We examined the effects of specific and general rules on ethical decisions and
demonstrated, across five studies, that specifically-framed rules elicited ethical decisions
more strongly than generally-framed rules. The effectiveness of specific rules was explained
by reductions in people's moral rationalizations. Alternative explanations that people feared
being caught and punished or that people perceive no clear connection between general
rules and the ethical decision, were ruled out. General rules exerted some effect on ethical …