Ethical behavior can be contagious, study says

A new study from Penn State Smeal College of Business faculty members Steven Huddart and Hong Qu examines the power of social influence on managers' ethical behavior. The Department of Accounting researchers find that managers tend to become more honest after observing honest peers and more dishonest after observing dishonest peers.

Through their research, Huddart and Qu find a connection between honest behavior and the desire to obey . In absence of information about peers, they find, "People with a greater tendency to conform to social norms are, on average, more honest."

However, the researchers found, that tend to adjust their responses based on information about their peers. If managers find that their peers are acting more honestly, those managers adjust to be more honest. On the other hand, if managers find that their peers are acting more dishonestly, the managers adjust to be less honest.

The more that a person was found likely to conform to social norms, the more this variation was evident.

"Our study shows the importance of in shaping actions. In particular, we identify one channel through which social information affects behavior, that is, the motivation to conform to the actions of others," they wrote. "The observation of others can lead to behavior changes in different ways because the behavior of others can establish benchmarks for social comparisons in multiple dimensions."

More information: "Rotten Apples and Sterling Examples: Moral Reasoning and Peer Influences on Honesty in Managerial Reporting." Steven J. Huddart and Hong Qu. AAA 2013 Management Accounting Section (MAS) Meeting Paper. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf … ?abstract_id=2133072

Citation: Ethical behavior can be contagious, study says (2014, October 1) retrieved 18 March 2024 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-10-ethical-behavior-contagious.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

A meta-analysis of three types of peer norms and their relation with adolescent sexual behavior

 shares

Feedback to editors