Ethical Behavior Research Articles

Professional moral courage: A necessary trait that needs attention in modern nursing

Presently, nurses employed in healthcare environments encounter intricate moral and spiritual dilemmas as a result of their professional responsibilities. These challenges encompass issues such as aggressive interventions for terminally ill patients, superfluous medical examinations, and instances of deceit. The findings of the study highlighted deficiencies in the quality of care provided, inequitable power dynamics within the workforce, and a deficiency in organizational backing [1-3]. Conversely, given the numerous ethical dimensions within nursing practice such as upholding human dignity, respecting rights, and adhering to ethical standards, it is evident that ethics plays a crucial role in the framework of nursing [4]. One of the important and influential aspects in the discussion of professional ethics is the courage of professional ethics [5]. Moral courage is defined as standing up for what is right and involves a steadfast commitment to moral principles despite potential risks [6]. Moral courage is a virtue that creates the ability to perform moral behavior in a person and makes him perform morally despite obstacles. Courage is one of the most valuable human personality traits and has a central role in moral life. Moral courage is one of the basic values of the nursing profession. This value was introduced with two other values, love, and respect, by the International Honorary Society of Nurses in 1922 [2].

Religion logic and family firms’ ethical behavior towards employees

Religion logic and family firms’ ethical behavior towards employees

Ethics Education, Moral Attentiveness and Consumer Wisdom: Exploring the Relationships

Ethics education has recently garnered a great deal of attention; it has been viewed as a remedy against a plague of diverse forms of immoral practices carried out by businesses and consumers. Markedly, ethics education has proved its effectiveness in influencing students’ moral cognition and behavior as future business practitioners. However, the effect of being exposed to ethics courses on students as consumers has not been investigated yet. Thus, a post-only quasi-experimental design was conducted to examine such an influence on the dimensions of moral attentiveness and consumer wisdom; as cognitive and behavioral constructs respectively. Results revealed that ethics education had a positive influence on students’ reflective moral attentiveness as well as two dimensions of consumer wisdom, which are purpose and perspective. Finally, the research provides theoretical and practical implications as well as directions of the available research avenues for future researchers.

Impact of Social Media on Adolescent Mental Health and Ethical Development: A Qualitative Study on Early Character Formation in Sarolangun Regency

Adolescent psychiatry reveals that 95.4% of adolescents aged 16-24 exhibit anxiety symptoms, and 88% show signs of depression, largely due to excessive social media use, resulting in character decline and apathy. This study explores the role of early character building in improving the formation of ethics in children in Sarolangun Regency, addressing concerns related to the negative effects of social media. A qualitative, descriptive approach was employed to investigate how habituation practices contribute to the development of student ethics. The study focused on five schools in Sarolangun Regency: SDIT AL Fatih, SDIT Rahmatul Ummah, SDIT AL Kahfi, SDN 1, and SDIT AS-Salam. Data collection involved interviews and observations of students, teachers, and parents to assess their roles in ethical development. The findings demonstrate that while technological advancements offer various benefits, they also introduce significant challenges, particularly in the realm of student behavior. Teachers actively work to mitigate the negative impacts of social media by providing guidance, instruction, and education on its dangers. Additionally, parents play an essential role in fostering ethical behavior, contributing significantly to children's moral development through consistent support and proper guidance. Both educators and parents are pivotal in guiding students' ethical growth amidst the increasing influence of social media. The combined efforts of these stakeholders ensure that children develop strong ethical foundations, helping counteract the potential negative impacts of technology. The study highlights the importance of early ethical education and the need for collaboration between teachers and parents to effectively guide children in the responsible use of social media.

Does governmental corruption aid or hamper early moral development? Insights from the Dominican Republic and United States contexts.

