Moral Intensity Research Articles

Social media reduce users' moral sensitivity: Online shaming as a possible consequence.

In this study, we propose that social media reduce users' moral sensitivity through the mediation of the perceived moral intensity of hostile comments, which leads to behavioral consequences for online shaming. Three separate studies were conducted to explore this statement. Study 1 (N = 160) compared moral sensitivity between participants in simulated social media situations and a control group. Study 2 (N = 412) tested the mediating role of perceived moral intensity through self-rated questionnaires. Study 3 (N = 295) examined the behavioral consequences of reduced moral sensitivity on online shaming by manipulating social media and perceived moral intensity. Across these three studies with their different methodologies, we found consistent support for our prediction that social media reduce users' moral sensitivity. Also, our findings shed light on perceived moral intensity as a mediator. As expected, less perceived moral intensity and less moral sensitivity (as serial mediators) induced by social media led to a higher tendency to participate in online shaming. In addition, our research suggests that the harmful effects of social media could be restricted by improving users' perceived moral intensity in the form of reminders. These findings provide novel insights into the underlying mechanism of cyberviolence on social media and also contribute to the literature on the antecedents and consequences of moral sensitivity.

The Effect of Power Distance, Moral Intensity, and Professional Commitment on Whistleblowing Decisions

Introduction/Main Objectives: Whistleblowing decisions are one of the keys in fraud detection. Considering the rise of fraud cases in organizations, this individual action has a significant impact on organizational performance. Therefore, it is necessary to examine factors that influence the whistleblowing decisions of individuals. Background Problems: This study examines the effect of power distance, moral intensity, and professional commitment on the whistleblowing decision of undergraduate accounting students at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada (FEB UGM).Novelty: The novelty of our research is we are filling the gap in previous studies by using students as the population; most studies use employees (such as auditors) as the main population. We use students because they form the next fraud-fighting generation to enter the working environment. Therefore, their understanding and perceptions of whistle blowing activities are crucial. This research is considered to be the first micro-level analysis research in the areas. Research Methods: We adopted the survey method and analyzed it using a regression. We use purposive sampling on 189 undergraduate students from the accounting department. Findings/Results: Our findings indicate that power distance, moral intensity, and professional commitment simultaneously affect accounting students’ whistleblowing decisions. Power distance had a negative and significant effect, meanwhile professional commitment had a positive and significant effect and there was no significant effect of moral intensity toward the whistleblowing. Conclusion: Having professional commitment is essential for whistleblowing decision-making. It needs individual awareness and professional ethics, as well as improvements to people’s morals and values.

Organizational Ethical Culture, Moral Reasoning: Pengaruhnya terhadap Ethical Decision Making dan whistleblowing intention

This study aims to investigate the factors that can encourage individuals to do whistleblowing. Factors that are predicted to affect whistleblowing intention are organizational Ethical Culture and Moral intensity and Ethical Decision Making. The sample in this study were 63 respondents. Total questionnaires distributed were 78 questionnaires, but as many as 65 questionnaires were returned, there were 2 questionnaires that were not filled out completely, so were excluded from testing. Data analysis techniques in this study used SEM-PLS. The results of this study found a positive effect of organizational ethical culture on whistleblowing intention. This shows that organizations that have a high ethical culture tend to have high whistleblowing intentions. The next finding is that moral intensity has a positive effect on ethical decission making and whistleblowing intention. This shows that individuals who have high moral intensity decisions that are made tend to be more ethical. The final finding in this research is ethical decision making which has a positive effect on whistleblowing intention. the higher the Ethical Decision Making, the higher the Whistleblowing Intention. When someone is able to make decisions ethically, it will go hand in hand with the whistleblowing intention
 

Moral disengagement and moral judgment: the roles of moral endorsement, shareholder-value orientation, and intensity of moral issues

ABSTRACT Previous research demonstrates the critical role moral disengagement plays in unethical decision-making. This study investigates the relationships among moral endorsement, shareholder-value orientation, moral disengagement, and moral judgment on issues of different moral intensities. The results of a scenario-based survey conducted in China confirm the negative (positive) impact of moral disengagement (moral intensity) on moral judgment. The findings reveal that both moral endorsement and shareholder-value orientation of decision-makers significantly influence moral judgment and that moral intensity moderates the relationships between moral endorsement and moral judgment, and between shareholder-value orientation and moral disengagement. The study’s theoretical contributions, managerial implications, and limitations are discussed.

