This Master Thesis work has dealt with the question of how ethics in general can be improved. In today’s business world Business Ethical Codes of Conduct (BECC), or
more commonly called honour codes, have reached some prominence. However, the question remains still unanswered as to if these measures are really effective, and if so, how efficient they are.
This thesis investigated the effect of a BECC by having individuals read it and measuring their ethical attitude by answering a questionnaire. The results were compared to a group not reading the BECC prior to answering the questionnaire. The aim was to investigate if a BECC has an acute effect that may be based on psychological priming. The results do not suggest that a BECC causes a strong shift in moral thinking in the short term, or even acutely.
The study arrived at some intriguing findings that it did not set out to discover. The reading of the dilemma itself reduced reported moral values. To the knowledge of the author, to date only one study has investigated and shown the same effect that is generally known to psychology as the mere-exposure effect.
A side-alley of investigation was the question whether previous findings on the correlation of age, socio-economic status, and gender (sex) could be confirmed. The
previous reports have been contradictory in their findings.
The current thesis found supporting evidence that age is positively correlated with moral thinking, i.e. growing age correlated with strengthened moral values, which means that individuals agree more with ethical concepts the older they become. In addition, while socio-economic status did not show any correlation with moral thinking, gender did correlate with ethical values in certain respects. It could be shown, that the above mentioned mere-exposure effect exists for the males but not the females in the test-groups.
In summary, changing ethical attitude is possible. However, controlling ethics, i.e. directional influence, is apparently a complicated business that needs more research.
Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
1.1.1 THE ORIGIN OF DECEPTION
1.1.2 DEFINITION OF ETHICS AND MORALE
1.1.3 THE SELF IN THE REGULATION OF BEHAVIOUR
1.1.4 STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
1.1.5 SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY OF MORALITY
1.1.6 INFLUENCING MORAL AWARENESS USING PSYCHOLOGICAL PRIMING
1.1.7 MORAL ATTENTIVENESS, MORAL IDENTITY, AND SOCIAL CONSENSUS
1.1.8 PSYCHOLOGICAL DISSONANCE AND SELF-DECEPTION
1.1.9 MORAL DISENGAGEMENT AND IMMORAL BEHAVIOUR
1.2 PROBLEM DISCUSSION
1.2.1 REASONS FOR DISHONEST BEHAVIOUR IN ECONOMIC CONTEXTS
1.2.2 THE STATE OF RESEARCH IN BUSINESS ETHICS
1.2.3 POTENTIAL REMEDIES AGAINST UNETHICAL BEHAVIOUR
1.3 PROBLEM FORMULATION AND PURPOSE
1.3.1 PROBLEM FORMULATION
1.3.2 HYPOTHESES DEVELOPED FROM THE LITERATURE REVIEW
1.3.3 STUDY PURPOSE
1.4 DE-LIMITATIONS
1.5 THESIS STRUCTURE
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 TACKLING THE MAIN REASONS FOR UNETHICAL BEHAVIOUR
2.2 TEACHING ETHICS IN COURSES
2.3 BUSINESS ETHICAL CODES OF CONDUCT (BECC)
2.4 EFFECTS OF BECC ON CORPORATE BEHAVIOUR
2.5 BUSINESS CODES IN LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS
2.6 CONTENT AND STRUCTURE OF BUSINESS CODES
3 METHODS
3.1 MEASURING MORALE AND ETHICS
3.1.1 CONTROLLING FOR GENDER, SOCIAL STATUS AND CULTURE FACTORS
3.1.2 METHODS, TESTS, AND SCALES MEASURING ETHICAL VALUES
3.1.3 MDS: MORAL DISENGAGEMENT SCALE
3.1.4 DIT: DEFINING ISSUES TEST
3.1.5 MJT: MORAL JUDGEMENT TEST
3.1.6 EPQ: ETHICS POSITION QUESTIONNAIRE
3.1.7 MACH IV: MACHIAVELLIANISM
3.1.8 MES: THE MULTIDIMENSIONAL ETHICS SCALE
3.1.9 SELECTION OF MOST APPROPRIATE TEST FOR THESIS
3.1.10 VALIDITY OF THE MEASUREMENTS
3.1.11 RELIABILITY OF THE MEASUREMENTS
3.2 DESIGN AND PROCEDURE
3.2.1 SAMPLING OF THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE EXPERIMENT SURVEY
3.2.2 DESIGN AND EXECUTION OF THE EXPERIMENT SURVEY
3.2.3 PROS AND CONS OF AN ONLINE EXPERIMENT SURVEY
3.3 ANALYSIS AND STATISTICS
4 RESULTS
4.1 PARTICIPANTS’ DEMOGRAPHICS
4.1.1 GENDER
4.1.2 AGE
4.1.3 NATIONALITY
4.1.4 EDUCATION
4.2 EFFECT OF DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE PARTICIPANTS
4.2.1 GENDER COMPARISON
4.2.2 AGE CORRELATION
4.2.3 EDUCATION EFFECT
4.3 MORAL DISENGAGEMENT: 6 STATEMENTS TEST
4.3.1 EXPERIMENT 1: EFFECT OF BECC ON MORAL DISENGAGEMENT
4.3.2 EXPERIMENT 2: EFFECT OF HONEST VERSUS DISHONEST BEHAVIOUR
4.4 COMPARING RESULTS IN EXPERIMENT ONE AND TWO
4.5 MORAL DISENGAGEMENT: 32 STATEMENTS TEST (EXP. 3)
4.5.1 MORAL JUSTIFICATION
4.5.2 EUPHEMISTIC LANGUAGE
4.5.3 ADVANTAGEOUS COMPARISON
4.5.4 DIFFUSION OF RESPONSIBILITY
4.5.5 DISPLACEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY
4.5.6 DISTORTING CONSEQUENCES
4.5.7 DEHUMANIZATION
4.5.8 BLAME
4.5.9 COMBINED RESULTS FOR THE 32 QUESTIONS TEST
5 DISCUSSION
5.1 HYPOTHESIS 1: ARE BECC EFFECTIVE?
5.1.1 BECC IN EXPERIMENT 1
5.1.2 BECC IN EXPERIMENT 3
5.2 HYPOTHESIS 2: HONESTY VERSUS DISHONESTY
5.2.1 EXPERIMENT 2
5.2.2 COMBINING RESULTS FROM EXPERIMENT 1 AND 2
5.3 HYPOTHESIS 3: DISENGAGEMENT EXAMINED IN MORE DETAIL
5.3.1 EXPERIMENT 3
5.4 HYPOTHESIS 4: GENDER EFFECTS
5.4.1 MERE EXPOSURE EFFECT AND GENDER
5.5 HYPOTHESIS 5: AGE AND SOCIO-ECONOMICAL EFFECTS
5.5.1 EFFECT OF AGE ON MORAL RATINGS
5.5.2 EFFECT OF SOCIO-ECONOMICS ON ETHICAL RATINGS
6 CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, FUTURE ASPECTS
6.1 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
6.1.1 HYPOTHESIS 1
6.1.2 HYPOTHESIS 2
6.1.3 HYPOTHESIS 3
6.1.4 HYPOTHESIS 4
6.1.5 HYPOTHESIS 5
6.1.6 REVISITING STUDY PURPOSE
6.2 IMPLICATIONS
6.3 SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
Objectives and Topics
This thesis examines whether Business Ethical Codes of Conduct (BECC), or honour codes, can trigger acute changes in moral attitude through psychological priming. The research investigates if such codes effectively reduce unethical behaviour in theoretical, online-simulated scenarios and evaluates the influence of demographic factors on these outcomes.
- The effectiveness of Business Ethical Codes of Conduct (BECC) as a tool for improving morality.
- Application of psychological priming and moral disengagement theory in a business context.
- Evaluation of online survey methodology in testing moral attitudes.
- Analysis of the mere-exposure effect on moral judgement.
- Correlation of demographic variables (age, gender, socio-economic status) with ethical values.
Excerpt from the Book
1.1.9 Moral disengagement and immoral behaviour
As mentioned, another strategy of dealing with is cognitive dissonance is the process of emotionally distancing oneself from ones unethical behaviour, which has been termed “moral disengagement”.
Moral disengagement means the separation of moral reactions from inhumane conduct and the disabling of mechanisms of self-condemnation (Bandura, Barbaranelli et al. 1996). It has been suggested that as a result of dishonest behaviour a person may disengage even further from moral behaviour, forgetting moral rules, and leading to a downward spiral (Shu Lisa, Gino et al. 2011).