We tested whether children growing up in the Dominican Republic (D.R.), a context with relatively high governmental corruption levels, would support versus distance themselves from widespread unethical practices like bribery. In Experiment 1 (moral judgments; n = 106), D.R. elementary schoolers and adults evaluated judges who accepted gifts from contestants before or after selecting contest winners and predicted whether bribe-taking judges would be secretive. Like adults, older-but not younger-D.R. elementary schoolers differentially condemned judges who accepted gifts before versus after picking contest winners. Unlike adults, children often predicted that judges would disclose receiving gifts. In Experiment 2 (moral behaviors; n = 44), D.R. elementary schoolers could secretly accept or reject a bribe in exchange for 1st place while judging a drawing contest. All but two children rejected the bribe. Together, these findings stand in contrast with U.S. bribery-related developmental trends (Reyes-Jaquez & Koenig, 2021, 2022) and support this contention: When growing up in a more morally heterogeneous context like the D.R., children eventually assume a critical and differentiated stance toward-and will resist or subvert-some of their culture's unethical practices. Greater exposure to a wide range of unethical transactions might hinder aspects of bribery-related moral development early on, depending on how these aspects are measured (moral judgment vs. behavior). Nevertheless, over time, such exposure may strengthen children's capacity to resist unethical cultural practices, indicated by children's overwhelming rejection of bribes. We discuss the importance of including diverse response modalities (verbal, behavioral) when measuring psychological constructs in non-Western societies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Blame: What is it good for?

ABSTRACT An emerging strand of research claims that blame is justified on the basis of its instrumental role in serving to ‘cultivate’ or ‘scaffold’ moral agency in those to whom it is directed. On these instrumentalist accounts, our actual collective responsiveness to moral considerations is largely explained by the scaffolding or cultivating force of blame as directed at us. We believe that there is some reason to be sceptical of the instrumental role assigned to blame on these accounts. This is because there is evidence from the psychology literature on prosocial behaviour and moral development that blame may be directly ineffective; it may be ineffective in inculcating moral norms in the children and young adults to whom it is directed. We concede that blame may have this proximate instrumental role in scaffolding moral behaviour in adults, however we believe that such accounts overlook what we think is likely the more central instrumental role of blame. This is the role blame plays in the moral ecology: the models, narratives, scripts, and cultural frameworks that we internalize. The most central instrumental role of blame, we claim, is to indirectly foster moral considerations responsive agency in third parties through modelling behaviour observed in the moral ecology.

The association between family emotional climate and moral development with vandalism in students: The mediating role of academic self-efficacy

Background: Research on the mediating role of academic self-efficacy can help identify how the family environment and moral judgment influence destructive behaviors, informing targeted strategies to promote positive youth development. This study investigates the mediating role of academic self-efficacy in the relationship between family emotional climate and moral development with vandalism in students. Methods: In this research, a correlational path analysis framework was adopted to investigate the relationships between various factors and destructive behaviors in adolescents. The target population encompassed all high school students within Eyvan, Iran, during the year 2023. A multistage cluster sampling approach yielded a sample of 364 participants. Standardized instruments assessed vandalism, family emotional climate, moral development, and academic self-efficacy. Structural equation modeling (SEM) software (AMOS 23) was utilized to evaluate the hypothesized model. Results: The findings revealed a non-significant direct association between family emotional climate and vandalism. In contrast, the analysis yielded significant positive and negative associations, respectively, between moral development and academic self-efficacy (P=0.001) and moral development and vandalism (P=0.001). The indirect effect of family emotional climate on vandalism through academic self-efficacy was negative and significant (P=0.012). Similarly, the indirect effect of moral development on vandalism mediated by academic self-efficacy was also negative and significant (P=0.009). Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of promoting academic self-efficacy alongside efforts to cultivate positive family environments and moral development. By strengthening students’ belief in their academic abilities, interventions can empower them to make positive choices and reduce their likelihood of engaging in destructive behaviors like vandalism.

