Moral Reasoning and Moral Behavior Among Incoming First-Year Business Students: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

This study examined the moral reasoning and behavior of 177 incoming first-year business students. The students were presented with a realistic situation – an attempted hostile takeover of a corporation. Students were placed into one of three alternative scenarios as shareholders of the corporation – small investor, large investor, or a mutual fund manager – and viewed a portion of the film, “Other People’s Money, ” as two actors argued for differing perspectives regarding the corporation. Students were then asked to vote their “shares, ” and to provide an explanation for their behavior. The results indicated that incoming first-year students with higher levels of moral reasoning were more likely to cast their vote based upon a view of the corporation as a social institution, while those with lower levels of moral reasoning tended to vote their shares based upon perceived self-interest and personal gain.