The Effects of Victim Anonymity on Unethical Behavior
We theorize that victim anonymity is an important factor in ethical decision making, such that actors engage in more self-interested and unethical behaviors toward anonymous victims than they do toward identifiable victims. Three experiments provided empirical support for this argument. In Study 1,...
Κύριοι συγγραφείς: | ; |
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Τύπος μέσου: | Ηλεκτρονική πηγή Άρθρο |
Γλώσσα: | Αγγλικά |
Έλεγχος διαθεσιμότητας: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Έκδοση: |
Springer Science + Business Media B. V
2016
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Στο/Στη: |
Journal of business ethics
Έτος: 2016, Τόμος: 136, Τεύχος: 1, Σελίδες: 13-22 |
Άλλες λέξεις-κλειδιά: | B
anticipated guilt
B Behavioral ethics B Anonymity |
Διαθέσιμο Online: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Σύνοψη: | We theorize that victim anonymity is an important factor in ethical decision making, such that actors engage in more self-interested and unethical behaviors toward anonymous victims than they do toward identifiable victims. Three experiments provided empirical support for this argument. In Study 1, participants withheld more life-saving products from anonymous than from identifiable victims. In Study 2, participants allocated a sum of payment more unfairly when interacting with an anonymous than with an identifiable partner. Finally, in Study 3, participants cheated more from an anonymous than from an identifiable person. Anticipated guilt fully mediated these effects in all three studies. Taken together, our research suggests that anonymous victims may be more likely to incur unethical treatment, which could explain many unethical business behaviors. |
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ISSN: | 1573-0697 |
Περιλαμβάνει: | Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1007/s10551-014-2367-5 |