Ethical Leadership and Emotional Exhaustion: The Impact of Moral Intensity and Affective Commitment

Purpose: The impact of ethical leadership on employee emotional exhaustion has been extensively analyzed. However, the impact of a leader’s moral intensity on an employee’s emotional state has gone largely unnoticed. This research demonstrates that ethical leadership influences employee emotional exhaustion as a function of the extent of the leader’s moral standards. Furthermore, this research finds that affective commitment acts as a mediating mechanism. Methods: A simple mediation model is used. The sample consists of 448 professionals in six organizations in the Colombian electrical sector who responded to an online questionnaire. The sampling is probabilistic by conglomerates. Findings: This research found a positive relationship between ethical leadership and emotional exhaustion, with affective commitment being a mechanism that helps explain this association. Ethical behavior is voluntary in nature and develops in an environment of trust. When an ethical leader surpasses specific moral turning points, a follower’s learning becomes an obligation, preventing affective fluidity. A search for acceptance implies constant consumption of resources that weakens the follower’s capacity for self-regulation until it is exhausted. Moreover, when the leader’s expectations are difficult to meet, affective commitment can lead to significant emotional ambiguity in followers. This context intensifies role stress and increases the likelihood of emotional exhaustion. Lastly, seniority in the workplace promotes emotional exhaustion. Originality: This research challenges conventional wisdom about the mitigating effect of ethical leadership on employees’ emotional states. It broadens the understanding of this management style and fills a crucial knowledge gap by introducing a new perspective. Practical Implications: A balanced and accessible leader can quickly convey a convincing ethical discourse. Emphasizing the vulnerability and importance of human beings can help prevent moral anguish and ethical distances. This, in turn, provides followers with resources to mitigate exhaustion and strengthen commitment.

Moral behaviour alters impressions of humans and AIs on teams: unethical AIs are more powerful while ethical humans are nicer

ABSTRACT Artificial intelligence (AI) agents are increasingly being used as teammates, not just as tools, across many domains, and teammates’ moral behaviour can alter impressions of themselves and the team. How good, powerful, and active is an AI versus human team member engaging in an ethical or unethical behaviour? How good, powerful, and active is their team? To address these questions, we conduct four studies across three domains (chess, esports, and poetry composition) where participants rate their impressions of team members and teams presented in a scenario. In the scenario, a member of a hybrid team of 2 humans and 2 AIs is presented with an opportunity to cheat, and either does or does not. We manipulate which team member (AI vs human) is acting and the morality of that action (non-cheating vs cheating). Across the studies, results show that ethical behaviour significantly increases the goodness of the human more than the AI, and unethical behaviour significantly increases the power of the AI more than the human. However, there were no systematic human versus AI differences on team impressions.

Observing systemic values in a tax avoidance environment: Using systems theory to examine the Ireland–Apple tax relationship

AbstractTax has been the site of many battles between ethical behaviour and formal compliance with tax law, particularly in an international context. This paper accepts the functional differentiation of society and explores the amorality of systems. The environmental noise about unfair tax competition by states and tax avoidance by multinational enterprises is extensive. The autopoietic legal system cannot be relied upon to deliver a concurring view, instead producing its self‐referential and sometimes contradictory communications. The empirical setting considers Ireland and Apple and the legal system's verdict on the legality of their tax relationship. This legal verdict changes as the case progresses from European Commission to one court after another, a contingent and uncertain outcome that may be prompted by systemic irritation but which is not co‐ordinated with moral commentary on Ireland or Apple. The absence of coordination by the legal system with environmental commentary on fairness means that, as the legal verdict changes from court to superior court, moral commentary is not a reliable predictor of legal outcome.

