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An Exploration into the Developmental Psychology of Ethical Theory with Implications for Business Practice and Pedagogy

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Abstract

This article is an attempt to understand ethical theory not just as a set of well-developed philosophical perspectives but as a range of moral capacities that human beings more or less grow into over the course of their lives. To this end, we explore the connection between formal ethical theories and stage developmental psychologies, showing how individuals mature morally, regarding their duties, responsibilities, ideals, goals, values, and interests. The primary method is to extract from the writings of Kohlberg and his students the cues that help to flesh out a developmental picture of a wide range of ethical perspectives. Thus, developmental psychology benefits from gaining a broader understanding of “morality” and “ethics,” and ethical theory benefits from a richer understanding of how moral maturity arises from youthful beginnings in juvenile and adolescent thinking. Results of this study offer insight into the difficulty of teaching ethics and a refined ability to assess moral maturity in business activity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Romney Institute of Public Management, Brigham Young University, 776 TNRB, Provo, UT, 84602, USA

    Neil Brady & David Hart

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  1. Neil Brady
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  2. David Hart
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Correspondence to David Hart.

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F. Neil Brady is the Jack R. Wheatley Professor of Management Ethics in the Romney Institute of Public Management and a member of the Ethics Group at the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University. He has published over thirty articles on ethics in a variety of journals including the Academy of Management Review, Administration & Society, and the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. He has authored Ethical Managing (Macmillan 1990) and edited Ethical Universals in International Business (Springer Verlag 1996). For twenty years, his research has focused on the application of ethical theory to managerial decisions.

David W. Hart is assistant professor of public management in the Romney Institute of Public Management and a member of the Ethics Group at the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University. He received his PhD from the State University of New York at Albany. His current research focuses on administrative ethics, business-government interaction, and the external environment of organizations. He has published in a variety of journals and is the co-author of a book. Wall Street Polices Itself: How Securities Firms Manage the Legal Hazards of Competitive Pressures (Oxford University Press, 1998).

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Brady, N., Hart, D. An Exploration into the Developmental Psychology of Ethical Theory with Implications for Business Practice and Pedagogy. J Bus Ethics 76, 397–412 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9290-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9290-3

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