Sensitivity Of Socially Responsible Investment Behaviour To Experience And Size Of Funds

This paper examines the moderating effect of experience and size of fund towards socially responsible investment (SRI).A survey was conducted to get the responses of fund managers, and data were analysed using a multi-group approach of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM).At intentional level, there was a significant moderating effect on the relationship between attitudes and caring ethical climate towards an intention to SRI among less experienced fund managers. There was a significant moderating effect on the relationship between subjective norms and perceived behavioural control towards an intention to SRI among more experienced fund managers. There was also a significant moderating effect on the relationship between subjective norms and caring ethical climate towards an intention to SRI among small-sized fund managers. At behavioural level, there was a significant moderating effect on the relationship between moral intensity and SRI behaviour among less experienced fund managers. There was also a significant moderating effect on the relationship between moral intensity and caring ethical climate on SRI behaviour among bigger-sized fund managers. This paper conduits the literature gap by expanding the understanding on the moderating impact of experience and size of fund towards SRI, provides insights to policy makers in carrying out appropriate talent development strategies in accumulating the support of fund managers towards SRI-related initiatives in the capital market, and reveals the potential contribution of fund manager talent management in sustainable development through SRI. The paper offers vision on fund manager talent management to forefront the progress of SRI in emerging economies.

Religion and Labor

This study examines the role of religion in explaining corporate labor decisions. In particular, we investigate whether local religiousness explains how firms respond to demand changes in terms of labor investment and whether it is associated with labor investment efficiency. Based on data from German private firms in the time period 2009 to 2015, we find that firms located in religious areas react less sensitive to economic upturns and more sensitive to economic downturns in terms of labor investment, which can be explained by a higher degree of conservatism and a stronger ethical sense. The results suggest that local religiousness reduces the typical tendency of managers to overinvest. Consistently, we find that firms located in religious areas are characterized by higher labor investment efficiency, enhancing productivity. However, this only holds in case of low unemployment at firm location. For high unemployment, local religiousness is unrelated to labor investment efficiency, underlining the relevance of business ethics in corporate decision-making. Our study contributes to research on religion and corporate investments by investigating the role of local religiousness in shaping firms’ investments in human capital as one type of managerial decisions characterized by a particularly high level of moral intensity.

WHITLEBLOWING INTENTION SEBAGAI BAGIAN DARI ETIKA ISLAM DITINJAU DARI INTENSITAS MORAL, ORIENTASI ETIKA RELATIVISME DAN RELIGIUSITAS

Wrongdoing can occur in every organization. When an individual knows the wrongdoing, there is an option for the individual to leave it or report it. The individual's intention to report a wrongdoing can be influenced by factors related to themself, organization and environment.The purpose of this study is to examine the factors in their intention to report violations which consist of ethical orientation factors of relativism, moral intensity and religiosity. The object in this study is IAIN Surakarta Accounting students.The results of this study indicate that the variables of ethical orientation and religiousity have a significant influence on the intention to report wrongdoing. While the moral intensity variable does not affect the whistleblowing intentions.

