The Blind Spot
Does ethics have a gender? Episode 2
Ethics and corruption have always been deeply intertwined. Over the years, numerous studies have been conducted to compare the ethical opinions of men and women across a wide range of issues.
While public opinion generally holds that women are more ethical than men — and while the most activist voices push to feminise governance and leadership bodies on the grounds that women bring an ethical dimension supposedly lacking in men — it’s not that simple.
Today, we turn our attention to the work of Weeks, W.A., Moore, C.W., McKinney, J.A., and Longenecker, J.G. (1999). In 1999, this team of American researchers presented the findings of a survey analyzing gender-based differences in ethical judgment among male and female practitioners.
Hypothesis: There is no difference in ethical judgment between men and women.
Participants: 1,875 professionals in the United States (272 women, 1,559 men).
Methodology:
Nineteen scenarios (labeled A to S) were presented to respondents, who were asked to rate the acceptability of the behavior described in each vignette based on their personal values. They selected a point on a seven-point scale, ranging from 1 (”never acceptable”) to 7 (”always acceptable”).
Out of these nineteen scenarios, only nine showed significant differences in evaluation. Two scenarios (G and P) are particularly noteworthy:
G: A highway construction contractor deplored the chaotic bidding situation and cutthroat competition. He therefore reached an agreement with other major contractors to allow bidding that would ensure a reasonable profit.
P: A small business owner obtained a free copy of copyrighted computer software from a business friend instead of spending $500 to purchase his own copy from the official dealer.
Results:
In these two scenarios, women demonstrated significantly less ethical behavior than men. The first scenario involves a violation of competition law, while the second concerns illegal software copying.
However, in the other seven scenarios—including violating environmental pollution standards, bribing foreign customers, corporate espionage, biased promotion practices, ignoring product safety issues, hiring less qualified male applicants, and unacceptable CEO compensation increases—women appeared to exhibit a higher level of ethical judgment.
Discussion:
While men seem to adopt a stricter ethical stance than women regarding collusion in construction bidding and illegal software copying, women demonstrate higher ethical judgment in the majority of situations.
The findings of this study challenge the self-selection theory, which suggests that women who choose business careers exhibit traits contrary to gender stereotypes and share the same values as men.
So, are women more ethical than men? It seems to depend on the situation, but statistically speaking, the answer is yes.
In short, knowledge fosters nuance and reflection. Or perhaps the other way around.
Feel free to share your thoughts.