When Are Norms Prescriptive? Understanding and Clarifying the Role of Norms in Behavioral Ethics Research

Abstract

Research on ethical norms has grown in recent years, but imprecise language has made it unclear when these norms prescribe “what ought to be” and when they merely describe behaviors or perceptions (“what is”). Studies of ethical norms, moreover, tend not to investigate whether participants were influenced by the prescriptive aspect of the norm; the studies primarily demonstrate, rather, that people will mimic the behaviors or perceptions of others, which provides evidence for the already well-substantiated social proof theory. In this review article, we delineate three streams of norms research in business ethics: behavioral, perceptual, and prescriptive. We argue that by properly categorizing norms, and designing studies to investigate when prescriptions, more than mere mimicry, improve ethical outcomes in organizations, researchers can enhance managers’ efforts to promote ethical outcomes in organizations.

The impact of organizational politics on work engagement—the mediating role of the doctrine of the mean

“…Furthermore, Ahmad et al (2023) emphasizes that employees’ attitudes toward organizational politics are closely linked to their personal values and cultural backgrounds. For instance, some employees may strongly disapprove of practices such as bribery, deception, or unethical competition, while others may perceive these behaviors as normal ( Scharding and Warren, 2023 ; Tan et al, 2023 ). If employees strongly believe in fairness and justice, they are likely to hold a negative view of organizational politics, reflecting the influence of their personal values ( Kaur and Kang, 2023 ).…”