Skip to main content
Log in

Selected individual differences and collegians' ethical beliefs

  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper develops twenty hypotheses concerning the relationships among selected individual differences variables (locus of control, delay of gratification, gender, and race) and five different ethical beliefs. The results of a study of collegians provide support for seventeen out of twenty research hypotheses. As predicted, locus of control, delay of gratification, and race are related to ethical beliefs. Also as predicted, gender is not related to ethical beliefs.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (Canada)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bass, B. M., W. F. Cascio and E. J. O'Connor: 1974, ‘Magnitude Estimations of Frequency and Amount’, Journal of Applied Psychology 59(3), 313–320.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beltramini, R. F., R. A. Peterson and G. Kozmetsky: 1984, ‘Concerns of College Students Regarding Business Ethics’, Journal of Business Ethics 3, 195–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Betz, M., L. O'Connell and J. M. Shepard: 1989, ‘Gender Differences in Proclivity for Unethical Behavior’, Journal of Business Ethics 8, 321–324.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blank, M. M.: 1984, ‘Socialization in Public Accounting Firms’, Ph.D. Dissertation, The Pennsylvania State University.

  • Borkowski, S. C.: 1992, ‘The Ethical Attitudes of Students as a Function of Age, Sex and Experience’, Journal of Business Ethics 11, 961–979.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, A.: February 1987, ‘Is Ethics Good Business?’, The Personnel Administrator 32, 67–68+.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Business Roundtable: Winter 1988, ‘The Rationale for Ethical Corporate Behavior’, Business and Society Review 64, 33–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carter, R. T. and J. E. Helms: 1987, ‘The Relationship of Black Value-Orientations to Racial Identity Attitudes’, Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development 19(4), 185–195.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, A.: Summer 1986, ‘Is “Business Ethics” an Oxymoron?’, Business and Society Review 58, 68–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuilla, J. B.: Spring 1985, ‘Do MBA Students Have Ethics Phobia?’, Business and Society Review 53, 52–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Derry, R.: 1989, ‘An Empirical Study of Moral Reasoning Among Managers’, Journal of Business Ethics 8, 855–862.

    Google Scholar 

  • Funder, D. C. and J. Block: 1989, ‘The Role of Ego-Control, Ego-Resiliency, and IQ in Delay of Gratification in Adolescence’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 57(6), 1041–1050.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galbraith, S. and H. B. Stephenson: 1993, ‘Decision Rules Used by Male and Female Business Students in Making Ethical Value Judgments: Another Look’, Journal of Business Ethics 12, 227–233.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gellerman, S. W.: July–August 1986, ‘Why “Good” Managers Make Bad Ethical Choices’, Harvard Business Review 64, 85–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilligan, C.: 1977, ‘In a Different Voice: Women's Conception of the Self and Morality’, Harvard Educational Review 49, 431–446.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris, J. R.: 1990, ‘Ethical Values of Individuals at Different Levels in the Organizational Hierarchy of a Single Firm’, Journal of Business Ethics 9, 741–750.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hegarty, W. H. and H. P. Sims, Jr.: 1978, ‘Some Determinants of Unethical Decision Behavior: An Experiment’, Journal of Applied Psychology 63(4), 451–457.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hegarty, W. H. and H. P. Sims, Jr.: 1979, ‘Organizational Philosophy, Policies, and Objectives Related to Unethical Decision Behavior: A Laboratory Experiment’, Journal of Applied Psychology 64(3), 331–338.

    Google Scholar 

  • Josepson, M.: November 11, 1990, ‘Sex, Lies and the “I-Deserve-It” Generation: Many of America's Youth Are Long on Corner Cutting and Dangerously Short on Ethics’, The Boston Sunday Globe.