Forecasting health financing sustainability under the unified pool reform: evidence from China’s Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance

ObjectiveThe integration of the health insurance fund pool may threaten the sustainability of the fund by increasing its expenditures through the exacerbation of the moral hazard of participations. The purpose of this paper is to assess and predict the impact of the single pool reform of China’s Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI) on the expenditure and sustainability of the health insurance fund.MethodsIn this paper, we consider the pilot implementation of the single pool reform in some provinces of China as a quasi-natural experiment, and develop a staggered DID model to assess the impact of the single pool reform on medical reimbursement expenditure. Based on the results, an actuarial model is developed to predict the impact on the accumulated balance of China’s health insurance fund if the single pool reform is continued.ResultsWe found that the medical reimbursement expenditure would increase by 66.4% per insured person after the unified provincial-level pool reform. There is individual heterogeneity in the effects of the unified single pool reform on medical reimbursement expenditure, and the reimbursement expenditure of retired elderly has the largest increase. If the unified single pool reform is gradually promoted, the current and accumulated balance of the UEBMI pooling fund would have gaps in 2031 and 2042, respectively.ConclusionWe verified that a larger fund pool will bring unreasonable growth of fund expenditures, which will threaten the sustainable development of health insurance. To minimize the impact of the unified single pool reform on the sustainability of the health insurance fund, we suggest strengthening the monitoring of moral hazard behavior, promoting the delayed retirement system, and encouraging childbearing.

IMPACT OF GOSSIP IN WORKPLACE ON JOB BURNOUT MEDIATED BY THE EMPLOYEE'S SILENCE

The research reviews the nature of the impact of gossip in the workplace, with its dimensions, on the dependent variable, job burnout, mediated by the employee’s silence with its dimensions, through analysing the relationship between the dimensions of the variables. The research aims to help the researched organization address job burnout. The research began with a problem that included questions, including (the extent of the researched organization’s interest in addressing the impact of Gossip) and the results showed this through the importance of the research. Using a questionnaire form, a purposive sample (all teachers) of (282) teachers was adopted in the College of Education for Human Sciences / University of Kerbala. At the same time, the statistical tools were represented by linear regression, correlation coefficient, structural equation modelling, and path analysis. Structuring the equation, a set of conclusions was obtained, the most important of which was (that increasing gossip in the workplace in the presence of employee silence leads to a high increase in employee burnout). The most important recommendation was (the need for the studied institution to work to reduce the level of gossip at work, burnout, and employee silence. Following the following administrative practices (development and training, empowerment, incentives and rewards, organizational justice, credibility, managing relations between employees, and administrative trust), not only setting codes of ethical behaviour and urging employees to adhere to them, as well as conducting educational guidance workshops and training courses on negative and deviant behaviours in a way In general and gossip in particular, about its dangers and causes on society and the institution studied.

Staging Conscience

Through an in-depth analysis of Johannes Nomsz’s play Iemant en Niemant (1768), this article explores how the seemingly anachronistic genre of zinnespel (morality play) could serve to negotiate key issues of eighteenth-century aesthetical discourse. The combination of abstract ideas and sensual images ingrained into this genre made it an ideal vehicle with which to approach one of the primary problems of the period, namely the mediation between reason and the senses. Nomsz’s play deals with this rationalist/empiricist divide concerning the moral philosophical question of whether reason or feelings guide human ethical behaviour. Through empathy with the allegorical character of Nobody, Nomsz draws his audience into the teeth of a moral dilemma through emotion rather than teaching them a moral lesson. At the same time, he connects moral sentiments to a rational procedure of moral self-judgement by staging conscience as an inner court. I call this way of applying the late medieval genre of morality play to the key questions of eighteenth-century aesthetics and philosophy ‘Enlightened zinnespel’. Turning to the zinnespel with its special capacity to merge mind and senses indicates that at this time, the role of art changed. Art was no longer seen as a medium of knowledge transference, but as a medium that could generate knowledge in a unique way because of its ability to combine cognitive, affective, and sensual dimensions.

