Moral ambiguity: an ethical examination of its constituents, effects and interventions.
Description
TitleMoral ambiguity: an ethical examination of its constituents, effects and interventions.
Date Created2021
Other Date2021-01 (degree)
Extent1 online resource (v, 85 pages)
DescriptionWe are living in an era defined by ethical transgressions. Since these transgressions have come to affect those across various walks of life, there has been a public outcry to examine the precursors and combatants of such behavior. The presence of ethical gray areas is one of the most oft cited reasons for why these ethical transgressions occur. This dissertation seeks not only to examine individual differences in terms of how organizational members respond to these gray areas, but also to examine any organizational interventions that could help address the individual states that result from the presence of these gray areas, from an ethical perspective.
For this purpose, the first paper in my dissertation, titled, “Building an Understanding of Moral Ambiguity,” introduces the construct of ‘Moral Ambiguity.’ Specifically, in this paper, I examine the factors that encompass moral ambiguity, namely the extent to which one recognizes the moral principles at stake, as well as one’s sense of certainty surrounding the ethical outcomes associated with the quandary-causing options at hand. I go on to break down the experience of being presented with a moral dilemma in terms of one’s perception of the moral principles at play as well as one’s understanding of the moral outcomes associated with one’s actions. In doing so, I demonstrate the importance of introducing greater nuance into moral dilemma research.
Following the presentation of a conceptualization of moral ambiguity, the first set of empirical studies in this dissertation titled, “The relationship between moral ambiguity and ethical behavior,” seek to empirically validate the constituents of and understand the ethical implications of moral ambiguity. This leads into an examination of the components of the normative structure of an organization, namely organizational rules, that could be used as an intervention in combatting moral ambiguity.
Read together, the contents of this dissertation shed light not only upon the determinants of and outcomes associated with moral ambiguity, but also on how components of the organizational structure, namely, organizational rules, can be used to alleviate employee unethical behaviors that result due to the various forms of moral ambiguity.
NotePh.D.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Genretheses, ETD doctoral
LanguageEnglish
CollectionGraduate School - Newark Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
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