Japanese production
management. The Fordism of Ford and Modern
Management: Fordism and Post-Fordism. Volume 1 [e-book]. An
Elgar Reference Collection, 462–478.
Schor, J. B. (1993). The overworked
American: The unexpected decline of leisure. New York: Basic
Books.
Sonnentag, S., & Zijlstra, F. R. H. (2006). Job
characteristics and off-job activities as predictors of need for
recovery, well-being, and fatigue. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 91, 330–350.