Moral Risk, Moral Injury, and Institutional Responsibility: Ethical Issues in HUMINT

Intelligence is morally unique—means and ends that are typically morally problematic are rendered justifiable by reference to the special purpose that national security intelligence serves. This is particularly the case with human intelligence (HUMINT), where operators and handlers might have to violate normal ethical principles as part of their job. Lying, coercion, and/or exploitation may feature as part of a HUMINT operation. This creates a moral risk, where individuals and institutions are excepted from normal moral constraints. Rather than looking at the immediate moral risks of HUMINT operations, this article looks at the relation between the moral risks encountered as part of HUMINT and moral injury. Moral injury may refer to two complementary phenomena: when a person is exposed to immoral activities and suffers psychologically because of dissonance between those immoral activities and normal moral behaviors, and when a person’s moral character is “numbed” because of them engaging in immoral activities. HUMINT exposes intelligence officers to both kinds of moral injury. There is a moral responsibility of intelligence institutions to be both aware of, and seek to mitigate, moral injury, while operating in a context where such moral risk is at times justifiable.

Developing Servant Leadership through Experience and Practice: A Case Study in Service Learning.

Servant leadership is characterized by a core altruistic calling and central attributes of genuine caring, humility, and empathy, and in recent years, has become a style of leadership recommended to be addressed in sports management classrooms because of its associated positive outcomes and emphasis on ethical behavior and decision-making. As the relevance and popularity of servant leadership continue to grow, it gives rise to matters of how this approach to leadership can be better studied and taught to current and aspirant sports professionals. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative case study is to analyze a community-based service-learning project as a mode for developing servant leaders as part of a college sports management curriculum. Nineteen upper-level college sports management students participated in this study by serving as mentors in an after-school program for underprivileged elementary school students for 12 h across the course of six weeks. Participants then completed a written reflection upon the conclusion of the service project. Content analysis of these reflections suggests that service learning may be a positive method for developing servant leaders. The article closes with a discussion of findings, proposed future research questions, as well as ideas for future service-learning projects aimed at developing servant leaders.

Predicting Emotional and Behavioral Reactions to Collective Wrongdoing: Effects of Imagined Versus Experienced Collective Guilt on Moral Behavior

ABSTRACTPast research has shown that people are inconsistent when making predictions about emotions and moral behaviors following their own wrongdoing. However, it is less clear how people react when they did not cause the wrongdoing themselves but the group or collective they associate with. The present paper investigates people's reactions to collective wrongdoing and the question (1) whether the prediction of the experience of group‐based guilt is related to actual moral behaviors and (2) whether this prediction is reliable. In three studies, we analyze collective guilt and subsequent behavioral reactions. Study 1 involved real academic situations, varying the kind of unfair treatment of others. A priori, participants overestimated their own subsequent experiences of collective guilt as well as their moral behavior. With respect to actual responses, experienced guilt was the strongest predictor of behavioral reactions, while imagined guilt, in‐group identification and satisfaction did not significantly predict responses. Moreover, participants also reacted more to the direct harm caused by their group to others than to unjustified privileges granted to others. Study 2 fully replicated these results and showed relative stability in the predictions of collective guilt. Study 3 compared the responses by participants of the previous two studies with their responses 5 years later, indicating high stability of the observed effects over time. Also, we observed that making repeated predictions after experiencing the guilt‐eliciting situation did not improve the accuracy of our participants' predictions. We discuss the implications of these findings for self‐predictions, behavioral and affective forecasting of collective emotions, and for common assessment methods of guilt by hypothetical vignettes.

Beyond borders: The moderating role of cultural religiosity in the relationship between moral circle and generosity.

Research has indicated a link between the moral circle and an individual's prosocial behaviour. However, it remains uncertain whether this relationship holds across a broader range of countries and is influenced by sociocultural contexts. Drawing from an international dataset encompassing 49,540 participants from 57 countries, this study examined the impact of the moral circle on an individual's generosity and the moderating role of cultural religiosity. The results revealed a significant positive association between moral circle and generosity in a cross-national context. Notably, in religious cultures, the connection between the moral circle and generosity was found to be weaker. Three robustness checks further affirmed that these findings are robust. The research confirmed a positive relationship between the moral circle and generosity in a multinational context but also highlighted the moderating role of cultural religiosity. This finding suggested that future research should further investigate how cultural and religious frameworks influence ethical behaviour.

