A question of honour: How codes of ethical conduct and moral dilemmas impact behaviour

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Chapter 1.1, BACKGROUND:
1.1.1 The origin of deception:
The terms morale and ethics include a wide variety of different actions. Commonly lying, cheating and stealing are defined as unethical behaviour (Trevino Linda, Weaver Gary et al. 2006). More generally speaking, deception of any kind is thought of as unethical, while behaviours such as honesty, obeying the law, and whistle-blowing are conform with ethical standards (Jones 1991).
Deception and the capacity to detect deceit are products of animal and human evolution (Buchanan 2006). While the way we are dealing with deception certainly is a product of our social evolution the psychological capabilities involved enabling us to lie and cheat have developed in our biology and are hardwired (Leighton 1906). Deceit and detection thereof is a universal human trait (Bond, Omar et al. 1990).
A scenario of deception in the animal kingdom could for instance be a signal warning of a predator when in fact no predator is present. After all animals have fled the scene the deceiver may have a resource such as feed for itself. Deception is thereby defined as a signalling act that in the broadest sense can be any exchange between two or more individuals (Buchanan 2006).
If this exchange manifests as an exchange of goods, a financial, social or material gain can manifest on the expense of the deceived. The origins of deceit may have been simple survival mechanisms that ensure that the more pushy ones, the more egoistic individuals, would survive more easily (Leutenegger 1987).
1.1.2 Definition of Ethics and morale:
Human society has come up with definitions for dishonesty and developed coping strategies for dealing with deception (Bond, Omar et al. 1990). However, these definitions are far from fixed, but rather vary in different societies and may change over time (Jones 1991).
In some instances deception may be punished and sanctioned, in others it may be a generally accepted occurrence or

Dr. David Kitz Krämer grew up in the rural Eifel area in Germany, and lived and worked in Ireland, Sweden and Spain. He has always been passionate about natural sciences, social sciences and economics, and he began writing his own texts as a teenager already. Consequently, following studies of Bioengineering, and a doctoral dissertation in Physiology, he studied economics. Meanwhile he used every opportunity to write various texts. He has authored a wide range of published articles that span from political and sociological topics to publications of scientific research and educational reviews. Dr. Kitz Krämer currently heads the service department of an online-distributor of research reagents, and is member of the management board.