Journal of Business & Leadership: Research, Practice, and Teaching (2005-2012) Volume 4 Article 10 Number 1 Journal of Business & Leadership 1-1-2008 Religious Beliefs or A College Ethics Course- Does Either Really Impact Student Perceptions of Ethical Behavior? Karen L. Hamilton Georgia Southern University Rita C. Jones Columbus State University Teresa K. Lang Columbus State University Follow this and additional works at: http://scholars.fhsu.edu/jbl Part of the Business Commons, and the Education Commons Recommended Citation Hamilton, Karen L.; Jones, Rita C.; and Lang, Teresa K. (2008) "Religious Beliefs or A College Ethics Course- Does Either Really Impact Student Perceptions of Ethical Behavior?," Journal of Business & Leadership: Research, Practice, and Teaching (2005-2012): Vol. 4 : No. 1 , Article 10. Available at: http://scholars.fhsu.edu/jbl/vol4/iss1/10 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by FHSU Scholars Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Business & Leadership: Research, Practice, and Teaching (2005-2012) by an authorized editor of FHSU Scholars Repository. IIJmdton, J o n ~s. 3nd LangHamilton et al.: Religious Beliefs or A College EthicsJoum Course-31 o f Bus Doesiness & Either Lca d~ r sReallyhip : Researc h, Practi ce, a nd Teaching 2008, Vo l. 4, No. I, 70-80 RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OR A COLLEGE ETHICS COURSE- DOES EITHER REALLY IMPACT STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF ETHICA L BEI-JAYIOR? Karen L. Hamilton, Georgia Southern Uni ve rsit y Rita C. Jones, o lu mb us State Uni ve rsit y Teresa K. Lang, Columbus State Uni ve rsit y This study considers th e impact of IH •o variables 011 the perceptio11 of students regarding various classroom behaviors con cerni11g themselves, and then concerni11g their peers. The first variable is the self-reported level of religiosity of the stude111s, a11d the seco11d is th e completio 11 of a business ethics co urse. Two universities participated in the s lur~)': Temple U11iversi()' with 6 1 juniors a11d se11iors a11d Columbus S tale University •vith 2 15 ju11iors and seniors out of a total of 332 m ostly u11dergraduate, busin ess stude11ts alle11di11g selected busi11ess classes. 1Jz e ji11di11gs are that students vie•ving them selves as more relig ious have higher ethical sta11dards for both themselves a11d th eir peers. Stude111s who completed a11 ethics course, •vhether th ey considered them selves m ore religious or 11 0t, did 11 01 dem o11 strate a sig11ijicantly higher level of ethical sta11dards for either themselves or their peers. "catch" th em in th e act- or by extension, know their I 'TH.ODUCTION unethi cal th oughts or attitudes. The lit erature contain s a pl eth ora of research on The second part of thi s research consid ers th e coverage cthics- in c lu dtn g ethi cs in bu siness, ethi cs in reli gion and of ethi cs in th e busin ess school cun·iculum . Researchers ethi cs in cducat ton. The fin di ngs of thi s lit erature vari es, but agree th at ethi cs is import ant , but there is disagreement as to priman ly suggests th at rcli gtos it y innucnccs peoples' ethi cal wheth er or not students bene fit from a course or courses in standa rd s, student s' majonng in business tend to have ethi cs at th e co ll ege level. There is no question, however, different eth ica l stand ards th an non-busin ess majors, and about th e pos itJU n of th e Associati on to Adva nce Coll eges ed ucati on at th e coll ege level docs not signifi ca ntl y affect and Sc hool s of Bu siness Int ern ati onal (AACSB) regard in g stud ent s' ethi ca l b e li e [~ (J ones, ct. al. , 2007; Emerson and th e teaching of ethi cs. They manda te th at institutions Comoy, 2004; Noni s and Owe ns-S wift , 2004; Smyth and accredi ted by J\ ACS B (2004) require either ( I) busin ess Davis, 2004; Wadja-Johnson, ct. a l. , 200 I; Forrest and stud ents to take a course in ethi cs or (2) instructors to Prit chett , 1990; Tyso n, 1990; llosmer, 1999 ). The current in co rp orate et hi