Religiosity, Ethical Ideology, and Intentions to Report a Peer's Wrongdoing

Peer reporting is a specific form of whistleblowing in which an individual discloses the wrongdoing of a peer. Previous studies have examined situational variables thought to influence a person's decision to report the wrongdoing of a peer. The present study looked at peer reporting from the in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of business ethics 1996-11, Vol.15 (11), p.1161-1174
Main Authors: Barnett, Tim, Bass, Ken, Brown, Gene
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior
Business ethics
Cheating
Cognition & reasoning
Decision making
Employee theft
Ethical behavior
Ethics
Hypotheses
Idealism
Ideology
Influence
Moral judgment
Moral relativism
Morality
Peers
Relativism
Religion
Religiosity
Religious beliefs
Religious ethics
Skepticism
Studies
Whistleblowing
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Summary:Peer reporting is a specific form of whistleblowing in which an individual discloses the wrongdoing of a peer. Previous studies have examined situational variables thought to influence a person's decision to report the wrongdoing of a peer. The present study looked at peer reporting from the individual level. Five hypotheses were developed concerning the relationships between (1) religiosity and ethical ideology, (2) ethical ideology and ethical judgments about peer reporting, and (3) ethical judgments and intentions to report peer wrongdoing. Subjects read a vignette concerning academic cheating, and were asked to respond to a questionnaire concerning the vignette. Data were analyzed using structural equation methodology. Results indicated that religiosity was positively associated with an ethical ideology of non-relativism. Individuals whose ethical ideologies could be described as idealistic and non-relativistic were more likely to state that reporting a peer's cheating was ethical. In turn, individuals who believed reporting a peer's cheating was ethical were more likely to say that they would report a peer's cheating.
ISSN:0167-4544
1573-0697
DOI:10.1007/BF00412815