Sex Differences in Motivational Traits and Ethical Decision Making among Graduating Accounting Majors

This study is an empirical examination of possible differences between female and male accounting majors' managerial motivational traits, perceptions of ethical issues, ethical judgments, and ethical behavioral intentions regarding ethically equivocal business situations. Subjects were presente...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCollege student journal Vol. 39; no. 4; pp. 817 - 826
Main Authors Doty, Ed, Tomkiewicz, Joe, Bass, Kenneth
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Project Innovation, Inc 01.12.2005
Project Innovation Austin LLC
Subjects
Accountants
Accounting
Administrator Characteristics
Administrators
Analysis
Behavioral Science Research
Decision Making
Ethics
Gender Differences
Leadership Qualities
Majors (Students)
Motivation (Psychology)
Physiological aspects
Psychological aspects
Sex differences (Biology)
Student Attitudes
Student Behavior
Student Characteristics
Student Motivation
United States
Online AccessGet full text
ISSN0146-3934

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Summary:This study is an empirical examination of possible differences between female and male accounting majors' managerial motivational traits, perceptions of ethical issues, ethical judgments, and ethical behavioral intentions regarding ethically equivocal business situations. Subjects were presented with two scales to measure their motivational traits, two ethically equivalent scenarios, and scales to measure perceptions of ethical issues, ethical judgments, and ethical behavioral intentions. Male subjects scored significantly higher than females on managerial motivational traits. Also, male respondents viewed both scenarios as significantly more unethical than females. Further, males indicated that they would be more likely than females to engage in the behaviors presented in the ethically equivocal scenarios. Implications of these findings are presented as they relate to fewer women accounting firm partners than men. (Contains 5 tables.)
ISSN:0146-3934