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Gender and Perceived Fundamental Moral Orientations: An Empirical Study of the Turkish Hotel Industry

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Abstract

Recent history is replete with scandalous acts and charitable acts within the business community. Unfortunately, scandalous acts seem to occur with greater frequency than charitable acts – at least as reported in the broadcast and print media. An interesting corollary to the incidence of scandalous and charitable acts is the apparent differential involvement of men and women, particularly in scandals. This article explores a possible explanation for the apparent gender differential in involvement in scandals and acts of charity. Drawing on a conceptual framework of three Fundamental Moral Orientations (FMOs) – selfishness, self-fullness, and selflessness – and relevant literature on gender effects, this article explores whether men and women are perceived as differing fundamentally in how they approach moral dilemmas. This phenomenon is examined with a sample of personnel (n = 682) from the hotel industry in Turkey. Results of the study indicate that gender has some effect on the perceived adoption of FMOs, and that these gender effects are generally consistent across age, educational level, and organizational rank categories. Implications of the findings are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, U.S.A.

    Michael K. McCuddy, Musa Pinar, Ibrahim Birkin & Metin Kozak

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  1. Michael K. McCuddy
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Correspondence to Michael K. McCuddy.

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McCuddy, M.K., Pinar, M., Birkin, I. et al. Gender and Perceived Fundamental Moral Orientations: An Empirical Study of the Turkish Hotel Industry. J Bus Ethics 89, 331–349 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-0003-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-0003-y

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