Issue-Contingent Effects on Ethical Decision Making: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Mark A. Davis, Nancy Brown Johnson, Douglas G. Ohmer

Journal of Business Ethics · 1998 · Volume 17 · Issue 4

Abstract

This experiment examined the effects of three elements comprising Jones' (1991) moral intensity construct, (social consensus, personal proximity, and magnitude of consequences) in a cross-cultural comparison of ethical decision making within a human resource management (HRM) context. Results indicated social consensus had the most potent effect on judgments of moral concern and judgments of immorality. An analysis of American, Eastern European, and Indonesian responses also indicted socio-cultural differences were moderated by the type of HRM ethical issue. In addition, individual differences in personal ethical ideology (relativism and idealism) varied reliably with moral judgments after controlling for issue characteristics and socio-cultural background.

Keywords

Economic Growth, Individual Difference, Human Resource, Potent Effect, Ethical Issue

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