Does an Individual’s Exposure to Unethical Acts through the Media Influence Their Decision Making Process?

• In Event: Ethics, Gender, and International Debt Reporting

Abstract

This study surveys 208 students enrolled in business classes in a private institution located in Northeastern United States on the process of ethical decision making. This study is driven by a concern for the need of employees to make these decisions. Our three research questions correlate with the use of the Finn Model. The results of this study show the students’ perceptions of wrongdoing and the percentage of students’ who would whistle-blow if they observe the wrongdoing. Our hopes are to predict how the students would perform if they were in the business world. When examining a student’s intent to whistle-blow, we considered the student’s prior cheating behavior, gender, grade, and their intentions to cheat in the future. Our research indicates that students who have reported the wrongdoing to be unacceptable are more likely to whistle-blow. We also found that students who reported that it was unacceptable and that they would whistle-blow are split on whether or not they would remain with the company.

Authors

• Richard A Bernardi, Roger Williams University

• Magee S. Kmec, Roger Williams University

• Kathryn E. McCusker, Roger Williams University

• Michelle E. Possidente, Roger Williams University