Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Effects of Gender and Career Stage on Ethical Judgment

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

Abstract

This article reports the findings of a survey examining if there are gender and career stage differences between male and female practitioners regarding ethical judgment. The results show that, on average, females adopted a more strict ethical stance than their male counterparts on 7 out of 19 vignettes. Males on the other hand, demonstrated a more ethical stance than their female counterparts on 2 out of 19 vignettes. The results furthermore indicate there is a significant difference in ethical judgment across career stages. Overall, it appears that practitioners in later career stages display higher ethical judgment than practitoners in lower career stages. Implications are provided for both practitioners and academicians.

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

  • Akaah, Ishmael P.: 1989, 'Differences in Research Ethics Judgments Between Male and Female Marketing Professionals' Journal of Business Ethics 8, 375–381.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, Cheryl S. and Henry Jay Becker: 1978, 'The Use of Vignettes in Survey Research' Public Opinion Quarterly, 93–104.

  • Arlow, Peter: 1991, 'Personal Characteristics in College Students' Evaluations of Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility' Journal of Business Ethics 10, 63–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beltramini, Richard F., Robert A. Peterson and George Kozmetsky: 1984, 'Concerns of College Students Regarding Business Ethics' Journal of Business Ethics 3, 195–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Betz, M. L. O'Connell and J. M. Shepard: 1989, 'Gender Differences in Proclivity for Unethical Behavior' Journal of Business Ethics (May), 321–324.

  • Bridges, J. S. and A. M. Orza: 1992, 'The Effects of Employment Role and Motive for Employment on the Perceptions of Mothers' Sex Roles 27, 331–343.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bureau of Labor Statistics: 1993, Monthly Labor Review (November), Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burton, R. V. and W. M. Casey: 1980, 'Moral Development' in R. H. Woody (ed.), Encyclopedia of Clinical Assessment, 1 (Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA), Ch. 26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coolsen, P.: 1990, 'Work and Family: Times Have Changed' Families in Society 71, 323–376.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cron, William L.: 1984, 'Industrial Salesperson Development: A Career Stages Perspective' Journal of Marketing 48, 41–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cron, W. L., A. J. Dubinsky and R. E. Michaels: 1988, 'The Influence of Career Stages on Components of Salesperson Motivation' Journal of Marketing 52 (January), 78–92.

  • David, Fred R.: 1989, Concepts of Strategic Management, The Effects of Gender and Career Stage on Ethical Judgment 2nd Ed. (Merrill Publishing Company, Columbus, Ohio).

    Google Scholar 

  • David, Jeanne M., Jeffrey Kantor and Ira Greenberg: 1994, 'Possible Ethical Issues and Their Impact on The Firm: Perceptions Held by Public Accountants' Journal of Business Ethics 13, 919–937.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, James R. and Ralph E. Welton: 1991, 'Professional Ethics: Business Students' Perceptions' Journal of Business Ethics 10, 451–463.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, Leslie M.: 1992, 'Will Feminization Change the Ethics of the Sales Profession' Journal of Professional Selling and Sales Management 12(1) (Winter), 21–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, Leslie M.: 1995, 'Women and Men, Morality and Ethics' Business Horizons 38(4) (July-August), 61–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erikson, E.: 1968, Identity, Youth and Crisis (Norton, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Etaugh, C. and P. Poertner: 1991, 'Effects of Occupational Prestige, Employment Status and Marital Status on Perceptions of Mothers' Sex Roles 24, 345–353.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrell, O. C., Larry G. Gresham and John Fraedrich: 1989, 'A Synthesis of Ethical Decision Models for Marketing' Journal of Macromarketing 9 (Fall), 55–64.

    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 

  • Fortune: 1986, 'The Decline and Fall of Business Ethics (Profit-at-Any-Price Malaise is Spreading Through Investment Banking and Reaching Into Industries as Well)' (December), pp. 65–66.

  • Fritzche, David J. and Helmut Becker: 1982, 'Business Ethics of Future Marketing Managers' Journal of Marketing Education (Fall), 2–7.

  • Galbraith, Sharon and Harriet Buckman Stephenson: 1993, 'Decision Rules Used by Male and Female Business Students in Making Ethical Value Judgments: Another Look' Journal of Business Ethics 12 (March), 227–233.

  • Gilligan, C.: 1982, Psychological Theory and Women's Development (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA).

    Google Scholar 

  • Goh, S. C.: 1991, 'Sex Differences in Perceptions of Interpersonal Work Style, Career Emphasis, Supervisory Monitoring Behavior, and Job Satisfaction' Sex Roles 24, 701–711.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould, S.: 1978, 'Age, Job Complexity, Satisfaction, and Performance' Journal of Vocational Behavior 14.

  • Harris, James R.: 1990, 'Ethical Values of Individuals at Different Levels in the Organizational Hierarchy of a Single Firm' Journal of Business Ethics 9, 741–750.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hornsby, Jeffrey S., Donald F. Kuratko, Douglas W. Naffziger, William R. LaFollette and Richard M. Hodgetts: 1994, 'The Ethical Perceptions of Small Business Owners: A Factor Analytic Study' Journal of Small Business Management 32 (October), 9–16.

  • Hunt, Shelby D. and Scott Vitell: 1986, 'A General Theory of Marketing Ethics' Journal of Macromarketing 6 (Spring), 5–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobson, J. P.: 1994, 'Trends in Work Force Segregation 1960–1990' Social Sciences Quarterly 61, 161–171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, Thomas M.: 1991, 'Ethical Decision Making by Individuals in Organizations: An Issue Contingent Model' Academy of Management Review 16 (April), 366–395.

