The impact of ethical ideology on modifiers of ethical decisions and suggested punishment for ethical infractions

The Influence of Ethics Instruction, Religiosity, and Intelligence on Cheating Behavior

“…For instance, in contrast to ethical idealists, ethical relativists tend to see little wrong with ethically questionable actions performed by consumers (Al-Khatib et al, 2004;Erffmeyer et al, 1999), accountants (Elias, 2002), or marketers (Kleiser et al, 2003), regard some manifestations of academic dishonesty as relatively appropriate (Rawwas et al, 2006), are less likely to recognize the presence of ethical issues (Sparks and Hunt, 1998), and are inclined to be Machiavellian, opportunistic, and calculating (Al-Khatib et al, 2004;Al-Khatib et al, 2005). High idealists, in contrast, tend to reject most forms of academic, business, and consumer dishonesty (Dubinsky et al, 2004;Rawwas et al, 2006, Steenhaut andVan Kenhove, 2006;Vitell and Paolillo, 2003), believe that ethics is important in business contexts (Etheredge, 1999;Singhapakdi et al, 1996;Vitell and Hidalgo, 2006), tend not to be Machiavellian (Al-Khatib et al, 2004;Ho et al, 1997), and feel that ethical infractions should be punished severely (Barnett et al, 1996;Chiu and Erdener, 2003;Giacalone et al, 1995). Since highly religious people are more likely to be ethical idealists, this may suggest that such individuals will be less inclined to cheat.…”

Some Ethical Implications of Individual Competitiveness

“…They tend, for example, not to be opportunistic (Al-Khatib et al 2005), and thus seem unlikely to rationalize ethically questionable behaviors even if these help them to win. Indeed, high idealists reject most forms of academic, business, and consumer dishonesty (e.g., Barnett et al 1998;Steenhaut and Van Kenhove 2006), score low on workplace deviance (Henle et al 2005), believe that ethics is important in business contexts (e.g., Etheredge 1999;Yaman and Gurel 2006), feel that ethical infractions should be punished severely (Barnett et al 1996;Chiu and Erdener 2003;Giacalone et al 1995), and are not Machiavellian (Al-Khatib et al 2004;Auger and Devinney 2007;Ho et al 1997;Leary et al 1986). The aforementioned likelihood of dubious ethics in hypercompetitiveness suggests that such persons will tend not to be idealistic.…”

A Comparative Study of Ethical Perceptions of Managers and Non-Managers

“…Since then there has been increasing research interest in business ethics in reaction to public skepticism about the integrity of business arising from blatant examples of ethically questionable behavior (Agarwal and Malloy, 1999;Christie et al, 2003;Giacalone et al, 1995). Of the empirical studies on business ethics, the portion looking at managers' ethical attitudes has been increasing.…”