Breaking the Rules: Examining the Facilitation Effects of Moral Intensity Characteristics on the Recognition of Rule Violations |
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Authors: | David M Wasieleski Sefa Hayibor |
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Institution: | (1) Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.A.;(2) Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, NS, Canada |
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Abstract: | This research project seeks to discover whether certain characteristics of a moral issue facilitate individuals’ abilities
to detect violators of a conditional rule. In business, conditional rules are often framed in terms of a social contract between
employer and employee. Of significant concern to business ethicists is the fact that these social contracts are frequently
breached. Some researchers in the field of evolutionary psychology argue that there is a biological basis to social contract
formation and dissolution in business. However, although it is inescapable that biological forces shaped a fixed neural structure
that guides and limits humans’ abilities, we argue that characteristics of the situation in which the person finds himself
or herself moderate the activation of these neural circuits in ordinary business social contract situations. Specifically,
the moral intensity associated with the social contract conditional rule is likely to influence peoples’ abilities to detect
violators of the rule. This study utilizes adapted versions of the Wason selection task and manipulates the issue-contingent
moral intensity characteristics of magnitude of consequences, proximity, and social consensus to assess if moral intensity
facilitates detection of rule violators. Results from this empirical study indicate no relationship between moral intensity
characteristics and issue recognition but do provide insights into the evolutionary psychology approach.
David M. Wasieleski is an Assistant Professor in the Leadership and Change Management Division of the A.J. Palumbo School
of Business Administration and the John F. Donahue Graduate School of Business at Duquesne University. He received his Ph.D.
from the University of Pittsburgh. David’s recent research focuses on individuals’ biological propensity for ethical behavior
and its effect on workplace relationships. His other research interests include moral intensity, cognitive moral development,
stakeholder agenda-building, and policy learning.
Sefa Hayibor is an Assistant Professor of Management in the Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary’s University (Canada).
He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. His research interests include business ethics and ethical decision-making,
stakeholder motivation and management, charismatic leadership, and cognitive heuristics and biases. |
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Keywords: | moral intensity ethical decision-making issue recognition social contracts evolutionary psychology |
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