Employees’ attitudes toward ethical behaviour at work : impact of their individual characteristics

Abstract

Ethical behaviour at work is very important area of research in organizations because it is related both to effectiveness of organization and employees’ wellbeing. The aim of this study was to investigate whether employees’ attitude towards ethical behaviour is related to their individual characteristics (age, gender, work experience, cognitive competences and empathy). 252 Lithuanian employees (90 men and 162 women; mean age 32.10) from different organizations participated in this study. Most of them were working in the medium size private capital service organizations. Self-report questionnaire consisting of scales measuring attitude towards ethical behaviour (recognition of ethical dilemma, approval of ethical decision, and intention of ethical behaviour), three cognitive competencies (consistency of risk perception, resistance to framing effect, and resistance to sunk cost effect), empathy and some demographic questions was used in this cross-sectional survey. The results showed neither gender nor work experience differences in attitudes towards ethical behaviour at work, but some age differences in these attitudes were found. Results revealed that empathy was significant predictor of recognition of ethical dilemma, while resistance to framing effect predicted both approval of ethical decision and intention of ethical behaviour.