윤리적 리더십이 조직시민행동에 미치는 영향 - 마음챙김의 매개효과와 도덕적 강도의 조절효과 -

급변하는 조직환경 속에서 조직의 효과성을 극대화하는데 기여할 수 있는 리더의 특성과 행동은 조직 연구에서 오랜 관심사였다. 오늘날 조직연구에서 리더십에 대한 논의는 다양한 양상으로 나타나고 있는데, 특히, 21세기 들어서면서 조직의 규모나 성격을 막론하고 리더의 윤리성에 대한 관심이 점차 확산되고 있다. 이는 리더의 윤리성이 조직의 성패에 지대한 영향을 미친다는 공감대가 확산되어 가기 때문인 것으로 보인다. 본 연구는 상사의 윤리적 리더십이 구성원의 조직시민행동에 미치는 영향을 사회학습이론을 기반으로 살펴보고자 하였다. 또한 윤리적 리더십이 구성원의 조직시민행동에 미치는 영향력 과정에서 마음챙김의 매개효과를 검증하고자 하였으며, 나아가 윤리적 리더십이 마음챙김을 매개로 조직시민행동에 미치는 영향력 과정에서 구성원의 도덕적 강도의 조절효과를 검증하였다. 공군 장병을 대상으로 자료를 수집하여 연구가설을 분석한 결과 상사의 윤리적 리더십은 조직구성원의 조직시민행동에 정(+)적인 영향을 미치며 이러한 영향력 관계를 마음챙김이 매개함이 확인되었다. 이는 리더가 윤리적 리더십을 발휘하면 조직구성원들은 조직시민행동을 할 가능성이 높아짐을 의미한다. 또한, 윤리적 리더십을 발휘하는 리더는 조직구성원들로 하여금 항상 주의를 기울이고 직무환경에 대해서 깨어있음을 느끼게 하고, 조직구성원들의 마음챙김이 높아지면 조직을 위한 자발적 행동인 조직시민 행동을 더 많이 하게 됨을 의미한다. 한편 윤리적 리더십이 마음챙김에 미치는 영향에서 도덕적 강도의 조절효과를 확인하였는데, 윤리적 리더십이 마음챙김에 미치는 영향은 도덕적 강도가 높을 때 더 강하게 나타났다. 또한, 윤리적 리더십이 마음챙김을 매개로 조직시민행동에 미치는 간접효과도 도덕적 강도에 의해서 정(+)적으로 조절됨이 확인되었다. 즉, 윤리적 리더십이 조직시민행동에 미치는 간접효과는 도덕적 강도가 높을 때 더 강하게 나타났다. 본 연구의 결과는 상사의 윤리적 리더십이 구성원의 조직시민행동에 미치는 영향을 사회학습이론 관점에서 논의하고 이를 실증적으로 규명하였다는 점에서 이론적 시사점을 가진다. 보다 중요하게도 그러한 영향력이 어떠한 과정으로 이루어졌는지를 마음챙김과 도덕적 강도를 활용하여 검증하였다는 점에서 이론적 시사점을 가진다. 또한, 조직의 관점에서 구성원의 조직시민행동을 촉진하기 위해서는 관리자로 하여 금 윤리적 리더십을 발휘하게 하는 방안을 마련할 필요성을 제기하였다는 점에서 실무적 시사점을 가진다.

A conceptualization of corporate social (ir)responsibility and moral intensity in the supply chain

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to consider corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) within the supply chain. The discussion focuses on the social component of social responsibility and explores its effects on end-users. Moreover, this paper presents moral intensity, a construct introduced in the ethics literature, as a potential guide to managers who struggle to navigate the gray area between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and CSI.Design/methodology/approachThis paper conceptualizes CSI within the supply chain and offers a framework and propositions for understanding and preventing irresponsible behavior from a moral intensity perspective.FindingsThe moral intensity framework provides a normative approach with the potential to guide managers who face choices involving decisions that might lead to irresponsible behavior in interorganizational settings.Originality/valueThis paper draws attention to business-to-business CSI and the limited research that focuses on the social aspects of CSR, rather than the environmental and economic factors emphasized in prior research. It also introduces the moral intensity framework to the supply chain literature and highlights the end-user’s (i.e. consumer’s) role in influencing the performance of the overall value chain.

The Effects of Spirituality and Moral Intensity on Ethical Business Decisions: A Cross-Sectional Study

We present a cross-sectional study of ethical decision-making correlated with spirituality and utilizing moral intensity as a moderator for workers in the Southeastern United States (N = 117). This study presents spirituality as an individual variable and moral intensity as a situational variable along with ethical decision-making to examine the interaction of these factors in moral dilemmas. Utilizing previously validated instruments for ethical decision-making and individual spirituality, we find that workers with relatively high measured spirituality made less ethical decisions compared to workers with relatively lower measures of spirituality. Further, we find that the introduction of high moral intensity as a situational variable does not moderate the observed correlation between spirituality and ethical decision-making. This research supports the conceptual nature of the Interactionist Theory by presenting in a single study both individual and situational variables in ethical decision-making.

Doubling Down When You Should Fold: Immoral Entrenchment in the Face of Crisis

Why do top management teams (TMTs) make decisions in crisis situations that result in further harm to the firm and customers? In answering that question, I incorporate research on moral intensity, ...

