Reflection Corner: Ethical fading and self-deception
Moninda F. Marube
College of Social Work, University of Kentucky
SW: 625-205: Introduction to Social Work: Professional behaviour and Ethics
Professor Marilyn L. Sails, MSW, LCSW
April 10, 2022
, Introduction.
Self-deception is described as the falsification of reality by the conscious mind. (Trivers, R.,2000).
It is also defined as obliviousness towards the processes that lead us to decision making and
developing opinions. ( Tenbrunsel & Messick., 2004). In this state of self-deception, an
individual actively avoids the truth, lies, and keeps secrets from self. An individual starts to
believe their lies and the decisions that result from the lies to continue believing that they are
objective about themselves. This state leads to a string of decisions that are not ethically
informed, leading to ethical fading. The ethical aspects of a decision are disregarded, leading to
moral disengagement. Self-deception and ethical fading help people to dodge the consequences
of their actions by minimizing the guilt they may feel after violating moral standards.
To reduce Ethical fading, we should identify when ethical concerns are posited behind other
factors during decision-making and understand the structures and enablers of self-deception.
There are four enablers of self-deception: language euphemism, slippery slope of decision-
making, errors in perceptual causation, and constrained representation of Ourselves. (Tenbrunsel
& Messick., 2004).
Language euphemism.
Language euphemism uses metaphors to avoid directly addressing contentious or ethically
challenging topics. Self-deception through language euphemism outlines how society invents
new names for otherwise heavy ethical terms. In government, victims of war are named
collateral damage instead of "dead people as a result of the war". Language euphemism also
shows how unethical people use language to justify their actions. Language euphemism is also
Moninda F. Marube
College of Social Work, University of Kentucky
SW: 625-205: Introduction to Social Work: Professional behaviour and Ethics
Professor Marilyn L. Sails, MSW, LCSW
April 10, 2022
, Introduction.
Self-deception is described as the falsification of reality by the conscious mind. (Trivers, R.,2000).
It is also defined as obliviousness towards the processes that lead us to decision making and
developing opinions. ( Tenbrunsel & Messick., 2004). In this state of self-deception, an
individual actively avoids the truth, lies, and keeps secrets from self. An individual starts to
believe their lies and the decisions that result from the lies to continue believing that they are
objective about themselves. This state leads to a string of decisions that are not ethically
informed, leading to ethical fading. The ethical aspects of a decision are disregarded, leading to
moral disengagement. Self-deception and ethical fading help people to dodge the consequences
of their actions by minimizing the guilt they may feel after violating moral standards.
To reduce Ethical fading, we should identify when ethical concerns are posited behind other
factors during decision-making and understand the structures and enablers of self-deception.
There are four enablers of self-deception: language euphemism, slippery slope of decision-
making, errors in perceptual causation, and constrained representation of Ourselves. (Tenbrunsel
& Messick., 2004).
Language euphemism.
Language euphemism uses metaphors to avoid directly addressing contentious or ethically
challenging topics. Self-deception through language euphemism outlines how society invents
new names for otherwise heavy ethical terms. In government, victims of war are named
collateral damage instead of "dead people as a result of the war". Language euphemism also
shows how unethical people use language to justify their actions. Language euphemism is also
