Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Effects of Individual Difference Factors on the Acceptability of Ethical and Unethical Workplace Behaviors

  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to determine whether the individual attributes of locus of control, gender, major in college and years of job experience affect the acceptability of certain workplace behaviors. A total of 198 college students of a mid-sized southeastern university formed the sample for this study. Locus of control, gender and years of job experience were found to have some affect on whether an individual considered a certain behavior acceptable or unacceptable.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Beltramini, R. F., R. A. Peterson and G. Kozmetsky: 1984, ‘Concerns of College Students Regarding Business Ethics’, Journal of Business Ethics 3, 195–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blau, Gary: 1993, ‘Testing the Relationship of Locus of Control to Different Performance Dimensions’, Journal of Occupational Psychology 66( June), 125–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bommer, Michael, Clarence Gratto, Jerry Gravander and Mark Tuttle: 1987, ‘A Behavioral Model of Ethical and Unethical Decision Making’, Journal of Business Ethics 6, 265–280.

    Google Scholar 

  • Browning, J. and N. B. Zabriske: 1983, ‘How Ethical are Industrial Buyers?’, Industrial Marketing Management 12, 219–224.

    Google Scholar 

  • Callan, V. J.: 1992, ‘Predicting Ethical Values and Training Needs in Ethics’, Journal of Business Ethics 11, 761–769.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chonko, L. B. and S. D. Hunt: 1985, ‘Ethics and Marketing Management: An Empirical Examination’, Journal of Business Research 13(August), 339–359.

    Google Scholar 

  • Churchill, Gilbert A.: 1979, ‘A Paradigm for Developing Better Measures of Marketing Constructs’, Journal of Marketing Research 16(February), 64–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comer, James M.: 1985, ‘Machiavellianism and Inner vs. Outer Directedness: A Study of Sales Managers’, Psychological Reports 56, 81–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Derry, Robbin and Ronald M. Green: 1989, ‘Ethical Theory in Business Ethics: A Critical Assessment’, Journal of Business Ethics 8, 521–533.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dubinsky, A. J. and M. Levy: 1985, ‘Ethics in Retailing: Perceptions of Retail Salespeople’, Journal of Academy of Marketing Science 13(1), 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dubinsky, A. J. and T. N. Ingram: 1984, ‘Correlates of Salespeople's Ethical Conflict: An Exploratory Investigation’, Journal of Business Ethics 3, 343–353.

    Google Scholar 

  • ‘Ethics in American Business’, Touche Ross and Co., as reviewed in ‘Business in Brief’: 1988, Business, April-June, pp. 58–59.

  • Ferrell, O. C. and S. J. Skinner: 1988, ‘Ethical Behavior and Bureaucratic Structure in Marketing Research Organizations’, Journal of Marketing Research 25(February), 103–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ford, Robert C. and Woodrow D. Richardson: 1994,’ Ethical Decision Making: A Review of the Empirical Literature’, Journal of Business Ethics 13, 205–221.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gable, Myron, Charles Hollon and Frank Dangello: 1990, ‘Linking Locus of Control to Machiavellianism and Managerial Achievement’, Psychological Reports 67, 339–343.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, C. S. and C. M. Crawford: 1974, ‘Young Executives: A Source of New Ethics?’, Personnel Journal (March), 180–187.

