In 1991, Jones developed an issuecontingent model of ethical decision making in which moral intensity is posited to affect the four stages of Rest's 1986 model (awareness, judgment, intention, and behavior). Jones claimed that moral intensity, which is ''the extent of issue-related moral imperative in a situation'' (p. 372), consists of six characteristics: magnitude of consequences (MC), social consensus (SC), probability of effect (PE), temporal immediacy (TI), proximity (PX), and concentration of effect (CE). This article reports the findings of two studies that analyzed the factor structure of moral intensity, operationalized by a 12-item Perceived Moral Intensity Scale (PMIS) adapted from the work of Singhapakdi et al. The two items that were purported to measure CE were dropped due to their inability to effectively tap into the characteristic proposed by Jones. Factor analyses of the remaining 10 items supported a 3-factor structure, with the MC, PE, and TI items loading on the first factor, the PX items loading on the second factor, and the SC items loading on the third factor. These factors were labeled:Probable Magnitude of Consequences, Proximity, and Social Consensus. The authors conclude that moral intensity consists of three characteristics, rather than the six posited by Jones.

The factor structure of the Multidimensional Ethics Scale (MES; Reidenbach and Robin: 1988 , Journal of Business Ethics 7, 871–879; 1990 , Journal of Business Ethics 9, 639–653) was examined for the 8-item short form (N = 328) and the original 30-item pool (N = 260). The objectives of the study were: to verify the dimensionality of the MES; to increase the amount of true cross-scenario variance through the use of 18 scenarios varying in moral intensity (Jones: 1991 , Academy of Management Review 16, 366–395); and, to examine the items for measurement precision using item-response theory (IRT) methods. Results of confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis failed to conclusively support the hypothesized 3- (short form) or 5-factor (long form) structure; both instruments were instead dominated by a general factor. Item response theory analyses using Samejima’s ( 1969 , Psychometrika Monograph Supplement 34, (4, Pt. 2)) graded response model revealed that many items in the 30-item pool performed very well, and suggested that a different collection of items be used to form a short-form version of the MES. Our proposed 10-item instrument includes more discriminating items than the 8-item version, and has the added advantage of including two items from each of the five ethical philosophies represented in the original 30-item pool. Copyright Springer 2007ethical decision-making, ethical judgment, factor analysis, multidimensional ethics scale,

Following an extensive review of the moral intensity literature, this article reports the findings of two studies (one between-subjects, the other within-subject) that examined the effect of manipulated and perceived moral intensity on ethical judgment. In the between-subjects study participants judged actions taken in manipulated high moral intensity scenarios to be more unethical than the same actions taken in manipulated low moral intensity scenarios. Findings were mixed for the effect of perceived moral intensity. Both probable magnitude of consequences (a factor consisting of magnitude of consequences, probability of effect, and temporal immediacy) and social consensus had a significant effect; proximity did not. In the within-subject study manipulated moral intensity had a significant effect on ethical judgment, but perceived moral intensity did not. Regression of ethical judgment on age, gender, major, and the three perceived moral intensity factors was significant between-subjects, but not within-subject. Ethical judgment was found to be a more robust predictor of intention than perceived moral intensity using a within-subject design. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2007ethical decision making, ethical judgment, moral intensity,

were obtained using a high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) system equipped with a radioisotope detector. The metabolite elution was carried out on a C 18 column using an acetonitrile/ water mobile phase. The structural assignments were based on GC-MS analysis of the tetrahydrofuran extract of urine containing the metabolites. Some of the metabolites in the extracts were first protected with trimethylsilyl groups prior to GC-MS analysis using bis(trimethylsiloxy)trifluoroacetamide or highly purified hexamethyldisiloxane. Hexamethyldisiloxane (MM, HMDS 1 ), the smallest member of the polydimethylsiloxane polymers, and decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D 5 ), a cyclic siloxane are colorless volatile fluids. MM is quite volatile with a vapor pressure of 42.2 mm Hg at 25°C and a boiling point of 100°C (Flanningam, 1986). D 5 is relatively less volatile with a vapor pressure of 2 mm Hg at 50°C and a boiling point of 210°C. The aqueous solubilities of MM and D 5 are 930 and 17 ppb, respectively (Varaprath et al., 1996). The primary use of MM and D 5 is as intermediates in the manufacturing of high molecular weight siloxane polymers. MM and D 5 also find use as vehicles or ingredients in a wide range of consumer product formulations (Cameron et al., 1986) since they have several favorable properties such as low surface tension, adequate evaporation rate, lack of odor, high degree of compatibility with many consumer product ingredients, and low toxicity. Typical examples of applications include moisturizing creams, lotions, bath oils, colognes, shaving products, and perfumes. Besides these product applications, they are also used as cleaners, lubricants, and penetrating oils.The rigorously purified MM (Dow Corning OS-10, purity Ͼ99.9%) is one of the many ozone-safe volatile methylsiloxanes that is exempt from federal volatile organic compound regulations and hence is accepted as an alternative for other organic solvents. Another important industrial use of MM is as a chain-terminating agent in siloxane polymerizations. The use of MM and D 5 in various product formulations necessitated conducting chemical and environmental fate/effects tests of them.Potential human exposure to MM and D 5 can result at the work place during the manufacturing process, as well as through the normal use of consumer products that contain them. Only sparse toxicological information is available on these siloxanes since they are believed to be relatively inert and of low toxicity. However, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D 4 ), a homolog of D 5 had been extensively studied. In rodents, inhalation exposure to D 4 results in dose-related hepatomegaly, transient hepatic hyperplasia, hypertrophy, and induction of hepatic cytochrome P450 enzymes in a fashion similar to phenobarbital (McKim et al., 1998(McKim et al., , 2001). Very limited toxicity data are available on HMDS and D 5 in biological systems. In a 13-week subchronic MM whole-body inhalation, renal histopathology consis-1 Abbreviations used are: MM, (HMDS) hexamethyldisiloxane; D 5 , decame...

The purpose of these experiments was to determine the potential estrogenic, androgenic, and progestagenic activity of two cyclic siloxanes, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) and decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5). Receptor-binding experiments and a luciferase reporter gene assay were used to determine if the materials were able to bind and activate either the estrogen receptors (ERs) or progesterone receptors (PRs)-alpha or beta. The rat uterotrophic assay (RUA) for estrogenic activity and the Hershberger assay for androgenic activity were utilized as the in vivo assays. For the ER-binding studies, D4 was shown to bind to ERalpha but not to ERbeta. D5 did not bind to either of the two receptors. D4 activated the reporter gene at 10 microM, while D5 was considered negative in the estrogen reporter gene assay. Neither material was a ligand for the PRs. Both the RUA and Hershberger assays were conducted using whole-body inhalation of the two materials for 16 h/day. D4 resulted in a small but significant increase in both wet and blotted uterine weight as well as increases in both luminal and glandular epithelial cell height in both Sprague Dawley and Fischer 344 rats. D5 was negative in both rat strains, indicating that D5 does not possess estrogenic activity. Neither material possessed any significant antiestrogenic activity. Both materials were negative in the Hershberger assay indicating that neither material possesses any significant androgenic activity. Our studies have shown that D4 exhibits a low affinity for ERalpha in vitro and a weakly estrogenic response in vivo.

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In this study, a 20-item questionnaire was used to elicit undergraduates' (N = 93) ethical judgment and behavioral intention regarding a number of behaviors involving computers and internet usage. Machiavellianism was found to be uncorrelated with both ethical judgment and behavioral intention. Gender was found to be negatively correlated with both ethical judgment and behavioral intention, such that females judged the behaviors as being less ethical than males, and were less likely to engage in the behaviors than males. A disconnect was found between ethical judgment and behavioral intention, for both males and females, such that the ethical judgment mean for a number of issues was significantly lower (towards the ''unethical'' end of the continuum) than the behavioral intention mean (towards the ''more likely to engage in'' end of the continuum). The study raises questions regarding ethical awareness of technology-related issues, and the authors make suggestions for future research.