Predictors, consequence, and measurement of ethical judgments: Review and meta-analysis

Abstract

As a central construct in theories of ethical decision making, ethical judgments have been the subject of more than one hundred empirical studies. Despite its size, the ethical judgments literature seems to lack clarity in three areas. First, empirical results are sometimes inconsistent or contradictory across studies. Second, a broad array of diverse measures of ethical judgments raises concerns about research validity. Third, differences in sample composition may affect comparability of study results. To help resolve these issues, this study conducts a review and meta-analysis of the ethical judgments literature. The results offer insights in all three areas. They help resolve some of the inconsistencies in the relationships between ethical judgments and certain theoretical antecedents; they support the use of diverse measures of ethical judgments; and they offer caution in the use of student samples in ethical judgments research.