Personal religiousness and ethical judgements: An empirical analysis

It has been acknowledged on numerous occasions that personal religiousness is a potential source of ethical norms, and consequently, an influence in ethical evaluations. An extensive literature review provides little in the way of empirical investigation of this recognized affect. This investigation conceptualizes religiousness as a motivation for ethical action, and discovers significant differences in ethical judgements among respondents categorized by personal religious motivation. Suggestions as to the source of these differences, and the implications which they offer to managers are discussed and supported from the literature.James W. Clark is the Director of the Center for Retailing and assistant professor of marketing at James Madison University. His work has been published in The Journal of Advertising, and the proceedings of The Cutting Edge III and IV, the Southern Marketing Association, The Academy of Marketing Science, and The Decision Sciences Institute.Lyndon E. Dawson, Jr. is professor of marketing at Louisiana Tech University. His work has been published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Journal of Retailing, Psychology and Marketing, and Psychological Reports among others.