YES, NO, MAYBE SO ETHICS IN THE WORLD OF LEGISLATURES: Why do good people do unethical things?

• Author: Birdsong, Nicholas

The story of the disgraced celebrity has, sadly, become a cliche. Prominent athletes fail drug tests, trusted journalists get caught in lies and public servants are enveloped in scandals. Some popular figure is accused of egregiously unethical behavior in just about every other news cycle.

The most infamous perpetrators had built careers on the perception of good moral character before being destroyed by revelations of misdeeds. Richard Nixon won the presidency in a landslide before his impeachment and resignation following the Watergate scandal. Lance Armstrong reigned supreme in the cycling world for years before evidence of doping effectively ended his career. The Me Too movement exposed the sexual misconduct of numerous formerly powerful figures, with many experiencing a total loss of public support, financial destitution, a stained legacy and criminal charges.

Considering the grave personal costs of getting caught, it's only natural to ask why anyone would take such risks. One popular belief is that fundamental character deficiencies lead to headline-catching unethical acts. Framing the question as, "Why do villains act villainously?" makes the answer obvious. They are bad; therefore, they do bad things.

But this assumption prevents a more useful understanding of the issue.

The most objectionable behavior is rare, making the question even more difficult to study. A handful of high-profile breaches of the public trust each year might dominate the news, but those involve only a fraction of the many thousands of government officials, actors and media personalities who perform dutifully. The social sciences rely on data to reach conclusions, but in the context of ethics, hard facts are sparse and difficult to quantify.

Among the researchers who have questioned the common assumptions about what leads people to act unethically is Dan Ariely, the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University and a founding member of the Center for Advanced Hindsight.

The path toward major ethical lapses begins with minor transgressions and continues as a series of reasonable choices, Ariely said on a recent episode of NPR's "Hidden Brain." A first step may involve bending a rule where nobody seems to get hurt, the...