  • Jones, Scott K. and Kenneth M. Hiltebeitel: 1995, 'Organizational Influence in a Model of the Moral Decision Process of Accountants' Journal of Business Ethics 14, 417–431.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khazanchi, Deepak: 1995, 'Unethical Behavior in Information Systems: The Gender Factor' Journal of Business Ethics 14, 741–749.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kidwell, Jeaneen M., Robert E. Stevens and Art L. Bethke: 1987, 'Differences in Ethical Perceptions Between Male and Female Managers: Myth or Reality?' Journal of Business Ethics 6, 489–493.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohut, Gary F. and Susan E. Corriher: 1994, 'The Relationship of Age, Gender, Experience and Awareness of Written Ethics Policies to Business Decision Making' SAM Advanced Management Journal 59 (Winter), 32–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leventhal, Laura M., Keith E. Instone and David W. Chilson: 1992, 'Another View of Computer Science Ethics: Patterns of Responses Among Computer Scientist' Journal of Systems Software 17 (January), 49–60.

  • Longenecker, Justin G., Joseph A. McKinney and Carlos W. Moore: 1988a, 'The Ethical Issue of International Bribery: A Study of Attitudes Among U.S. Business Professionals' Journal of Business Ethics 7, 341–346.

    Google Scholar 

  • Longenecker, Justin G., Joseph A. McKinney and Carlos W. Moore: 1988b, 'Egoism and Independence: Entrepreneurial Ethics' Organizational Dynamics, 64–72.

  • Longenecker, Justin G., Joseph A. McKinney and Carlos W. Moore: 1989a, 'Ethics in Small Business' Journal of Small Business Management (January), 27–31.

  • Longenecker, Justin G., Joseph A. McKinney and Carlos W. Moore: 1989b, 'The Generation Gap in Business Ethics' Business Horizons 32 (September-October), 9–14.

  • McNichols, Charles W. and Thomas W. Zimmerer: 1985, 'Situational Ethics: An Empirical Study of Differentiators of Student Attitudes' Journal of Business Ethics 4, 175–180.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, D.; 1992, Labor Market Segmentation and Its Implications: Social Justice, Relative Deprivation and Entitlement (Garland, New York).

  • Peder, N. J.: 1989, 'Health Promotion in the Workplace: Suggested Directions for Research' American Journal of Health Promotions 3, 38–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poorsoltan, Keramat, Sammy G. Amin and Ahmad Tootoonchi: 1991, 'Business Ethics: Views of Future Leaders' SAM Advanced Management Journal (Winter), 4–9.

  • Reidenbach, Eric R., Donald P. Robin and Lyndon E. Dawson: 1991, 'An Application and Extension of a Multidimensional Ethics Scale to Selected Marketing Practices and Marketing Groups' Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 19 (Spring), 83–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rojas, Rebecca S. and Patricia Heisser Metoyer: 1995, 'The Mexican American Female Worker: Perspectives on Gender and Culture in the Workplace' Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 10(6), 163–178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rest, James R.: 1986, Moral Development: Advances in Research and Theory (Praeger Press, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruegger, Durwood and Ernest 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 

  • Schacter, V. and J. Dellaveerson: 1985, 'Cleaning Out the Old Deadwood' Across the Board (January), 51–55.

  • Schein, E. H.: 1971, 'The Individual, the Organization, and the Career: A Conceptual Scheme' Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 7, 401–426.

    Google Scholar 

  • Serwinek, Paul J.: 1992, 'Demographic & Related Differences in Ethical Views Among Small Businesses' Journal of Business Ethics 11, 555–566.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skolnik, R.: 1985, 'A Woman's Place is on the Sales Force' Sales and Marketing Management (April), 34–37.

  • Slocum, John W., Jr. and William L. Cron: 1985, 'Job Attitudes and Performance During Three Career Stages' Journal of Vocational Behavior 26.

  • Stevens, J. P.: 1972, 'Four Methods of Analysing Between Variations for the K-Group MANOVA Problem' Multivariate Behavioral Research 7 (October), 499–522.

  • Super, D.: 1957, The Psychology of Careers (Harper & Row, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Super, D. and M. Bohn: 1970, Occupational Psychology (Wadsworth, Belmont, CA).

    Google Scholar 

  • Time: 1987, 'Cover Story: What Ever Happened to Ethics' (Mary 25), pp. 14–29.

  • Tsalikis, J. and M. Ortiz-Buonafina: 1990, 'Ethical Beliefs' Differences of Males and Females' Journal of Business Ethics 9, 509–517.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weeks, William A. and Lynn R. Kahle: 1990, 'Salespeople's Time Use and Performance' Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management 10 (February), 29–37.

  • Whipple, Thomas W. and David D. Wolf: 1991, 'Judgments of Marketing Students about Ethical Issues in Marketing Research: A Comparison to Marketing Practitioners' Journal of Marketing 5 (Spring), 6–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whipple, Thomas W. and Dominic F. Swords: 1992, 'Business Ethics Judgments: A Cross-Cultural Comparison' Journal of Business Ethics 11, 671–678.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, John A., Justin G. Longenecker, Joseph A. McKinney and Carlos W. Moore: 1988, 'Ethical Attitudes of Students and Business Professionals: A Study of Moral Reasoning' Journal of Business Ethics 7, 249–257.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. William A. Weeks
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Carlos W. Moore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Joseph A. McKinney
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Justin G. Longenecker
    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

Weeks, W.A., Moore, C.W., McKinney, J.A. et al. The Effects of Gender and Career Stage on Ethical Judgment. Journal of Business Ethics 20, 301–313 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005955501120

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005955501120

Keywords

Search

Navigation