LITERATURE REVIEW OF FACTORS AFFECTING THE
ATTITUDE TOWARD ETHICS: UNDERSTANDING THE
RANKING OF LEBANON
Carole DOUEIRY VERNE - Professeur Associé à la FGM
ABSTRACT
Our paper treats the literature review of the factors affecting the attitude
toward ethics such as gender, religious beliefs and age including the
intergenerational effect. Lebanon has slipped from the 63 rd position in 2006 to
the 134th position in 2011 on the corruption perception index (CPI) established
by Transparency International (TI) and one of the reasons for the increase in
the perception of corruption is the low level of ethics at the individual level.
KEY WORDS
Gender, age, ethical attitude, religious beliefs, corruption.
1. INTRODUCTION
Ethical attitude in the business field is a subject that received a great attention
during the last decade in many countries and notably in developing countries
where the corruption is considered common.
Many studies have shown a relation between ethical attitude and the other
variables like age, gender and religion but a few have focused on the ethics
transmission between generations. The links between personal characteristics
of individuals (i.e. age, gender and religious beliefs) and their level of ethics
were frequently tested in many countries and were found significant.
However, these types of research were not often interested in the ethics
transmission between generations.
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Many studies have examined the empirical link between ethical or moral
attitude, gender, religion and values transmission between generations
(youths, parents or grandparents). Other studies insist mainly on the family
role regarding the ethical attitude of the youths and the intergenerational
transmission of moral values. Lebanon has slipped from the 63rd position in
2006 to the 134th position in 2011 on the corruption perception index (CPI)
established by Transparency International (TI) and one of the reasons for the
increase in the perception of corruption is the low level of ethics at the
individual level.
The purpose of this paper is to present a literature review regarding the link
between personal characteristics and ethical attitude taking into account the
intergenerational effects. The sections of the paper are the following: section
2 analyses the link between ethical attitude and gender. Section 3 treats the
relationship between ethical attitude and religious beliefs. Section 4 analyses
the link between ethical attitude and age and includes the intergenerational
effect in a same family. Section 5 shows the ranking of Lebanon and section 6
comments and concludes.
2. THE LINK BETWEEN ETHICAL ATTITUDE AND GENDER
About the link between ethical attitude and gender, Yankelovich (1972) found
males and females to have a different moral orientation with “women having a
greater sense of commitment to doing things for others and men more
pessimistic”.
Gilligan (1982) expanded further on the difference in moral orientation by
gender. She suggests that females frame moral questions as problems of
care, involving empathy and compassion, while men frame moral questions
as problems of justice, rights and fairness. Gilligan did not say that women are
“better” (i.e. more ethical) than men. Nor did she say that there is any
absolute association between gender and ethical orientation; just that there
may be a tendency in the direction indicated above. Gilligan’s contribution is
acknowledged by a number of writers on the question of gender differences in
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ethical decision making (EDM) in organizations (e.g. Betz et al., 1989;
Bateman & Valentine, 2010).
Indeed, Betz, O’Connell and Shepard (1989) hypothesize that men are more
concerned with money and advancement and women were most interested in
relationships and helping people.
The gender socialization approach contends that males and females will
respond differently to the same set of conditions. Men seek competitive
success and are more likely to break rules. Women are more likely to adhere
to rules, as they are concerned about doing tasks well and establish
harmonious relationships.
Atakan et al. (2008) determined that men emphasize a rationale based on the
economics of the situation, which likely represents a more consequencebased type of reasoning.
While many studies have reported that females tend to exhibit a higher level
of ethical attitude (Betz et al., 1989), others have found no difference between
males and females (Singhapakdi and Vitell, 1990). In a study of senior
executives, Das (2005) found no significant difference between the genders
regarding their ethical preferences. On the other hand, a number of studies
produced different results. Simga-Mugan et al. (2005) reported that gender
does have a significant impact on ethical sensitivity with the females showing
greater ethical sensitivity.
3. THE LINK BETWEEN ETHICAL ATTITUDE AND RELIGIOUS
BELIEFS
Similarly, several studies indicate a link between ethical attitude and religion.
