“Blaming the victim” and other ways business men and women account for questionable behavior

Impression management refers to behaviors used by individuals to control the impressions they make on audiences. This study demonstrated that business men and women were more likely to defend their questionable behavior by using excuses and justifications than to openly concede errors of judgment an...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Konovsky, Mary A. (Author) ; Jaster, Frank (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V 1989
In: Journal of business ethics
Year: 1989, Volume: 8, Issue: 5, Pages: 391-398
Further subjects:B Impression Management
B Position Paper
B Work Experience
B Defend
B Economic Growth
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Description
Summary:Impression management refers to behaviors used by individuals to control the impressions they make on audiences. This study demonstrated that business men and women were more likely to defend their questionable behavior by using excuses and justifications than to openly concede errors of judgment and behavior. Three hundred and sixty two participants received a scenario in which they had allegedly engaged in questionable behavior. The participants then wrote a position paper explaining their actions. Results indicated that people in business attempt to avoid being associated with potentially negative interpretations of their behavior primarily through the use of justifications and excuses. In general, the types of responses were relatively consistent across work experience, educational and occupational levels. However, in some instances the specific explanations used depended on gender and age.
ISSN:1573-0697
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/BF00381731