The word that indicates you are approaching motivational blindness is “definitely.”

Quick explanation

In the scenario you mention, the choices associated with this question are typically something like:

  • fairness
  • maybe
  • definitely

“Motivational blindness” (sometimes called motivated or motivational blindness) is the tendency not to notice others’ unethical actions when noticing them would conflict with your own self-interest or preferred outcome. When a supervisor frames an ethical concern as “definitely” acceptable or “definitely” not a problem, despite lingering doubts, that certainty can signal that the supervisor’s motivation (for example, protecting a high performer, avoiding conflict, or preserving results) is starting to override a clear-eyed ethical assessment.

So in the question as it is usually presented in business-ethics or supervision materials, “definitely” is the word that shows the supervisor may be slipping into motivational blindness.