Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Religious Intensity, Evangelical Christianity, and Business Ethics: An Empirical Study

  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Research on the relationship between religious commitment and business ethics has produced widely varying results and made the impact of such commitment unclear. This study presents an empirical investigation based on a questionnaire survey of business managers and professionals in the United States yielding a database of 1234 respondents. Respondents evaluated the ethical acceptability of 16 business decisions. Findings varied with the way in which the religion variable was measured. Little relationship between religious commitment and ethical judgment was found when responses were compared on the basis of broad faith categories – Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, other religions, and no religion. However, respondents who indicated that religious interests were of high or moderate importance to them demonstrated a higher level of ethical judgment (less accepting of unethical decisions) than others in their evaluations. Evangelical Christians also showed a higher level of ethical judgment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • B. R. Agle H. J. Buren ParticleVan (1999) ArticleTitle‘God and Mammon: The Modern Relationship’ Business Ethics Quarterly 9 IssueID4 563–582

    Google Scholar 

  • C. S. Alexander H. J. Becker (1978) ArticleTitle‘The Use of Vignettes in Survey Research’ Public Opinion Quarterly 42 93–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Alford, H. J. and M. J. Naughton: 2001, Managing as if Faith Mattered (University of Notre Dame Press).

  • G. W. Allport J. M. Ross (1967) ArticleTitle‘Personal Religious Orientation and Prejudice’ Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 5 IssueID4 432–443

    Google Scholar 

  • G. W. Allport (1966) ArticleTitle‘The Religious Context of Prejudice’ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 5 IssueID3 447–457

    Google Scholar 

  • M. Calkins (2000) ArticleTitle‘Recovering Religion’s Prophetic Voice for Business Ethics’ Journal of Business Ethics 23 339–352

    Google Scholar 

  • K. C. Cash G. R. Gray (2000) ArticleTitle‘A Framework of Accommodating Religion and Spirituality in the Workplace’ Academy of Management Executive 14 IssueID3 124–134

    Google Scholar 

  • G. F. Cavanagh M. R. Bandsuch (2002) ArticleTitle‘Virtue as a Benchmark for Spirituality in Business’ Journal of Business Ethics 38 109–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Coolidge, S. D.: 2002, ‘A Demanding Time for Chaplains Who Give at the Office’, Christian Science Monitor, January 2, 2002.

  • Cox, H. G.: 1990, The Secular City: Secularization and Urbanization in Theological Perspective (Collier Books).

  • A. L. Delbecq (2000) ArticleTitle‘Spirituality for Business Leadership: Reporting on a Pilot Course for MBAs and CEOs’ Journal of Management Inquiry 9 117–128

    Google Scholar 

  • E. M. Epstein (1998) ArticleTitle‘Catholic Social Teaching and Education in Business and Economics: A Non-Catholic’s Perspective’ Review of Business 19 23–27

    Google Scholar 

  • E. M. Epstein (2002) ArticleTitle‘Religion and Business–The Critical Role of Religious Traditions in Management Education’ Journal of Business Ethics 38 91–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Fritzsche, D. J. and H. Becker: 1982, ‘Business Ethics of Future Marketing Managers’, Journal of Marketing Education (Fall), 2–7.

  • M. Gunter (2001) ArticleTitle‘God and Business’ Fortune 141 IssueID1 58–80

    Google Scholar 

  • S. W. Herman (1997) ArticleTitle‘Enlarging the Conversation’ Business Ethics Quarterly 7 IssueID2 5–20

    Google Scholar 

  • S. W. Herman (2001) Spiritual Goods: Faith Traditions and the Practice of Business Philosophy Documentation Center Society for Business Ethics

    Google Scholar 

  • J. S. Hornsby D. F. Kuratko D. W. Naffziger W. R. LaFollette R. M. Hodgetts (1994) ArticleTitle‘The Ethical Perceptions of Small Business Owners: A Factor Analytic Study’ Journal of Small Business Management 32 IssueID4 9–16

    Google Scholar 

  • E. J. Kennedy L. Lawton (1998) ArticleTitle‘Religiousness and Business Ethics’ Journal of Business Ethics 17 163–175

    Google Scholar 

  • J. M. Kidwell R. E. Stevens A. L. Bethke (1987) ArticleTitle‘Differences in Ethical Perceptions Between Male and Female Managers’ Journal of Business Ethics 6 IssueID6 489–493

    Google Scholar 

  • L. A. Kirkpatrick R. W. Hood SuffixJr (1990) ArticleTitle‘Intrinsic-Extrinsic Religious Orientation: The Boon or Bane of Contemporary Psychology of Religion’ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 29 IssueID4 442–462

    Google Scholar 

  • N. K. Malhotra (1999) Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation Prentice-Hall New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

  • Marketplace Ministries: 2004, Web site www. marketplaceministries.com.

  • P. Miesing J. F. Preble (1985) ArticleTitle‘A Comparison of Five Business Philosophies’ Journal of Business Ethics 4 IssueID6 465–476

    Google Scholar 

  • D. J. Moberg M. A. Seabright (2000) ArticleTitle‘The Development of Moral Imagination’ Business Ethics Quarterly 10 IssueID4 845–884

    Google Scholar 

  • Nash, L. L.: 1994, Believers in Business (Thomas Nelson Publishers).

  • L. Nash S. McLennan (2001) Church on Sunday, Work on Monday Jossey–Bass San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • National Association of Evangelicals: 2003, Web site: http://www.nae.net.

  • Nussbaum, B.: 2002, ‘Can You Trust Anybody Anymore?’, Business Week (January 28), 31--32.

  • Pava, M. L.: 2003, Leading with Meaning: Using Covenantal Leadership to Build a Better Organization (Palgrave Macmillan), p. 1.

  • Reell Precision Manufacturing: 2004, ‘Declaration of Belief,’ Reell Web site: www.reell.com/belief.

  • J. R. Rest (1986) Moral Development: Advances in Research and Theory Praeger New York

    Google Scholar 

  • S. J. Roels (1997) ArticleTitle‘The Business Ethics of Evangelicals’ Business Ethics Quarterly 7 109–122

    Google Scholar 

  • P. L. Smith E. F. Oakley (1996) ArticleTitle‘The Value of Ethics Education in Business School Curriculum’ College Student Journal 30 274–283

    Google Scholar 

  • D. E. Terpstra E. J. Rozell R. K. Robinson (1993) ArticleTitle‘The Influence of Personality and Demographic Variables on Ethical Decisions Related to Insider Trading’ The Journal of Psychology 127 375–389 Occurrence Handle10.1080/00223980.1993.9915573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • The Academy of Management: 2003, Website: www.aomonline.org.

  • D. B. Tinsley (2002) ArticleTitle‘The Proverbial Manager’ Business Horizons 45 IssueID5 27–34

    Google Scholar 

  • L. K. Trevino (1986) ArticleTitle‘Ethical Decision Making in Organizations: A Person-Situation Interactionist Model’ Academy of Management Review 11 IssueID3 601–617

    Google Scholar 

  • H. J. Buren ParticleVan SuffixIII B. R. Agle (1998) ArticleTitle‘Measuring Christian Beliefs that Affect Managerial Decision-Making: A Beginning’ International Journal of Value-Based Management 11 159–177

    Google Scholar 

  • G. R. Weaver B. R. Agle (2002) ArticleTitle‘Religiosity and Ethical Behavior in Organizations: A Symbolic Interactionist Perspective’ Academy of Management Review 27 IssueID1 77–97 Occurrence Handle10.2307/4134370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • W. A. Weeks C. W. Moore J. A. McKinney J. G. Longenecker (1999) ArticleTitle‘The Effects of Gender and Career Stage on Ethical Judgment’ Journal of Business Ethics 20 301–313

    Google Scholar 

  • D. W. Wimberley (1989) ArticleTitle‘Religion and Role-Identity: A Structural Symbolic Interactionist Conceptualization of Religiosity’ The Sociological Quarterly 30 125–142

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hankamer School of Business, Baylor University, One Bear Place #98006, Waco, TX, 76798-8006, U.S.A

    Justin G. Longenecker, Joseph A. McKinney & Carlos W. Moore

Authors
  1. Justin G. Longenecker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Joseph A. McKinney
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Carlos W. Moore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Justin G. Longenecker.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Longenecker, J.G., McKinney, J.A. & Moore, C.W. Religious Intensity, Evangelical Christianity, and Business Ethics: An Empirical Study. J Bus Ethics 55, 371–384 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-004-0990-2

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-004-0990-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation