Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Citation Classics from the Journal of Business Ethics pp 657–674Cite as

An Experimental Examination of the Effects of Individual and Situational Factors on Unethical Behavioral Intentions in the Workplace

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

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

Abstract

Using a 2 × 2 × 2 experimental design, the effects of situational and individual variables on individuals’ intentions to act unethically were investigated. Specifically examined were three situational variables: (1) quality of the work experience (good versus poor), (2) peer influences (unethical versus ethical), and (3) managerial influences (unethical versus ethical), and three individual variables: (4) locus of control, (5) Machiavellianism, and (6) gender, on individuals’ behavioral intentions in an ethically ambiguous dilemma in an work setting. Experiment 1 revealed main effects for quality of work experience, Machiavellianism, locus of control, and an interaction effect for peer influences and managerial influences. Experiment 2 showed main effects for all three situational variables and Machiavellianism. Neither experiment supported gender differences. Limitations, future research, and implications for management are discussed.

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

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adams, J.S. 1965. Inequity in social exchange. In Advances in experimental social psychology, vol. 2, ed. L. Berkowitz, 267–299. San Diego: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ajzen, I.P. 1988. Attitudes, personality and behavior. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Akaah, I.P. 1989. Differences in research ethics judgments between male and female marketing professionals. Journal of Business Ethics 8: 375–381.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Altheide, D.L., P.A. Adler, P. Alder, and D.A. Altheide. 1978. The social meanings of employee theft. In Crime at the top, ed. J.M. Johnson and J.D. Douglas. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumhart, R.C. 1961. How ethical are businessmen? Harvard Business Review 39(4): 6–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bern, S.L. 1974. The measurement of psychological androgeny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 42: 155–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowman, J.S. 1976. Managerial ethics in business and government. Business Horizons 19: 48–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brenner, S.N., and E.A. Molander. 1977. Is the ethics of business changing? Harvard Business Review 55(1): 57–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, A.B. 1978. Linking business ethics to behavior in organizations. SAM Advance Management Journal 43: 4–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cavanagh, G.F., and D.J. Fritzsche. 1985. Using vignettes in business ethics research. Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy, ed. L.E. Preston 7: 279–393. JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chonko, L.B., and S.D. Hung. 1985. Ethics and marketing management: An empirical examination. Journal of Business Research 13: 339–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christie, R., and F.L. Geis. 1970. Studies in Machiavellianism. New York: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J.W. 1991. Respectable crime. In Criminology, ed. J.F. Sheley. Belmont: Wadsworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, J.M., and F.L. Schmidt. 1993. Personality, integrity, and white collar crime: A construct validity study. Personnel Psychology 46: 295–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crowne, D.P., and D. Marlowe. 1964. The approval motive. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dozier, J.B., and M.P. Miceli. 1985. Potential predictors of whistle-blowing: A prosocial behavior perspective. Academy of Management Review 10: 823–836.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrell, O.C., and L.G. Gresham. 1985. A contingency framework for understanding ethical decision making in marketing. Journal of Marketing 49: 87–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fishbein, M., and I.P. Ajzen. 1975. Belief, attitude, intention and behavior: An introduction to theory and research. Boston: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flynn, S., M. Reichard, and S. Slane. 1987. Cheating as a function of task outcome and Machiavellianism. The Journal of Psychology 121: 423–427.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fritzsche, D.J. 1988. An examination of marketing ethics: Role of the decision maker, consequences of the decision, management position, and sex of the respondent. Journal of Macromarketing 8: 29–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gough, H.G. 1990. The California psychological inventory. In Testing in counseling practice, ed. C.E. Watkins Jr. and V.L. Campbell, 37–62. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, J. 1989. Cognitive re-evaluation of outcomes in response to underpayment inequity. Academy of Management Journal 32: 174–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, J. 1990. Employee theft as a reaction to underpayment inequity: The hidden cost of pay cut. Journal of Applied Psychology 75: 561–568.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hegarty, W.H., and H.P. Sims. 1978. Organizational philosophy, policies, and objectives related to unethical decision behavior: A laboratory experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology 64: 331–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hegarty, W.H., and H.P. Sims. 1979. Some determinants of unethical decision behavior: An experiment. Journal of Applied Psychology 63: 451–457.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hollinger, R.C., and J.P. Clark. 1982. Employee deviance: A response to the perceived quality of the work experience. Work and Occupations 9: 97–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hollinger, R.C., and J.P. Clark. 1983. Theft by employees. Lexington: Lexington Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horning, D.N.M. 1970. Blue collar theft: Conceptions of property, attitudes toward pilfering, and work group norms in a modern industrial plant. In Crimes against bureaucracy, ed. E.O. Smigel and H.L. Ross. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hung, S.D., and S. Vitell. 1986. A general theory of marketing ethics. Journal of Macromarketing 5: 5–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, R.J. 1974. Conflict avoidance through acceptable decisions. Human Relations 27: 71–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kemper, T.D. 1966. Representative roles and the legitimation of deviance. Social Problems 13: 288–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kidwell, J.M., R.E. Stevens, and A.L. Bethke. 1987. Differences in ethical perceptions between male and female managers: Myth or reality? Journal of Business Ethics 6: 489–493.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knight-Ridder. 1993. Stealing from work – bad for business. Times Union Extra 1–2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lefcourt, H.M. 1982. Locus of control: Current trends in theory and research, 2nd ed. Hillsdale: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lefcourt, H.M., and J. Wine. 1969. Internal versus external control of reinforcement and the deployment of attention in experimental situations. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science 1: 167–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lincoln, D.J., M.M. Pressley, and T. Little. 1982. Ethical beliefs and personal values of top level executive. Journal of Business Research 10: 475–487.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Machiavelli, N. 1966. The prince. New York: Bantam (Originally published in 1513).

