The accountable justification intervention was based on prior findings that accountability improves decision-making accuracy and that public justification engenders reputational concerns. To preserve their reputations, clinicians should be more likely to act in line with injunctive norms—that is, what one “ought to do” as recommended by clinical guidelines. The authors found a drop in antibiotic prescribing from 23.2% to 5.2% when this method was in use.