A facet of moral disengagement is a self-justification process (Bandura, Caprara et al. 2001). The uncertainty of information may be used as the basis for the justification of dishonesty. The act of lying may then be justified by the fact that the information available is not clear cut, or reliable (Schweitzer and Hsee 2002). This act of conscious self-deception differs from the previously mentioned self-deception in that the perpetrator is aware of the betrayal, but chooses to justify (White, Bandura et al. 2009).
An example that describes it well is the moral disengagement process that prison personnel must undergo in order to be able to carry out the death penalty on prisoners (Osofsky, Bandura et al. 2005).
An interesting example of self-deception can be found in a study by Shu et al. In the study students were given a chance to cheat in an exam after they had read a code of honour. The students were tested for their moral disengagement and also for how much information from the code they remembered. Interestingly, the students that had cheated remembered less of the code than the students that decided to be honest. The authors argue that this is “strategic forgetting” that prevents dissonance (Shu Lisa, Gino et al. 2011).
Summary of Chapters
1 INTRODUCTION: This chapter outlines the prevalence of dishonesty in society and business, defines key terms, and establishes the study's focus on whether honour codes can improve morality.
2 LITERATURE REVIEW: This chapter reviews existing research on unethical behaviour, the effectiveness of ethical training, and the application of Business Ethical Codes of Conduct (BECC) in laboratory and real-life settings.
3 METHODS: This chapter describes the research design, including the selection of the Moral Disengagement Scale (MDS), the online survey structure, and the analytical methods used to test the five hypotheses.
4 RESULTS: This chapter presents the demographic data of participants and the quantitative findings from the three experiments regarding the impact of BECCs, moral dilemmas, and demographic factors.
5 DISCUSSION: This chapter interprets the experimental results, explaining the lack of significant impact from BECCs and analyzing the observed mere-exposure effect on moral ratings.
6 CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, FUTURE ASPECTS: This final chapter synthesizes the main findings, concludes that BECCs are not acutely effective, and suggests directions for future research on ethical interventions.
Keywords
Business Ethics, Ethical Codes of Conduct (BECC), Moral Disengagement, Mere-exposure effect, Priming, Dishonesty, Moral Attitude, Psychological Dissonance, Cognitive Dissonance, Online Survey, Moral Reasoning, Demographic Factors, Self-deception, Moral Attentiveness.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this master thesis?
The research investigates whether Business Ethical Codes of Conduct (BECC) can trigger immediate, acute shifts in an individual's ethical attitude through psychological priming mechanisms.
What are the central thematic areas covered in the work?
The thesis focuses on moral disengagement, the effectiveness of corporate honour codes, psychological theories regarding honesty and deception, and the impact of demographic factors like age and gender on moral decision-making.
What is the primary objective or research question?
The primary goal is to determine if short-term exposure to a Business Ethical Code of Conduct (BECC) effectively improves moral thinking in individuals using an online survey simulation.
Which scientific methodology is employed?
The author uses an experimental, quantitative research design, specifically an online "experiment survey," comparing different groups subjected to varying conditions (reading a BECC vs. a control group vs. responding to moral dilemmas) and analyzing results via Student’s t-test and ANOVA.
What topics are discussed in the main body?
The main body covers the theoretical background of moral psychology, a critical review of existing literature on business codes, the justification for the chosen testing instruments, and a detailed analysis of data retrieved from three separate experiments.
Which keywords best characterize the study?
Key terms include Business Ethics, Moral Disengagement, BECC, Priming, Mere-exposure effect, and Moral Attitude.
Did the study confirm that honour codes are effective?
No, the results indicate that reading a Business Ethical Code of Conduct (BECC) does not have a significant, acute effect on moral disengagement within a theoretical online context.
What is the "mere-exposure effect" mentioned in the study?
It is a psychological phenomenon where repeated or mere exposure to a stimulus (in this case, an ethical dilemma) influences a subject's attitude, often leading to reduced moral sensitivity, which the author identifies as an unexpected finding in the data.
Why did the author use an online survey?
The online format allowed for cost-effective, large-scale data collection and provided a controlled environment to test if theoretical, non-human-contact scenarios could trigger measurable changes in ethical perception.
- Arbeit zitieren
- David Kitz Krämer (Autor:in), 2011, Triggers of Acute Changes in Ethical Attitude, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/267268