  • Kidwell, J. M., R. E. Stevens and A. L. Bethke: 1987, ‘Differences in Ethical Perceptions Between Male and Female Managers: Myth or Reality’, Journal of Business Ethics 7, 489–493.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohlberg, L.: 1969, ‘Stage and Sequence: The Cognitive-Developmental Approach to Socialization’, in D. A. Goslin, ed., Handbook of Socialization Theory and Research (Rand McNally, Chicago).

    Google Scholar 

  • Maddi, S. R.: 1976, Personality Theories: A Comparative Analysis, 3rd ed. (The Dorsey Press, Homewood, Illinois).

    Google Scholar 

  • McCuddy, M. K.: 1992, ‘On the Development of a Scale for Measuring Delay of Gratification Tendencies. Unpublished Working Paper’ (Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana).

    Google Scholar 

  • McNichols, C. W. and T. W. Zimmerer: 1985, ‘Situational Ethics: An Empirical Study of differentiators of Student Attitudes’, Journal of Business Ethics 4, 175–180.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mischel, W., Y. Shoda and M. L. Rodriguez: 1989, ‘Delay of Gratification in Children’, Science 244, 933–938.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrison, A. M. and M. A. Von Glinow: 1990, ‘Women and Minorities in Management’, American Psychologist 45(2), 200–208.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phares, E.: 1976, Locus of Control in Personality (General Learning Press, Morristown, New Jersey).

    Google Scholar 

  • Putka, G.: June 29, 1992, ‘Blackboard Jungle: A Cheating Epidemic at a Top High School Teaches Sad Lessons’, The Wall Street Journal, A1+A4–A5.

  • Rest, J.: 1986, Moral Development: Advances in Research and Theory (Praeger, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rotter, J. B.: 1966, ‘Generalized Expectancies for Internal Versus External Control of Reinforcement’, Psychological Monographs 80(1 Whole No. 609).

  • Ruegger, D. and E. W. King: 1992, ‘A Study of the Effect of Age and Gender Upon Student Business Ethics’, Journal of Business Ethics 11, 179–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stead, W. E., D. L. Worrell, J. B. Spalding and J. G. Stead: 1987, ‘Unethical Decisions: Socially Learned Behaviors’, Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 2(1), 105–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsalikis, J. and O. Nwachukuru: 1988, ‘Cross-Cultural Business Ethics: Ethical Beliefs Differences between Blacks and Whites’, Journal of Business Ethics 7, 745–754.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyson, T.: 1990, ‘Believing That Everyone Else Is Less Ethical: Implications for Work Behavior and Ethics Instruction’, Journal of Business Ethics 9, 715–721.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walton, C. C.: 1992, Corporate Encounters: Ethics, Law and the Business Environment (The Dryden Press, Fort Worth, Texas).

    Google Scholar 

  • White, C. S. and R. S. Dooley: 1993, ‘Ethical or Practical: An Empirical Study of Students' Choices in Simulated Business Scenarios’, Journal of Business Ethics 12, 643–651.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woznica, J. G.: 1990, ‘Delay of Gratification in Bulimic and Restricting Anorexia Nervosa Patients’, Journal of Clinical Psychology 46(6), 706–713.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

Michael K. McCuddy, Professor of Human Resource Management at Valparaiso University, has conducted research on a variety of organizational topics. His work has been published in the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, The Health Care Supervisor, and Management Accounting. His current interests involve academic ethics and subsequent career behavior, organizational morality and organizational success, and ethics in the management accounting profession.

Barbara L. Peery, Adjunct Professor of Management at Virginia Commonwealth University, teaches courses in Entrepreneurship and Human Resources Management. Her scholarly work has been published in the Journal of Small Business Management and the Journal of Private Enterprise. Her current research interests focus on the antecedents and consequences of academic ethics. She has co-directed or coordinated several consulting projects for agencies in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and has taught in Russia.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McCuddy, M.K., Peery, B.L. Selected individual differences and collegians' ethical beliefs. J Bus Ethics 15, 261–272 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382952

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382952

Keywords

Navigation