Impact of Formal Education Factors on Moral Reasoning: A Comparative Study of Accounting versus Non Accounting Majors.

摘要

People in business environments face many challenges as a result of unethical behavior. Due to these challenges, ethics has become an important topic both in the business sector and academia. Prior research studies have shown varying results in regards to the effectiveness of ethics education. The purpose of this quantitative research study, grounded in the theory of human development, was to assess the effect on the moral reasoning of senior undergraduate business students involved in extracurricular activities (e.g. participation in Greek and non Greek organizations and athletics) and other formal education factors (e.g., major, grade point average, and level of exposure to ethics courses). Participants completed the Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT2) to assess their moral reasoning and a demographic survey to provide data on their participation in extracurricular activities and other formal education factors. To determine the effects of each of these factors on moral reasoning, t tests and ANOVAs were used. The results of the study revealed that students who participated in non Greek organizations had a significantly higher moral reasoning score than students who did not participate. The social change implication of this study is that the identification of factors which may impact a student's level of moral reasoning can lead to improved educational curricula, which in turn can positively impact society as more ethical graduates move into the business sector.