THE SCALE OF PROPENSITY TO MORAL DISENGAGEMENT AS A PSYCHO-DIAGNOSTIC TOOL OF AN ORGANIZATION’S ETHICS DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

To develop an organization’s ethics, a warning should be made when people disposed to moral disengagement join it; and it is necessary to create conditions that would not give employees any grounds for finding excuses for their unethical behavior. Propensity to moral disengagement (PMD) should be revealed during selection of new employees, at examination of an organization in order to develop programs aimed to improve its ethical culture. The research goal was to translate the Propensity to Morally Disengage Scale (Moore et al., 2012) into Ukrainian and to adapt it. The Scale has three forms: with 24, 16, and 8 statements. Translation of the original Scale into Ukrainian was made in several stages: direct translation, expert evaluation of the translation and creation of a preliminary version, reverse translation of the preliminary version, expert evaluation of the reverse translation, creation of the test version of the Scale, pilot survey (N = 32), creation of the final scale version in Ukrainian through specification of the test version (Novik, Ionova, 2007), literary editing. The translation is equivalent to the original; there is direct correlation (р ≤ 0,001) between the PMD figures obtained in one group (N = 58) by two measurements (in Ukrainian and English) with a four-week interval. The Ukrainian variant of the PMD Scale has shown good reproducibility of its results; the results of two surveys conducted in one group with a four-week interval correlate well (N = 122, age M=19.7; SD=1.4, students of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv): PMD-24 (r = 0.79), PMD-16 (r = 0.82), PMD-8 (r = 0.74), with р ≤ 0.001. In the Ukrainian version, the shorter is the form, the worse is its internal coordination –  α-Cronbach factor determined for the first and the second measurements, respectively, 0.82 and 0.86 (PMD-24), 0.77 and 0.8 (PMD-16), 0.54 and 0.56 (PMD-8), N = 122. Thus, a higher number of statements ensures better reliability of the Scale. The confirmatory analysis has shown that result correspondence to the theoretical model depends on the size of the respondents’ group. With a smaller group (N = 190, 132 women and 58 men aged 18-57, M = 30; SD = 8.93), the shorter scale form gives the result that corresponds the best to the theoretical model: а) PMD-24 results and 8–factor model (interdependent factors): χ²/df = 2.06; RMSEA = 0.07; CFI = 0.79; GFI = 0.83; b) PMD-16 results and 8–factor model (independent factors): χ²/df = 2.05; RMSEA = 0.07; CFI = 0.87; GFI = 0.91; c) PMD-8 results and 1-factor model: χ²/df = 1.6; RMSEA = 0.05; CFI = 0.94; GFI = 0.96. Here is a contradiction: the best internal coordination was obtained for the PMD-24 scale, but the best factor validity was determined for the PMD-8 scale. The sample was enlarged (N = 477, with 277 women and 200 men aged 18-60 – M = 30; SD = 8.85), and the confirmatory analysis was made once again. With the larger group (N = 477) only PMD-24 results corresponded to the theoretical model (eight interrelated factors): χ²/df = 2.76; RMSEA = 0.06; CFI = 0.83; GFI = 0.9. The results for the PMD-16 and PMD-8 forms showed insufficient correspondence to the model – χ²/df > 3. Thus, for the Ukrainian variants,  the best reliability and factor validity goes to the PMD scale with 24 statements. To check construct validity, the following techniques were used: 1) The MACH IV Scale (Christie, Geis, 1970), Ukrainian variant (Grebin 2016), 2) Social Well-Being Scales (Keyes, 1998), Ukrainian adaptation (Chetverik-Burchak, 2014), 3) The Big Five Locator (Howard et al., 1996), Ukrainian adaptation (Burlachuk, Korolov, 2000). Significant correlation were obtained (p < 0.001) between PMD-24 and agreeableness (r = -0.18), social actualization (r = -0.21), social contribution (r = -0.15), machiavellianism (r = 0.49); PMD shown by men is higher than that of women (М1 = 81.41, М2 = 71.42, р = 0.000, t = 7.18). This correlates well with the current scientific data and proves construct validity of the scale. Thus, it is suggested to use the PMD scale consisting of 24 statements in the Ukrainian variant as a reliable and valid psycho-diagnostic tool. &nbsp