SENSITIVITAS ETIS DAN PERTIMBANGAN MORAL MAHASISWA AKUNTANSI TERHADAP DILEMA BISNIS

and perceived societal pressure) to the ethical sensitivity and moral judgments of accounting students andto prove the influence of the dimension of moral intensity to the moral judgments through ethical sensitivity. Thisstudy used four case scenarios to explain the impact of the dimension of moral intensity, such as passing ofcompany policies, approving of a questionable expense report, manipulating of company books, and extending ofquestionable credit, by using 85 samples of accounting students in University of Bengkulu. Primary data wereobtained from the result of the dissemination of the questionnaires. The testing of hypotesis in this study was usingmultiple regression analysis and hierarchical regression analysis. The result showed that perceived overall harmhas negative influence to the ethical sensitivity and moral judgements of accounting students, meanwhile perceivedsocietal pressure has positive influence to the ethical sensitivity and moral judgments of accounting students. Theresult also showed that the perceived overall harm and perceived societal pressure influence moral judgements ofaccounting students through ethical sensitivity.Key words: Ethical Sensitivity, Moral Judgments, Moral Intensity, Perceived Overall Harm, and PerceivedSocietal Pressure.

Bank customers’ decision-making process in choosing between ethical and conventional banking: a survey-based examination

Although the banking industry is increasingly focused on the issue of sustainability, the market share held by ethical banks remains small. This study applies models of ethical decision-making to investigate the reasons why customers choose conventional rather than ethical banks, and vice versa. Firstly, a model of bank customers’ ethical decision-making process in choosing between ethical and conventional banks is developed, based on multiple established models from the extant literature. Secondly, this theoretical model is evaluated using data from an online-survey and ‘partial least squares structural equation modelling’. This reveals that the primary factors discouraging potential customers from selecting an ethical rather than conventional bank are a lack of information, limited pressure of the social context, weak moral intensity, and a perception that ethical banks are economically disadvantageous. However, the good reputation of ethical banks, a high concern for the topic, and low levels of skepticism, all indicate a positive general opinion of ethical banks. These results suggest that more factual information and emotional charging of the topic of ethical banking would strengthen demand. In terms of theory, our analysis shows how general models of ethical decision-making can be tailored for use in specific contexts and suggests that the integration of multiple established ethical decision-making models is sensible. Furthermore, we suggest that reputation and economic benefit—which we include here as domain-specific extensions of established ethical decision-making models—are concepts to consider for a general context-independent extension of ethical decision-making models.

Information protection behaviors: morality and organizational criticality

PurposeOrganizational insiders play a critical role in protecting sensitive information. Prior research finds that moral beliefs influence compliance decisions. Yet, it is less clear what factors influence moral beliefs and the conditions under which those factors have stronger/weaker effects. Using an ethical decision-making model and value congruence theory, this study aims to investigate how moral intensity and organizational criticality influence moral beliefs and intentions to perform information protection behaviors.Design/methodology/approachThe hypotheses were tested using a scenario-based survey of 216 organizational insiders. Two of the scenarios depict low criticality information security protection behaviors and two depict high criticality behaviors.FindingsA major finding is that users rely more on perceived social consensus and magnitude of consequences when organizational criticality is low and on temporal immediacy and proximity when criticality is high. In addition, the moral intensity dimensions explain more variance in moral beliefs when organizational criticality is low.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited by its sample, which is organizational insiders at a mid-size university. It is also limited in that it only examined four of the six moral intensity dimensions.Practical implicationsThe findings can guide management about which moral intensity dimensions are more important to focus on when remediating tone at the top and other leadership weaknesses relating to information security.Originality/valueThis study adds value by investigating the separate dimensions of moral intensity on information protection behaviors. It also is the first to examine moral intensity under conditions of low and high organizational criticality.

The Influence of Moral Intensity on Moral Decision Making

The Influence of Moral Intensity on Moral Decision Making

Logisticians’ ethical decision-making: does the psychological safety team matter?

ABSTRACT This study mobilizes the concept of team psychological safety to study the link between ethical decision-making and the feeling of safety perceived within their team. This research examines a logistician’s ethical judgments depending on a moral intensity dimension. Based on a population of 260 European professional logisticians, the study uses 12 scenarios that have been designed to describe logistical situations. A first sample of 123 purchasers was given a low moral intensity questionnaire and a second group, composed of 137 other purchasers, answered another questionnaire with a high moral intensity. The findings reveal that the moral intensity, clear direction, team leader coaching and team learning behaviors intensity have a positive impact on judgment of 2 scenarios : social consensus and temporality.