    Google Scholar 

  • Merriam, D. 1977. Employee theft. Criminal Justice Abstracts 9: 380–386.

    Google Scholar 

  • Newstrom, J.W., and W.A. Ruch. 1975. The ethics of management and the management of ethics. MSU Business Topics 23: 29–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, J., and P. Kim. 1991. The day America told the truth. New York: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rotter, J.B. 1966. Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied 80: 1–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sackett, P.R., and M.N. Harris. 1984. Honesty testing for personnel selection: A review and critique. Personnel Psychology 37: 221–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sackett, P.R., L.R. Burris, and C. Callahan. 1989. Integrity testing for personnel selection: An update. Personnel Psychology 42: 491–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schein, E.H. 1984. Coming to a new awareness of organizational culture. Sloan Management Review 25: 3–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seeman, M. 1963. Alienation and social learning in a reformatory. American Journal of Sociology 69: 270–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spector, P.E. 1982. Behavior in organizations as a function of employees’ locus of control. Psychological Bulletin 91: 482–497.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steel, R.P., and N.K. Ovalle. 1984. A review and meta-analysis of research on the relationship between behavioral intentions and employee turnover. Journal of Applied Psychology 69: 673–686.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stratton, W.E., W.R. Flynn, and G.A. Johnson. 1981. Moral development and decision making: A study of student ethics. Journal of Enterprise Management 3: 35–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland, E.H. 1949. White collar crime. Rhinehart/New York: Holt/Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sutherland, E.H. 1983. White collar crime: The uncut version. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trevino, L.K. 1986. Ethical decision making in organizations: A person-situation interactionist model. Academy of Management Review 11: 601–617.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trevino, L.K., and B. Victor. 1992. Peer reporting of unethical behavior: A social context perspective. Academy of Management Journal 35: 38–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trevino, L.K., and S.A. Youngblood. 1990. Bad apples in bad barrels: A causal analysis of ethical decision-making behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology 75: 378–385.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tubbs, M.E., and S.E. Ekeberg. 1991. The role of intentions in work motivation: Implications for goal-setting theory and research. Academy of Management Review 18: 180–199.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zey-Ferrell, M., and O.C. Ferrell. 1982. Role set configuration and opportunity as predictors of unethical behavior in organizations. Human Relations 35: 587–604.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zey-Ferrell, M., K.M. Weaver, and O.C. Ferrell. 1979. Predicting unethical behavior among marketing practitioners. Human Relations 32: 557–569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, Fairleigh Dickinson University, 285 Madison Ave, Madison, NJ, 07940, USA

    Gwen E. Jones

  2. Department of Management, State University of New York, Albany, NY, USA

    Michael J. Kavanagh

Authors
  1. Gwen E. Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michael J. Kavanagh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gwen E. Jones .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Faculty of Arts, Brandon University, 18th Street 270, Brandon, R7A 6A9, Manitoba, Canada

    Alex C. Michalos

  2. Office of the President, Brandon University, 18th Street 270, Brandon, R7A 6A9, Manitoba, Canada

    Deborah C. Poff

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Jones, G.E., Kavanagh, M.J. (2013). An Experimental Examination of the Effects of Individual and Situational Factors on Unethical Behavioral Intentions in the Workplace. 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_33

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation