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Behavioral Ethics and Teaching Ethical Decision Making
Author(s) -
Drumwright Minette,
Prentice Robert,
Biasucci Cara
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
decision sciences journal of innovative education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1540-4609
pISSN - 1540-4595
DOI - 10.1111/dsji.12071
Subject(s) - business ethics , accountability , action (physics) , applied ethics , engineering ethics , information ethics , psychology , ethical decision , reflection (computer programming) , sociology , pedagogy , social psychology , public relations , political science , computer science , law , physics , quantum mechanics , programming language , engineering
Business education often renders students less likely to act ethically. An infusion of liberal learning in the form of behavioral ethics could improve this situation by prompting students to develop higher levels of professionalism that encompass ethics, social responsibility, self‐critical reflection, and personal accountability. More specifically, teaching behavioral ethics, which draws upon psychology, sociology, and related fields, can improve students’ ethical decision making in a manner that can lead to a more ethical climate in organizations and in society more generally. This article introduces key concepts of behavioral ethics, argues that teaching behavioral ethics can have a positive impact, discusses materials that can be used to teach those concepts, and addresses action‐research approaches to assessing the effectiveness of the instruction. There is significant evidence, though preliminary and incomplete, that teaching behavioral ethics is a promising new approach for improving the ethicality of students’ decisions and actions.