Auditor’s Ethical Judgments: The Influence of Moral Intensity, Ethical Orientation and Client Importance

This study examined auditors’ ethical judgments using two theoretical perspectives; (1) Moral intensity constructs of Jones’ (1991) Model and (2) Forsyth’s (1980) framework of individual ethical orientation. The importance of the moral issues and how they affected the auditors’ ethical judgments together with the influence of individual’s ethical orientation and the client importance is discussed. A research instrument consisted of two scenarios with different level of moral intensity issues and utilized a 12-item of moral intensity measurement and a Forsyth’s (1980) scale to measure ethical orientation along two dimensions, idealism and relativism. The client importance is manipulated in this between-subjects study. The results of 152 auditors’ found that the effects of the moral intensity construct and the client importance on auditors’ ethical judgments is different based on the issues intensity level of the scenarios. Whereas, both dimensions of the individual ethical orientation (idealism and relativism) are found significant in both of the scenarios tested. The limitations of the study and recommendation for future studies are also discussed.

The impact of moral philosophy and moral intensity on purchase behavior toward sustainable textile and apparel products

This study investigated the causal–effect relationships among moral philosophy, moral intensity, and purchase behavior toward environmentally sustainable textile and apparel products. A research model incorporating two dimensions of moral philosophy (i.e., idealism and relativism), five dimensions of moral intensity (i.e., magnitude, probability, temporal immediacy, proximity, and social consensus), and purchase behavior toward sustainable textile and apparel products was tested using consumer data collected from a wide age range of Korean females through online surveys. Organic and naturally dyed textile and apparel products were selected as focal interests of this study due to the significance of the two product markets in Korea. The results revealed that, of the two dimensions of moral philosophy, only idealism had a significant impact on overall moral intensity and moral intensity had a significant impact on consumer purchase behavior toward sustainable textile and apparel products, which confirmed the sequential relationship among the variables. As the first attempt, to our knowledge, to apply an ethical view to environmentally sustainable textile and apparel product consumption, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of the determinants of sustainable textile and apparel consumption among Korean consumers and the development of effective marketing communication strategies targeting Korean consumers.

Managers’ Moral Struggle: A Case Study on Ethical Dilemmas and Ethical Decision-making in the Context of Immigration

ABSTRACTThis qualitative study explores the types of ethical dilemmas that Finnish managers working in reception centres for asylum seekers have encountered and whether the moral intensity of the ethical issues was observable in the ethical decision-making. It concludes that the majority of the managers interviewed encountered ethical dilemmas relating to the termination of reception services. The ethical dilemmas were stratified into seven groups: ambiguous or complete absence of relevant instructions, lack of support, conflicting values, withholding information, pressure, discretionary stress, and unjust decisions on asylum applications. In addition, various dimensions of moral intensity were observed in the managers’ ethical decision-making, indicating that they recognised the ethical aspects of their moral dilemmas. Finally, theoretical and practical implications, as well as limitations and future propositions, are discussed.

Customer insurance frauds: the influence of fraud type, moral intensity and fairness perception

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine customers’ ethical attitudes (EA) and intentions toward two types of insurance frauds. This study proposes that the factors, such as fraud types (i.e. opportunistic and planned insurance fraud), moral intensity and fairness perception (FP), can affect the customers’ acceptance of the insurance frauds.Design/methodology/approachTo test the research hypotheses of this study, Taiwanese insurance customers are invited in the empirical investigation, and a scenario-based questionnaire is used to collect the data. The hypotheses of this study are tested by using a partial least squares regression.FindingsThe results show that moral intensity constructs and FP significantly relate to the respondents’ acceptance of insurance frauds, while fraud types also have significant impacts on the respondents’ perceptions of moral intensity and fairness.Originality/valueThere is no research which has examined the relationships among fraud types, moral intensity, FP, demographic variables and customers’ EA and intentions toward insurance frauds. Understanding the relationships among these variables could provide implications for those involved in the practice of anti-fraud programs.