  • Hawkins, D. I. and A. B. Cocanougher: 1972, ‘Student Evaluations of the Ethics of Marketing Practices: The Role of Marketing Education’, Journal of Marketing 36(April), 61–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hegarty, W. Harvey and Henry P. Sims, Jr.: 1979, ‘Organizational Philosophy, Policies and Objectives Related to Unethical Decision Behavior: A Laboratory Experiment’, Journal of Applied Psychology 64(3), 331–338.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hegarty, W. Harvey and Henry P. Sims, Jr.: 1978, ‘Some Determinants of Unethical Decision Behavior: An Experiment’, Journal of Applied Psychology 63, 451–457.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joe, Victor Clark: 1971, ‘Review of the Internalization Control Construct as a Personality Variable’, Psychological Reports 28, 619–640.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, Charles D. and John Gormly: 1972, ‘Academic Cheating: The Contribution of Sex, Personality, and Situational Variables’, Developmental Psychology 6, 320–325.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, T. M. and F. H. Gautschi: 1991, ‘Will the Ethics of Business Change? A Survey of Future Executives’, Journal of Business Ethics 7, 231–248.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, William A.: 1990, ‘Student Views of “Ethical” Issues: A Situational Analysis’, Journal of Business Ethics 9, 201–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kidwell, J. M., R. E. Stevens and A. L. Bethke: 1987,’ Difference in the Ethical Perceptions Between Male and Female Managers: Myth or Reality’, Journal of Business Ethics 6, 489–493.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knouse, Stephen B. and Robert A. Giacalone: 1992, ‘Ethical Decision-Making in Business: Behavioral Issues and Concerns’, Journal of Business Ethics 11, 369–377.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laczniak, G. and E. J. Inderrieden: 1987, ‘The Influence of Stated Organizational Concern upon Ethical Decision Making’, Journal of Business Ethics 6, 297–307.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maqsud, Muhammad: 1980, ‘Locus of Control and Stages of Moral Reasoning”, Psychological Reports 46, 1243–1248.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNichols, C. W. and T. W. Zimmerer: 1985, ‘Situational Ethics: An Empirical Study of Differentiation of Student Attitudes’, Journal of Business Ethics 4, 175–180.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mudrack, Peter E.: 1993, ‘An Investigation into the Acceptability of Workplace Behaviors of a Dubious Ethical Nature’, Journal of Business Ethics 12, 517–524.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mudrack, Peter E.: 1989, ‘Machiavellianiam and Locus of Control: A Meta-Analytic Review’, The Journal of Social Psychology 130, 125–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nichols, M. L. and V. E. Day: 1982, ‘A Comparison of Moral Reasoning of Groups and Individuals on the “Defining Issues Test”’, Academy of Management Journal 25, 201–208.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nunally, J. C.: 1978, Psychometric Theory, McGraw-Hill: New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Organ, Dennis W. and Thomas Bateman: 1986, Organizational Behavior, Business Publications, Inc.: Plano, Texas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phares, E. Jerry: 1976, Locus of Control in Personality, General Learning Press: Morristown, New Jersey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruegger, D. and E. W. King: 1992, ‘A Study of the Effect of Age and Gender Upon Student Business Ethics’, Journal of Business Ethics 11, 179–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Serwinek, P. J.: 1992, ‘Demographic and Related Differences in Ethical Views Among Small Businesses’, Journal of Business Ethics 11, 555–566.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solar, Diana and Dieter Bruehl: 1971, ‘Machiavellianism and Locus of Control: Two Conceptions of Interpersonal Power”, Psychological Reports 29, 1079–1082.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spector, Paul E.: 1988, ‘Development of the Work Locus of Control Scale’, Journal of Occupational Psychology 61, 335–340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spector, Paul E.: 1982, ‘Behavior in Organizations as a Function of Employee's Locus of Control’, Psychological Bulletin 91, 482–497.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steiner, G. A.: 1971, Business and Society. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, G. E., W. D. Richardson and A. E. Abramowitz: 1989, ‘Perceptual Differences of Ethical Decision Situations Business vs. Law: A Difference of Opinion?’, Southern Management Association Proceedings, 199–201.

  • Trevino, L. K.: 1986, ‘Ethical Decision Making in Organizations: A Person-Situation Interactionist Model’, Academy of Management Review 11, 601–617.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trevino, Linda Klebe: 1992, ‘Moral Reasoning and Business Ethics: Implications for Research, Education, and Management’, Journal of Business Ethics 11, 445–459.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiss, H. M. and S. Adler: 1984, ‘Personality and Organizational Behavior’, in B. M. Staw and L. L. Cummings (eds.), Research in Organizational Behavior (JAI Press, Greenwich, CT), Vol. 6, pp. 1–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whipple, T. W. and D. F. Swords: 1992, ‘Business Ethics Judgements: A Cross-cultural Comparison’, Journal of Business Ethics 11, 671–678.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zahra, S. A.: 1989, ‘Executive Values and the Ethics of Company Politics: Some Preliminary Findings’, Journal of Business Ethics 8, 15–29.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Michelle C. Reiss
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Kaushik Mitra
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Reiss, M.C., Mitra, K. The Effects of Individual Difference Factors on the Acceptability of Ethical and Unethical Workplace Behaviors. Journal of Business Ethics 17, 1581–1593 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005742408725

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005742408725

Keywords

Search

Navigation