Global tax avoidance and evasion: A landscape through insights from a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis

This research aims to comprehensively investigate contemporary practices and factors influencing global tax avoidance and evasion through a systematic literature review (SLR) and bibliometric analysis. This study methodology uses SLR with bibliometric analysis to map this research trend. Relevant literature was collected and systematically analyzed to identify key themes, methodologies, and findings regarding tax avoidance and evasion. The study’s findings identify various tax avoidance practices, including profit shifting, transfer pricing strategies, and the use of tax havens by multinational corporations. The report also highlights various forms of tax evasion, such as money laundering and illicit financial flows. Key factors influencing tax behavior are ethical considerations, government policies, economic factors, and corporate governance practices. This analysis highlights the complex interactions between these factors in shaping tax practices globally. The study’s conclusions show that effective tax governance requires a multifaceted approach integrating ethical standards, a strong regulatory framework, and international cooperation. Ethical corporate behavior and transparent reporting are essential in promoting tax compliance and fairness. This study emphasizes the critical role of policymakers in designing and enforcing tax policies that discourage aggressive tax planning while encouraging economic growth and equality. Recommendations from these findings are to increase transparency in multinational operations, strengthen international tax cooperation, and improve global tax administration capabilities. In addition, increasing taxpayer education and awareness can foster a culture of compliance and ethical tax practices. Future research should prioritize longitudinal studies and case-specific analyses to deepen understanding and develop targeted interventions to address tax avoidance and evasion challenges.

The Contemporary Position of Socially Responsible Marketing – The Past and Present

Many factors drive companies to pursue higher levels of CSR, including changes in employee and customer needs, management and government pressure, business interests in relational models, and compliance with supply chain processes. The foundation of business knowledge as business ethics includes compliance with legal and ecological principles. Businesses should ensure that all employees understand and comply with applicable laws. Businesses should implement and publish a written policy to promote a culture of ethical behaviour within the organisation and to hold employees accountable for legal and ethical compliance. By using these strategies or similar strategies, companies can create opportunities to reduce current and future expenses, increase competitiveness and market performance, and improve results. In today›s business world, ecological concepts are increasingly used in the market as a necessary prerequisite for developing competitive advantage and brand awareness. Business strategies and the need to create products and services that meet customer needs have had a significant impact on the evolution of environmental awareness. This article focuses on the current state and development of the business sector.

The Influence of Sustainability Reporting in Enhancing Firm Value

There is a growing concern about sustainability reporting as stakeholders increasingly recognize the importance of sustainable and ethical business practices. Investors, consumers, and regulatory bodies are demanding greater transparency and accountability from firms regarding their sustainability and ethical corporate behavior. Accordingly, the objective of this paper is to examine the significant influence that sustainability reporting can exert on a firm's financial performance and overall worth. By employing three predominant theoretical frameworks: stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory, and signaling theory. The findings mostly show that sustainability reporting increases firm value. Reputational capital, investor confidence, and long-term financial performance improve for firms that report their sustainability performance. However, sustainability reporting affects business value through complicated mechanisms that include regulatory contexts, industry characteristics, and disclosure quality. Although positive associations were found, sustainability reporting's effects on firm value need further studies. Research should uncover the mediating variables and contextual elements that promote this association. Researchers can provide more detailed insights into how sustainability reporting might strategically boost firm value, improving corporate sustainability and financial performance. The findings of this study would provide an important contribution to firms and stakeholders. Firms that prioritize sustainability contribute to the well-being of communities and the environment. Further, with greater transparency, the public can hold companies accountable for their actions, and support firms that demonstrate genuine commitment to sustainability.