RT Article
T1 The Effect of Implicit Moral Attitudes on Managerial Decision-Making: An Implicit Social Cognition Approach
JF Journal of business ethics
VO 85
IS 2
SP 157
OP 171
A1 Marquardt, Nicki
A1 Hoeger, Rainer
LA English
PB Springer Science + Business Media B. V
YR 2009
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1785633678
AB This article concerns itself with the relationship between implicit moral cognitions and decisions in the realm of business ethics. Traditionally, business ethics research emphasized the effects of overt or␣explicit attitudes on ethical decision-making and neglected intuitive or implicit attitudes. Therefore, based on an implicit social cognition approach it is important to␣know whether implicit moral attitudes may have a substantial impact on managerial ethical decision-making processes. To test this thesis, a study with 50 participants was conducted. In this study the participants were asked to work on a deliberative managerial ethical decision-making task, in which they had to decide on one of two options. Implicit moral attitudes towards the two options were measured using the implicit association test (IAT). A semantic differential scale was used to diagnose explicit moral attitudes towards the two options. Each step taken within the deliberative decision-making process, as well the decision itself, was assessed using a scoring model-based decision analysis and a decision-making questionnaire. The results of this study show that implicit moral attitude has a great influence on the deliberative ethical decision-making process. The derived conclusion is that complex and deliberative decision-making processes in the context of business ethics can be affected by implicit social cognitions such as implicit moral attitudes.
K1 moral judgements
K1 Mental Processes
K1 implicit social cognition
K1 implicit attitudes
K1 Implicit Association Test (iat)
K1 ethical decision-making
K1 Business Ethics
DO 10.1007/s10551-008-9754-8