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Differences in Ethical Perceptions Between Male and Female Managers: Myth or Reality?

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Citation Classics from the Journal of Business Ethics

Part of the book series: Advances in Business Ethics Research ((ABER,volume 2))

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Abstract

This study sought to identify whether or not differences exist between the ethical decisions of male and female managers; and, if they do exist, to identify the areas in which differences occurred. An additional evaluation was conducted to determine how each perceived their counterpart would respond to the same ethical decision making situations.

Data were collected from 50 male managers and 50 female managers by means of a self-administered questionnaire. Distinctive demographic characteristics were noted among the segments.

The results showed only one area where a significant difference existed between males and females on what they considered to be ethical. However, there were significant differences in 16 out of 17 situations when they rated the ethical behavior of their male/female counterparts, i.e., males rated females as being significantly less ethical than themselves and vice versa.

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Correspondence to Robert E. Stevens .

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© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

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Kidwell, J.M., Stevens, R.E., Bethke, A.L. (2013). Differences in Ethical Perceptions Between Male and Female Managers: Myth or Reality?. In: Michalos, A., Poff, D. (eds) Citation Classics from the Journal of Business Ethics. Advances in Business Ethics Research, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4126-3_16

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