The Effects of Proximity and Empathy on Ethical Decision-Making: An Exploratory Investigation

The goals of this research were to (1) explore the direct effects of and interactions between magnitude of consequences and various types of proximity – social, psychological, and physical – on the ethical decision-making process and (2) investigate the influence of empathy on the ethical decision-making process. A carpal tunnel syndrome vignette and questionnaire were administered to a sample of human resource management professionals to test the hypothesized relationships. Significant relationships were found for the main effects between magnitude of consequences and principle-based evaluation, cognitive empathy and principle-based evaluation, and empathy and moral intention. Physical proximity moderated the relationships between magnitude of consequences and utilitarian evaluation as well as magnitude of consequences and moral intention. Cognitive empathy moderated the relationships between magnitude of consequences and principle-based evaluation and physical proximity and utilitarian evaluation. Affective empathy marginally moderated the relationship between physical proximity and principle-based evaluation. Future research directions, management implications, and strengths and weaknesses of the research are discussed.     

An Analysis of the Factor Structure of Jones’ Moral Intensity Construct

In 1991, Jones developed an issue-contingent model of ethical decision making in which moral intensity is posited to affect the four stages of Rest’s 1986 model (awareness, judgment, intention, and behavior). Jones claimed that moral intensity, which is “the extent of issue-related moral imperative in a situation” (p. 372), consists of six characteristics: magnitude of consequences (MC), social consensus (SC), probability of effect (PE), temporal immediacy (TI), proximity (PX), and concentration of effect (CE). This article reports the findings of two studies that analyzed the factor structure of moral intensity, operationalized by a 12-item Perceived Moral Intensity Scale (PMIS) adapted from the work of Singhapakdi et al. [1996, Journal of Business Research, 36, 245–255] and Frey [2000, Journal of Business Ethics, 26, 181–195]. The two items that were purported to measure CE were dropped due to their inability to effectively tap into the characteristic proposed by Jones. Factor analyses of the remaining 10 items supported a 3-factor structure, with the MC, PE, and TI items loading on the first factor, the PX items loading on the second factor, and the SC items loading on the third factor. These factors were labeled: Probable Magnitude of Consequences, Proximity, and Social Consensus. The authors conclude that moral intensity consists of three characteristics, rather than the six posited by Jones.     

The Influence of Perceived Importance of an Ethical Issue on Moral Judgment,Moral Obligation,and Moral Intent

The study extends and tests the issue contingent four-component model of ethical decision-making to include moral obligation. A web-based questionnaire was used to gauge the influence of perceived importance of an ethical issue on moral judgment and moral intent. Perceived importance of an ethical issue was found to be a predictor of moral judgment but not of moral intent as predicted. Moral obligation is suggested to be a process that occurs after a moral judgment is made and explained a significant portion of the variance in moral intent. Electronic supplementary material   The online version of this article (doi: ) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Russell Haines is an Assistant Professor of Information Technology at Old Dominion University. He received his B.S. and Master of Accountancy from Brigham Young University and his Ph.D. from The University of Houston. His research interests are in laboratory experiments, ethical decision- making, supply chain decision-making, and computer- mediated communication. Marc D. Street is an Assistant Professor of Management at Salisbury University in Salisbury, Maryland. He received his B.A. from the University of Maryland, College Park (1983); his MBA from the University of Baltimore (1993); and his Ph.D. from the Florida State University (1998). His primary research interests are in the areas of decision-making and business ethics. Dr. Street’s research has been published in journals such as Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Business Ethics, and the Journal of World Business, among others. Douglas Haines is Associate Professor of Marketing and Department Chair of the Department of Business in the College of Business and Economics at the University of Idaho. Before acquiring his Ph.D. at the University of Oregon, he worked for 15 years in various positions at the H.J. Heinz company including Vice President of the Weight Watchers Foods Division of Heinz USA. His research interests include decision making, particularly in the marketing channel context, inter firm relationships, and the development of the market for biodiesel and other alternative energy sources.     

Breaking the Rules: Examining the Facilitation Effects of Moral Intensity Characteristics on the Recognition of Rule Violations

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.