Ethics position theory (EPT) maintains
that individuals’ personal moral philosophies influence
their judgments, actions, and emotions in ethically
intense situations. The theory, when describing these
moral viewpoints, stresses two dimensions: idealism
(concern for benign outcomes) and relativism (skepticism
with regards to inviolate moral principles). Variations in
idealism and relativism across countries were examined
via a meta-analysis of studies that assessed these two
aspects of moral thought using the ethics position
questionnaire (EPQ; Forsyth, Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology 39, 175–184, 1980). This review identified
139 samples drawn from 29 different countries, for
a total sample of 30,230 respondents, and concluded that
(a) levels of idealism and relativism vary across regions of
the world in predictable ways; (b) an exceptionist ethic is
more common in Western countries, subjectivism and
situationism in Eastern countries, and absolutism and
situationism in Middle Eastern countries; and (c) a
nation’s ethics position predicted that country’s location
on previously documented cultural dimensions, such as
individualism and avoidance of uncertainty (Hofstede,
Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-
Related Values, 1980). Limitations in these methods and
concerns about the validity of these cross-cultural conclusions
are noted, as are suggestions for further research
using the EPQ. |