At least three studies (Singhapakdi et al., 1999a; Singhapakdi et al., 1999b;
Kurpis et al., 2008) examined the link between religiosity and perceptions of
an ethical problem and found that religiosity is a significant determinant of
one’s perceptions of an ethical problem. Those who have strong religious
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beliefs are more likely to perceive the existence of ethical problems when
faced with questionable situations.
Other studies (Clark and Dawson, 1996) conclude that religiosity seems to be
clearly linked to ethical judgments in the sense that those with stronger
religious beliefs are likely to be more ethical, at least in terms of their
beliefs/judgments. Consistent with these findings, the practicing of one’s
religion has a much stronger influence on ethical judgments and attitudes than
does merely completing a religion or ethics course (Conroy and Emerson,
2004). Religiosity also appears to be linked to one’s intentions to behave
ethically. That is, someone who has stronger religious beliefs is more likely to
intend to behave ethically (Emerson and Mckinney, 2010). But on the other
hand, although it seems that ethics and religion should be related, other
research suggests mixed conclusions on the relationship (Parboteeah, Hoegl,
Cullen, 2008).
4. THE RELATION BETWEEN ETHICAL ATTITUDE AND AGE
INCLUDING THE INTERGENERATIONAL EFFECT
Concerning the link between ethical attitude, age and intergenerational
effects, Jean Piaget (1965) was the first to undertake the study of moral
development and reasoning based on studies with children. Trevino (1986)
followed with a “person-situation” inter-actionist model that can be applied to
research in ethical decision making of professionals in organizations. In the
same way, Trevino’s model shows that younger professionals, who are
generally at a lower stage of moral development than older professionals,
would be more likely to look to external factors, or others, to help resolve
ethical dilemmas. Findings by Allmon et al. (2000) suggest that older youths
exhibit more ethical inclinations.
In a similar analysis, Arlow and Ulrich (1980) find that younger business
students exhibit lower ethical standards than older business executives.
These findings may support Kohlberg’s stages (1969) of moral development
model.
It seems that differences exist between generations regarding the ethical
attitude even though Lam & Hung (2005) find no link between age and ethical
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attitude: “No systematic relationship is found between age and the likelihood
of being ethical”.
Intergenerational research on political and social attitude shows that many
forms of influence are transmitted from parents to their children, including
political affiliation, religious values, orientation toward achievement, gender
and racial attitudes. However, over time, the intergenerational influences tend
to decline. Moore, Wilkie, Lutz (2002) have also studied the intergenerational
influences on consumption and brand choice where the intergenerational
influences refer to the within-family transmission of information, beliefs, and
resources from one generation to the next. It is a fundamental mechanism by
which culture is sustained over time.
Socialization helps society function by reinforcing particular beliefs, traditions,
and values. It also helps people develop their personal identities and play new
roles as they move through their life cycles.
The family is the first and typically the most powerful socialization agent;
parents and other family members serve as channels of information, sources
of social pressure, and support for one another. As a family develops, it
creates a distinct lifestyle, pattern of decision making, and style of interaction
(Sillars, 1995).
Theory suggests that family influences constitute a powerful socializing agent
in the children's lives. Moreover, in spite of the loose ties between family
members nowadays, especially in the developed countries, recent findings
show that there is inculcation of values and family influence is still alive and
well (Mittal and Royne, 2010).
5. RANKING OF LEBANON
The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranks countries/territories based on
how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country/territory’s score
indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0-10,
where 0 means that a country is perceived as highly corrupt and 10 means
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that a country is perceived as very clean. A country’s rank indicates its
position relative to the other countries/territories included in the index1.
We chose randomly a sample of 34 countries out of 183 already assessed on
the base of Transparency International. The two tables indicate the results of
CPI in 2006 and 2011.
