Gender differences in ethical perceptions of business practices: A social role theory perspective.

Abstract

This study presents a meta-analysis of research on gender differences in perceptions of ethical decision making. Data from more than 20,000 respondents in 66 samples show that women are more likely than men to perceive specific hypothetical business practices as unethical. As suggested by social role theory (A. H. Eagly, 1987), the gender difference observed in precareer (student) samples declines as the work experience of samples increases. Social role theory also accounts for greater gender differences in nonmonetary issues than in monetary issues. T. M. Jones's (1991) issue-contingent model of moral intensity helps explain why gender differences vary across types of behavior. Contrary to expectations, differences are not influenced by the sex of the actor or the target of the behavior and do not depend on whether the behavior involves personal relationships or action vs. inaction.

Effects of Moral Value Diversity on Team Composition and Team Cohesiveness

“…These results demonstrate that there is a significant difference between genders in the matter of morality which is also supported by the literature (i.e. : Franke et al 1997;Ambroso and Schminke 1999). However, our findings demonstrate differences especially in self-interest morality, legal and illegal morality whereas; females and males show similarities in personalsexual aspect.…”

A social-cognitive approach to understanding gender differences in negotiator ethics: The role of moral identity

“…Generally, men are more accepting of unethical behavior than women. Meta-analyses have found that women report more ethical attitudes (Borkowski & Ugras, 1998), hold business practices to higher ethical standards (Franke et al, 1997), and report less favorable attitudes toward cheating (Whitley et al, 1999) than do men. When men do view a behavior as unethical, they still report greater willingness to engage in the behavior than do women (Doty, Tomkiewicz, & Bass, 2005).…”

“…Since Gilligan (1982) proposed that women and men reason differently about morality, scholars have found persistent evidence of gender differences in ethics both generally (for meta-analyses, see Borkowski & Ugras, 1998;Franke, Crown, & Spake, 1997;Whitley, Nelson, & Jones, 1999) and in negotiations specifically (Haselhuhn & Wong, 2012;Kray & Haselhuhn, 2012;Robinson, Lewicki, & Donahue, 2000;Westbrook, Arendall, & Padelford, 2011).…”

Investigating moral intensity with the world-wide web: A look at participant reactions and a comparison of methods

“…See also Franke, Crown, and Spake (1997) for an investigation of MI in the context of gender differences and social role theory and Bowes- Sperry and Powell (1996) for the application of an ethical decision-making perspective incorporating MI to the issue of sexual harassment.…”