We argue that working with a tolerance standard (e.g., a margin for error) socializes workers to view small errors as inconsequential. This creates a “tolerance mindset” that spills over and facilitates moral disengagement when making ethical decisions. We provide triangulating evidence of a tolerance spillover effect across three experiments. Our first two studies involved lab experiments where participants took on the role of quality-control workers and we manipulated whether they worked with (vs. without) a tolerance standard. Across both experiments, we observed evidence of increased moral disengagement and unethical behavior when participants worked with a tolerance standard. Our third study focused on professional auditors who work regularly with a tolerance standard. We found that auditors were less honest when their work identity was primed versus not. We also observed that other professional accountants, who do not work with a tolerance standard, did not significantly differ in their honesty when their work identity was primed versus not. These findings have important implications for understanding moral disengagement and the spillover of mindsets from one’s work into the moral domain.
