What types of persons are likely to believe in a narrow view of corporate social responsibility—that is, that managers should seek only to maximize profits in the interests of shareholders? Prior research suggested that such persons seemed likely to defer unquestioningly to organizational authority and thus to approve of unethical activities performed for organizational benefit. This article examined additional implications of such deferential tendencies among high social traditionalism scorers. In three samples of employed respondents (N = 491), social traditionalists emerged as Machiavellian, had an entitled pattern of equity sensitivity, had an external work locus of control, were self-denying and authoritarian, felt that misfortune accrues to deserving people, and scored low on principled moral reasoning. These findings suggest that normative views about the rightness of social responsibility are closely tied to fundamental personality traits, attitudes, values, and thinking patterns. Therefore, resolving the long-standing social responsibility debate by determining once and for all whether social responsibility is good or bad may be an elusive goal.
Aldag, R. J., & Jackson, D. W., Jr. (1977). Assessment of attitudes toward social responsibilities. Journal of Business Administration, 8, 65-80.
2.
Aldag, R. J., & Jackson, D. W., Jr. (1984). Measurement and correlates of social attitudes. Journal of Business Ethics, 3, 143-151.
3.
Altemeyer, B. (1988). Enemies of freedom: Understanding right-wing authoritarianism. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
4.
Altemeyer, B. (1996). The authoritarian specter. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
5.
Altemeyer, B. (1998). The other “authoritarian personality.”Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 30, 47-92.
6.
Bakir, B., Ozer, M., Ucar, M., Gulec, M., Demir, C., & Hasde, M. (2003). Relation between Machiavellianism and job satisfaction in a sample of Turkish physicians. Psychological Reports, 92, 1169-1175.
7.
Ball, G. A., Trevino, L. K., & Sims, H. P., Jr. (1994). Just and unjust punishment: Influences on subordinate performance and citizenship. Academy of Management Journal, 37, 299-322.
8.
Banks, C. G. (1992). “Culture” in culture-bound syndromes: The case of anorexia nervosa. Social Science and Medicine, 34, 867-884.
9.
Barnard, C. I. (1936). The functions of the executive. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
10.
Baron, D. P. (2003). Business and its environment (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
11.
Benson, D. E. (1992). Why do people believe in a just world? Testing explanations. Sociological Spectrum, 12, 73-104.
12.
Blau, G. (1993). Testing the relationship of locus of control to different performance dimensions. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 66, 125-138.
13.
Bowie, N. (1991). New directions in corporate social responsibility. Business Horizons, 34(4), 56-65.
14.
Bowman, C., & Ambrosini, V. (1997). Perceptions of strategic priorities, consensus and firm performance. Journal of Management Studies, 34, 241-258.
15.
Breslin, A. (1982). Tolerance and moral reasoning among adolescents in Ireland. Journal of Moral Education, 11, 112-127.
16.
Buchholz, R. A. (1991). Corporate responsibility and the good society: From economics to ecology. Business Horizons, 34(4), 19-31.
17.
Carroll, A. B., & Buchholtz, A. K. (2006). Business and society: Ethics and stakeholder management (6th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western.
18.
Chovan, W., & Freeman, N. L. (1993). Moral reasoning and personality components in gifted and average students. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 77, 1297-1298.
19.
Christie, R. (1991). Authoritarianism and related constructs. In J. P. Robinson, P. R. Shaver, & L. S. Wrightsman (Eds.), Measures of personality and social psychological attitudes (pp. 501-571). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
20.
Christie, R., & Geis, F. L. (1970). Studies in Machiavellianism. New York: Academic Press.
21.
Clarkson, M. B. E. (1990). The moral dimension of corporate social responsibility. Unpublished manuscript, Centre for Social Performance and Ethics, University of Toronto, Canada.
22.
Cooper-Hakim, A., & Viswesvaran, C. (2005). The construct of work commitment: Testing an integrative framework. Psychological Bulletin, 131, 241-259.
23.
Drucker, P. F. (1973). Management: Tasks, responsibilities, practices. New York: Harper and Row.
24.
Drucker, P. F. (1995). Managing in a time of great change. New York: Truman Talley.
25.
Elm, D. R., & Weber, J. (1994). Measuring moral judgment: The moral judgment interview or the defining issues test? Journal of Business Ethics, 13, 341-355.
26.
Emler, N., Renwick, S., & Malone, B. (1983). The relationship between moral reasoning and political orientation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 1073-1080.
27.
Evans, G. (1993). Class, powerlessness and political polarization. European Journal of Social Psychology, 23, 495-511.
28.
Feather, N. T. (1998). Reactions to penalties for offenses committed by police and public citizens: Testing a social-cognitive model of retributive justice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 528-544.
29.
Floyd, S. W., & Wooldridge, B. (1997). Middle management’s strategic influence and organizational performance. Journal of Management Studies, 34, 465-485.
30.
Frank, M. G., & Ekman, P. (2004). Appearing truthful generalizes across different deception situations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 486-495.
31.
Freeman, R. E., & Liedtka, J. (1991). Corporate social responsibility: A critical approach. Business Horizons, 34(4), 92-98.
32.
Friedman, M. (1962). Capitalism and freedom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
33.
Friedman, M. (1970, September 13). A Friedman doctrine: The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. New York Times Magazine, pp. 32-33, 122-126.
34.
Froelich, K. S., & Kottke, J. L. (1991). Measuring individual beliefs about organizational ethics. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 51, 377-383.
35.
Furnham, A. (1990). The Protestant work ethic. London: Routledge.
36.
Furnham, A. (2003). Belief in a just world: Research progress over the past decade. Personality and Individual Differences, 34, 795-817.
37.
Furnham, A., & Procter, E. (1989). Belief in a just world: Review and critique of the individual difference literature. British Journal of Social Psychology, 28, 365-384.
38.
Furnham, A., & Steele, H. (1993). Measuring locus of control: A critique of general, children’s, health- and work-related locus of control questionnaires. British Journal of Psychology, 84, 443-479.
39.
Ginsburg, F. D. (1989). Contested lives: The abortion debate in an American community. Berkeley: University of California Press.
40.
Goolsby, J. R., & Hunt, S. D. (1992). Cognitive moral development and marketing. Journal of Marketing, 56(1), 55-68.
41.
Gurtman, M. B. (1992). Trust, distrust, and interpersonal problems: A circumplex analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 989-1002.
42.
Huseman, R. C., Hatfield, J. D., & Miles, E. W. (1987). A new perspective on equity theory: The equity sensitivity construct. Academy of Management Review, 12, 222-234.
43.
Kashy, D. A., & DePaulo, B. M. (1996). Who lies? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 1037-1051.
44.
King, W. C., Jr., & Hinson, T. D. (1994). The influence of sex and equity sensitivity on relationship preferences, assessment of opponent, and outcomes in a negotiation experiment. Journal of Management, 20, 605-624.
45.
King, W. C., Jr., & Miles, E. W. (1994). The measurement of equity sensitivity. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 67, 133-142.
46.
Klonoski, R. J. (1991). Foundational considerations in the corporate social responsibility debate. Business Horizons, 34(4), 9-18.
47.
Kohlberg, L. (1976). Moral stages and moralization: The cognitive-developmental approach. In T. Lickona (Ed.), Moral development and behavior (pp. 31-53). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
48.
Lapsley, D. K., Harwell, M. R., Olson, L. M., Flannery, D., & Quintana, S. M. (1984). Moral judgment, personality, and attitude toward authority in early and late adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 13, 527-542.
49.
Lefcourt, H. M. (1996). Perspective-taking humor and authoritarianism as predictors of anthropocentrism. Humor, 9, 57-71.
50.
Mason, E. S., & Mudrack, P. E. (1997). Are individuals who agree that corporate social responsibility is a fundamentally subversive doctrine inherently unethical? Applied Psychology: An International Review, 46, 135-152.
51.
McHoskey, J. W. (1994). Factor structure of the Protestant work ethic scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 17, 49-52.
52.
Mintzberg, H. (1983). The case for corporate social responsibility. Journal of Business Strategy, 4, 3-15.
53.
Mirels, H. L., & Garrett, J. B. (1971). The protestant ethic as a personality variable. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 36, 40-44.
54.
Mudrack, P. E. (1993). An investigation into the acceptability of workplace behaviors of a dubious ethical nature. Journal of Business Ethics, 12, 517-524.
55.
Mudrack, P. E. (1997). Protestant work ethic dimensions and work orientations. Personality and Individual Differences, 23, 217-225.
56.
