East Meets West: A Meta-Analytic Investigation of Cultural Variations in Idealism and Relativism |
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Authors: | Forsyth Donelson R O’Boyle Ernest H McDaniel Michael A |
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Institution: | (1) Jepson School of Leadership Studies, University of Richmond, 28 Westhampton Way, Richmond, VA, 23173, U.S.A.;(2) Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Business, Snead Hall, 301 W. Main Street, Richmond, VA, 23284, U.S.A. |
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Abstract: | Ethics position theory (EPT) maintains that individuals’ personal moral philosophies influence their judgments, actions, and
emotions in ethically intense situations. The theory, when describing these moral viewpoints, stresses two dimensions: idealism
(concern for benign outcomes) and relativism (skepticism with regards to inviolate moral principles). Variations in idealism
and relativism across countries were examined via a meta-analysis of studies that assessed these two aspects of moral thought
using the ethics position questionnaire (EPQ; Forsyth, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
39, 175–184, 1980). This review identified 139 samples drawn from 29 different countries, for a total sample of 30,230 respondents,
and concluded that (a) levels of idealism and relativism vary across regions of the world in predictable ways; (b) an exceptionist
ethic is more common in Western countries, subjectivism and situationism in Eastern countries, and absolutism and situationism
in Middle Eastern countries; and (c) a nation’s ethics position predicted that country’s location on previously documented
cultural dimensions, such as individualism and avoidance of uncertainty (Hofstede, Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values, 1980). Limitations in these methods and concerns about the validity of these cross-cultural conclusions are noted, as are
suggestions for further research using the EPQ. |
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Keywords: | idealism relativism meta-analysis systematic review cross-cultural differences international ethics |
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