cs as part of th e course co nt ent throughout research is a bustn css eth ics stud y whi ch considers th e th e busin ess curri culum, and also encourage continuous tmpac t of student s' level of rei igiosit y and wheth er or not improvement in providin g ethi cs educati on. For purposes of th ey have compl eted a co ll ege ethi cs course on the ir thi s research, th e focus will be on th e stu dents who have opinions of eth ical choices for th emselves and th eir peers. completed a course in bu sin ess ethi cs and wheth er the Sin ce business stud ent s have bee n document ed as bein g comp leti on of th at course has an impact on th e percepti on of among those most likely to find chea tin g acceptable, and arc eth ica l behavior for th emse lves and their peers. most li kely to brin g th eir negli gent ethics int o th eir BAC K G RO UN D AND II Y POTII ESES pro fcssion::d lives (Non is and Owens-Swift , 200 I; Wadja­ Johnson, ct. al. , 200 I), th e vast maj ority of th e stud ents As noted earli er, busin ess stu dents carry th eir behavi ors in c lu ded in thts stud y arc busi ness majors, and all of th e fr om th e co ll ege class room to th e workp lace. If th ey exhi bi t stud ents arc enroll ed in bu sin ess classes. a hi gh level of ethi cal sta nda rd s earli er in li fe, th ose The fi rst part or th is research questi ons stu dents about stand ard s should serve as th eir bas is of refcJTa llater in life; their personal leve l of reli gios it y. It is co mm onl y beli eved however, if th e oppos it e is true, and students have th at the more rcli gtous peopl e view th emse lves, th e more ques ti onabl e ethi cal s t a nd:.~rd s , th ose wi ll , li kewise, prov id e eth ical th eir behav ior wo ul d be. Perhaps thi s is due to the a mu ch diffe rent basis of referral. T hi s stu dy considers th e l ~tc t th at religion promotes social solidarit y by providing effect th at religious beliefs and comp leti on of a co ll ege norms th at reduce connict and impose sancti ons against anti ­ ethi cs course have on stud ent s ' ethical perceptions regarding soctal conduct (Kenn edy a nd Lawton, 1998 ). It may, th emse lves and th eir peers. Six hypoth eses concerning these however, be th at man y reli gions cont ain un iversa l moral effects arc tested. tenets, such as th e Ten Co mmandments as appli ed to Perception of Ethics for Self and Peers Based on Level of Christi anit y (A ll , ct a l. , 2000), and indi vidua ls hold Religiosity th emse lves to th ose mora l tenets because of th eir r c l ::~ u o n s hip wtth God. Emerson and Conroy (200-1 ) offered Alt hough oth er research has consid ered the impact of that perhaps bclt evers in God arc less willing to act coll ege courses in reli gion, as we ll as the im pact of different un ethi ca ll y because th ey bc li cv<.: that an omni scient God will religious beliefs. on eth ical choices (Emerson and Conroy, 70 Published by FHSU Scholars Repository, 2008 1 Hamilton. J o n ~;.< , and ~tn g Journal of Business & Leadership: Research, Practice, and TeachingJoum.d (2005-2012), of l3u smcs:=: &Vol. Lc: tJ4c [2008],rslup Rt..:sc. No.trc h1,. PArt.t ~ I C I I CL', 10 .11 11.1 rc..K hl ll!! ~1)0~. nl <l . No I . 70-XO 2004), research regarding th e degree 1 whi ch a person considers him- or herself to be re li gious is lac ki ng. In th e Effect uf Et hi cs Course on Ethical l'l·•·ceptiuus fur Sdf Emerson and Conroy (2004) stud y, re li gios it y was 1neasured and Peel'S based on church all cndance, whcrens in th e CUITent stu dy, it In January 2006, l'ark m::td c th e observati on that is bnsed on varying levels o f self-report ed reli gios it y rangin g pass:t •c o l. th c Sarb anes-O.xley Act in th e Unti ed St:ll cs has from Nonre li gious to ;\cti vcly Re li gious. rnand :t tcd ch:tn ges far beyond th e normal pr:tCII CCS of Research findings show th :t t sllld ent s typi cn ll y rat account:tnt s. l ie suggests th :tt busin ess educ: ttr on th emselves as more re li gious than th eir peers (Emerson and cntphasrzin' eth1 cs is now needed.