Moral Reasoning and Moral Behavior Among Incoming First-Year Business Students: An Exploratory Study

Authors

Aaron A. Buchko, Bradley University
Kathleen J. Buchko, Bradley University

Abstract

This study examined the moral reasoning and behavior of 177 incoming first-year business students. The students were presented with a realistic situation – an attempted hostile takeover of a corporation. Students were placed into one of three alternative scenarios as shareholders of the corporation – small investor, large investor, or a mutual fund manager – and viewed a portion of the film, “Other People’s Money, ” as two actors argued for differing perspectives regarding the corporation. Students were then asked to vote their “shares, ” and to provide an explanation for their behavior. The results indicated that incoming first-year students with higher levels of moral reasoning were more likely to cast their vote based upon a view of the corporation as a social institution, while those with lower levels of moral reasoning tended to vote their shares based upon perceived self-interest and personal gain.

Volume

5

Issue

1

First Page

68

Last Page

77

DOI

10.58809/ISDO6075

Comments

For questions contact ScholarsRepository@fhsu.edu

Rights

© Fort Hays State University

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Buchko, Aaron A. and Buchko, Kathleen J. (2009) "Moral Reasoning and Moral Behavior Among Incoming First-Year Business Students: An Exploratory Study," Journal of Business & Leadership: Research, Practice, and Teaching (2005-2012): Vol. 5: No. 1, Article 9.
DOI: 10.58809/ISDO6075
Available at: https://scholars.fhsu.edu/jbl/vol5/iss1/9