Date of Award

6-20-2024

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

R. Scott Tindale

Abstract

Decision making is a process we see, encounter, and engage in all the time. Many of the choices made by people every day have little, if any, relation to ethics. However, many of the important decisions people make do have potential implications for others and ethical considerations would be relevant. Due to the prevalence of less-than-ethical decisions, it is important to gain a better understanding of when, and why such decisions are made. Several factors that influence ethical decision making have been identified in the literature. Two of the more prevalent research topics involve situational factors and individual differences. The current study aimed to explore both individual differences and situational factors as they relate to ethical decision making. The research attempted to replicate two previous findings. First, the study manipulated individual’s feelings of power (high vs. low) to assess whether high power leads to less ethical decisions. Second, an individual’s level of moral character was measured to assess whether greater moral character predicts less ethical decision making. Finally, the research tested for an interaction between these two variables. I predicted that moral character would play a greater role for high power decision makers as compared to low power decision makers. This hypothesis was not supported, and results did not indicate that an individual’s power had a significant influence on their ethical decision making. The prediction that participant’s moral character would significantly impact their ethical decision-making behavior was supported, mimicking previous research. Participants for this research consisted of undergraduate students attending Loyola University Chicago.

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