An Attributional Analysis of Adult Nigerians' Perception of Moral Behavior

Abstract

Adult Nigerians' attitudes toward unethical behavior were examined. The subjects were given an opportunity to infer the actor's motive in a fashion parallel to Kelley's hypothesis that actions motivated by gain would be evaluated more negatively than similar actions motivated by a desire to prevent loss. The subjects were also informed of the consequences of the behavior. Ninety Nigerian students read transcripts of a case against a student who stole his examination papers either (1) to avoid failure, (2) for no specific reason, or (3) to enhance his chances of success. The consequences of the behavior were either negative for the actor alone or the actor and some others. The data indicate that adult Nigerians engage in moral judgment in terms of objective rather than subjective intent.