Studying Ethical Judgments and Behavioral Intentions Using Structural Equations: Evidence from the Multidimensional Ethics Scale*

The linkage between ethical judgment and ethical behavioral intention was investigated. The Multidimensional Ethics Scale (MES) was used to measure ethical judgment ratings of hypothetical behaviors in retail, sales, and automobile repair scenarios. Confirmatory factor analysis on a sample of 300 undergraduate business students showed that a model with three latent variables representing three correlated ethical dimensions of moral equity, relativism, and contractualism, three correlated scenario latent variables, and correlated residuals presented a good fit to the data. Further, structural models of the relationship of ethical judgment to behavioral intentions revealed that behavioral intentions were more highly related to the scenario factors than to the ethical dimensions across three scenarios. Adding a method factor to the model improved goodness-of-fit and changed some structural model conclusions.

[1]  Rosalie J. Hall,et al.  Item Parceling Strategies in SEM: Investigating the Subtle Effects of Unmodeled Secondary Constructs , 1999 .

[2]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior , 1980 .

[3]  Lucy R. Ford,et al.  Basic and Advanced Measurement Models for Confirmatory Factor Analysis , 2008 .

[4]  Jerry R. Strawser,et al.  A Multidimensional Analysis of Tax Practitioners' Ethical Judgments , 2000 .

[5]  James R. Rest.  Moral Development: Advances in Research and Theory , 1986 .

[6]  Joseph A. Cote,et al.  Lack of method variance in self-reported affect and perceptions at work: Reality or artifact? , 1989 .

[7]  D. Robin,et al.  Toward the development of a multidimensional scale for improving evaluations of Business Ethics , 1990 .

[8]  T. Jones.  Ethical Decision Making by Individuals in Organizations: An Issue-Contingent Model , 1991 .

[9]  L. Treviño.  Moral reasoning and business ethics: Implications for research, education, and management , 1992 .

[10]  M. Conner,et al.  Efficacy of the Theory of Planned Behaviour: a meta-analytic review. , 2001, The British journal of social psychology.

[11]  Steven E. Scullen,et al.  A critique of the correlated trait-correlated method and correlated uniqueness models for multitrait-multimethod data. , 2002, Psychological methods.

[12]  R. Vandenberg,et al.  A Review and Synthesis of the Measurement Invariance Literature: Suggestions, Practices, and Recommendations for Organizational Research , 2000 .

[13]  Scott B. MacKenzie,et al.  Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. , 2003, The Journal of applied psychology.

[14]  Adam W. Meade,et al.  Problems With Item Parceling for Confirmatory Factor Analytic Tests of Measurement Invariance , 2006 .

[15]  Gordon W. Cheung,et al.  Evaluating Goodness-of-Fit Indexes for Testing Measurement Invariance , 2002 .

[16]  S. Hunt,et al.  A General Theory of Marketing Ethics , 1986 .

[17]  O. C. Ferrell,et al.  A Contingency Framework for Understanding Ethical Decision Making in Marketing , 1985 .

[18]  Steven G. Rogelberg,et al.  Handbook of research methods in industrial and organizational psychology , 2004 .

[19]  Tim Barnett,et al.  Issue contingencies and marketers' recognition of ethical issues, ethical judgments and behavioral intentions , 2004 .

[20]  R. Harvey,et al.  Psychometric Properties of the Reidenbach–Robin Multidimensional Ethics Scale , 2007 .

[21]  C. E. Jordan,et al.  The Empirical Performance of Cognitive Moral Development in Predicting Behavioral Intent , 1996, Business Ethics Quarterly.

[22]  B. Thompson,et al.  EFFECTS OF SAMPLE SIZE, ESTIMATION METHODS, AND MODEL SPECIFICATION ON STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING FIT INDEXES , 1999 .

[23]  I. Ajzen.  The theory of planned behavior , 1991 .

[24]  L. Treviño.  Ethical Decision Making in Organizations: A Person-Situation Interactionist Model , 1986 .

[25]  Charles D. Barrett.  Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior , 1980 .

[26]  L. Festinger,et al.  A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance , 2017 .

[27]  James W. Clark,et al.  Personal religiousness and ethical judgements: An empirical analysis , 1996 .

[28]  Steven M. Flory,et al.  A reply to `A Comment on `A Multidimensional Analysis of Selected Ethical Issues in Accounting' , 1992 .

[29]  R. Loo.  Support for Reidenbach and Robin’s (1990) eight-item multidimensional ethics scale , 2004 .

[30]  Ernest W. King,et al.  THE EFFECT OF ATTORNEYS’PERCEIVED DUTY TO CLIENT ON THEIR ETHICAL DECISION MAKING PROCESS , 1996 .

[31]  Donald P. Robin,et al.  Some initial steps toward improving the measurement of ethical evaluations of marketing activities , 1988 .