How Fatigue Can Lead to Unethical Behavior in the Workplace

By Ashley Mazerolle, Marketing −

Fatigue increases the likelihood of unethical behavior, driven by emotional decision-making over logic.

Fatigue in the workplace can have surprising effects, even on people who are normally ethical. New research shows that when employees are tired, they are more prone to unethical actions, even if they usually make sound moral choices. The reason for this is that fatigue impacts our ability to make decisions, leading us to act based more on emotions than logic.

There are three common factors that lead to unethical behavior: pressure, opportunity, and rationalization. All of these factors become more tempting when someone is tired. Think about a time you were on a diet. Even if you were dedicated, you might have cheated when you were exhausted, rationalizing that you’d make up for it later. This same pattern of thinking can happen with ethical choices at work. Small unethical actions, when repeatedly rationalized, can turn into bad habits.

This happens because when we are tired, we tend to be led by our emotions rather than our knowledge of what’s right. For example, we might know we should stay focused at work but feel the urge to slack off when we’re tired. Studies show that people have certain times of day when they are more likely to make poor decisions due to fatigue. A morning person might make worse choices in the evening.

Unethical behavior, even small actions, can lead to bigger problems like large-scale corruption in the workplace. To prevent this, companies need better ways to measure integrity and keep employees in check. Tools like EyeDetect™ might help, as unbiased technology could identify unethical behaviors before they cause major issues, allowing ethical practices to thrive.

Photo by: Dillon Shook