Abstract
This paper explores possible connections between gender and the willingness to engage in unethical business behavior. Two approaches to gender and ethics are presented: the structural approach and the socialization approach. Data from a sample of 213 business school students reveal that men are more than two times as likely as women to engage in actions regarded as unethical but it is also important to note that relatively few would engage in any of these actions with the exception of buying stock with inside information. Fifty percent of the males were willing to buy stock with insider information. Overall, the results support the gender socialization approach.
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Michael Betz is Professor of Sociology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He has published articles on income inequality, accountability, gender and work, and job satisfaction. Currently he is working on the effect of gender on ethical decision making and accountability as a mechanism of social control.
Lenahan O'Connell is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Carson-Newman College. His research focuses on gender differences in work experience. He is currently studying discrimination law enforcement in addition to continuing research with Michael Betz and Jon Shepard on ethics at work.
Jon M. Shepard is currently Chairman of the Department of Management and Professor of Sociology at the University of Kentucky. His research interests include comparative management (particularly Japanese and American), ethics in business, the social responsibility of business, and the accountability of institutions in industrial society.
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Betz, M., O'Connell, L. & Shepard, J.M. Gender differences in proclivity for unethical behavior. J Bus Ethics 8, 321–324 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381722
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00381722