Table 1: Corruption Perception Index 2006
Country Rank
1
4
6
11
11
14
15
16
17
18
20
20
23
31
32
34
36
37
39
40
42
51
51
54
60
63
70
70
70
70
1
Country
Finland
Denmark
Sweden
Luxembourg
United Kingdom
Canada
Hong Kong
Germany
Japan
France
Belgium
United States
Spain
United Arab Emirates
Qatar
Taiwan
Bahrain
Cyprus
Oman
Jordan
Korea (South)
South Africa
Tunisia
Greece
Turkey
Lebanon
Saudi Arabia
Ghana
China
Senegal
Corruption
Perception Index
2006
9.6
9.5
9.2
8.6
8.6
8.5
8.3
8
7.6
7.4
7.3
7.3
6.8
6.2
6
5.9
5.7
5.6
5.4
5.3
5.1
4.6
4.6
4.4
3.8
3.6
3.3
3.3
3.3
3.3
www.transparency.org
6
84
90
138
156
Sri Lanka
Gabon
Cameroon
Bangladesh
3.1
3
2.3
2
Table 2 : Corruption Perception Index 2011
Country Rank
2
2
4
10
11
12
14
14
16
19
22
24
25
28
30
31
32
43
46
50
56
57
61
64
69
73
75
80
86
100
112
120
134
134
Thus, it
Country
Corruption
Perception Index
2011
Finland
9,4
Denmark
9,4
Sweden
9,3
Canada
8.7
Luxembourg
8.5
Hong Kong
8.4
Germany
8
Japan
8
United Kingdom
7.8
Belgium
7,5
Qatar
7,2
United States
7,1
France
7
United Arab Emirates
6.8
Cyprus
6,3
Spain
6.2
Taiwan
6.1
Korea (South)
5.4
Bahrain
5,1
Oman
4.8
Jordan
4.5
Saudi Arabia
4.5
Turkey
4.2
South Africa
4.1
Ghana
3.9
Tunisia
3.8
China
3.6
Greece
3.4
Sri Lanka
3.3
Gabon
3
Senegal
2.9
Bangladesh
2.7
Cameroon
2.5
Lebanon
2.5
is obvious that between 2006 and 2011, corruption decreased in
many countries, contributing to an increase in the CPI and in the ranking of
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these countries on the scale of Transparency International (TI). For
example, the CPI of Sweden has increased from 9.2 to 9.3 and the ranking
of this country improved from the sixth to the fourth place. Canada and
Japan observed also an increase of the CPI from 8.5 to 8.7 for Canada
and from 7.6 to 8 for Japan.
Other countries showed a slight increase of corruption on the scale of TI,
contributing to a decrease of the CPI and of the ranking of these countries.
For example, because of the political problems, Greece observed a
decrease of the CPI from 4.4 to 3.4 with a ranking of 80 instead of 54 in
2006.
Lebanon has slipped from the 63rd place in 2006 to the 134th place in 2006
with a decrease of the CPI from 3.6 to 2.5. Right now, Lebanon occupies
the same rank (134th rank) as Cameroon, Eritrea, Guyana, Niger,
Pakistan, etc…
6. CONCLUSION
The literature review showed the main factors that could affect the attitude
toward ethics. The structure of the family is playing an important role in the
level of transmission of moral values between generations especially in the
MENA countries. However, this structure is becoming more heterogeneous
(proportion of males/females, size, number of generations living under one
roof…), and many countries are experiencing diversity in religion races and
cultures that are becoming added features to the families. Even if the family is
still active in transmitting values in certain religious communities and cultural
groups, its efficiency might vary according to the religious beliefs and will lead
in multicultural countries to different levels of ethical attitudes in religious subgroups. The schools, the universities and the workplace can contribute in the
enhancement of ethics and replace partially the role of the family structure in
transmitting ethics.
The slipping of Lebanon in the CPI ranking should incite researchers to focus
on ethical behavior and ethical attitude in Lebanon to better understand the
factors that led to this situation. A field research could be performed in
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Lebanon to test an ethical model that includes the above factors with their
respective weight. A comparative approach between sub groups based on
one of the factors can demonstrate the impact of this factor on the attitude
toward ethics in Lebanon.
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