Mudrack, P. E. (2003). The untapped relevance of moral development theory in the study of business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 42, 225-236.
57.
Mudrack, P. E. (2005). An outcomes-based approach to just world beliefs. Personality and Individual Differences, 38, 817-830.
58.
Mulligan, T. M. (1986). A critique of Milton Friedman’s essay “The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.”Journal of Business Ethics, 5, 265-269.
59.
Mulligan, T. M. (1990). Justifying moral initiative by business, with rejoinders to Bill Shaw and Richard Nunan. Journal of Business Ethics, 9, 93-103.
60.
Orpen, C. (1992). The work locus of control scale as a predictor of employee attitudes and behaviour: A validity study. Psychology: A Journal of Human Behavior, 29(1), 35-37.
61.
Ostini, R., & Ellerman, D. A. (1997). Clarifying the relationship between values and moral judgement. Psychological Reports, 81, 691-702.
62.
Peterson, B. E., Doty, R. M., & Winter, D. G. (1993). Authoritarianism and attitudes toward contemporary social issues. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 19, 174-184.
63.
Post, J. E., Lawrence, A. T., & Weber, J. (2003). Business and society: Corporate strategy, public policy, ethics (10th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
64.
Redford, J. L., McPherson, R. H., Frankiewicz, R. G., & Gaa, J. (1995). Intuition and moral development. Journal of Psychology, 129, 91-101.
65.
Rest, J., Narvaez, D., Bebeau, M. J., & Thoma, S. J. (1999). Postconventional moral thinking: A neo-Kohlbergian approach. Mahwah, NJ: Laurence Erlbaum.
66.
Rest, J. R. (1979). Development in judging moral issues. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
67.
Rest, J. R. (1986). Moral development: Advances in theory and research. New York: Praeger.
68.
Rest, J. R., Narvaez, D., Thoma, S. J., & Bebeau, M. J. (1999). DIT2: Devising and testing a revised instrument of moral judgment. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 644-659.
69.
Rest, J. R., Thoma, S. J., Narvaez, D., & Bebeau, M. J. (1997). Alchemy and beyond: Indexing the defining issues test. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 498-507.
70.
Rotter, J. B. (1975). Some problems and misconceptions related to the construct of internal versus external control of reinforcement. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 43, 56-67.
71.
Rubin, Z., & Peplau, L. A. (1975). Who believes in a just world? Journal of Social Issues, 31, 65-90.
72.
Sabom, W. S. (1985). The gnostic world of anorexia nervosa. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 13, 243-254.
73.
Schultz, P. W., & Stone, W. F. (1994). Authoritarianism and attitudes toward the environment. Environment and Behavior, 26, 25-37.
74.
Schwartz, A. J. (1987). Introduction. In K. R. Leube (Ed.), The essence of Friedman (pp. xix-xxxiv). Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press.
75.
Schwartz, M. (2001). Management as the spirit of the modern age. Journal of Business Ethics, 29, 189-198.
76.
Sohn, H. F. (1982). Prevailing rationales in the corporate social responsibility debate. Journal of Business Ethics, 1, 139-144.
77.
Sowell, T. (1987). A conflict of visions. New York: Morrow.
78.
Sowell, T. (1993). Is reality optional? And other essays. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press.
79.
Spector, P. E. (1988). Development of the work locus of control scale. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 61, 335-340.
80.
Staw, B. M. (1991). Dressing up like an organization: When psychological theories can explain organizational action. Journal of Management, 17, 805-819.
81.
Strong, K. C., & Meyer, G. D. (1992). An integrative descriptive model of ethical decision making. Journal of Business Ethics, 11, 89-94.
82.
Thoma, S. J., Rest, J. R., & Davison, M. L. (1991). Describing and testing a moderator of the moral judgment and action relationship. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 659-669.
83.
Thorne McAlister, D., Ferrell, O. C., & Ferrell, L. (2005). Business and society: A strategic approach to social responsibility (2nd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
84.
White, F. A. (1997). Measuring the content of moral judgement development: The revised Moral Authority Scale (MAS-R). Social Behavior and Personality, 25, 321-334.
85.
Wilson, D. S., Near, D. C., & Miller, R. R. (1998). Individual differences in Machiavellianism as a mix of cooperative and exploitative strategies. Evolution and Human Behavior, 19, 203-212.
