Effects of moral intensity and self-evaluation on ethical propensity: A cross-level analysis.

Abstract

An empirical study examined the relationships between Jone's (1991) moral intensity and self-evaluation bias with ethical propensity. Results suggested that individuals with a self-enhanced tendency in their own ethical evaluation tended to engage in unethical decision-making across different levels of outcome concentration and magnitude. Additional findings also suggested that individuals' overestimation of their own ethical propensity, as well as their self-reported likelihood to engage in an unethical decision, decreased as the effectiveness of the accountability system increased. Implications of self-enhancement tendency in one's own ethical perception and ethical decision-making would be discussed.