Abstract

Moral dissonance is defined as psychological discomfort that arises when the displayed behaviour of oneself or a colleague conflicts with a morally more desirable behaviour. Simply put, an individual will think: “I/they should have acted otherwise.” Although moral dissonance and related concepts such as moral injury have been studied in both veterinary medicine and educators more generally, there is a lack of information regarding the experience of moral dissonance in veterinary educators. How do UK veterinary educators experience moral dissonance in their academic career? This study used online interviews to explore the experiences of veterinary educators relating to moral dissonance, and the resulting transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis (TA). Four key themes were identified: professional responsibility, betrayal, moral community, and animal welfare. All of these themes appear in the literature for veterinary clinical work, and all but animal welfare appear in the literature regarding educators, suggesting that veterinary educators may have a similar experience to people in these roles. Further research is needed to determine the prevalence of these experiences.