Abstract
Using the lens of positive organizational ethics, we theorized that empathy affects decisions in ethical dilemmas that concern the well-being of not only the organization but also other stakeholders. We hypothesized and found that empathetic managers were less likely to comply with requests by an authority figure to cut the wages of their employees than were non-empathetic managers. However, when an authority figure requested to hold wages constant, empathy did not affect wage cut decisions. These findings imply that empathy can serve as a safeguard for ethical decision making in organizations during trying times without generally undermining organizational effectiveness. We conclude by discussing the implications of our research.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agnihotri, R., Rapp, A., Kothandaraman, P., & Singh, R. K. (2012). An emotion-based model of salesperson ethical behaviors. Journal of Business Ethics, 109, 243–257. doi:10.1007/s10551-011-1123-3.
Arnaud, A., & Sekerka, L. E. (2010). Positively ethical: The establishment of innovation in support of sustainability. International Journal of Sustainable Strategic Management, 2, 121–137. doi:10.1504/IJSSM.2010.032556.
Atkins, P. W. B., & Parker, S. K. (2012). Understanding individual compassion in organizations: The role of appraisals and psychological flexibility. Academy of Management Review, 37, 524–546. doi:10.5465/amr.10.0490.
Bagozzi, R. P. (2003). Positive and negative emotions in organizations. In K. S. Cameron, J. E. Dutton, & R. E. Quinn (Eds.), Positive organizational scholarship: Foundations of a new discipline (pp. 176–193). San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
Bagozzi, R. P., & Verbeke, W. (2002). Determinants and effects of guilt and shame by salespeople and the moderating roles of empathy and distraction cognitive style. Unpublished working paper, Rice University.
Bagozzi, R. P., & Verbeke, W. J. M. I. (2012). Exploring the minds of managers: Insights from three neuroscience studies. In K. S. Cameron & G. M. Spreitzer (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of positive organizational scholarship. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bandura, A. (1999). Moral disengagement in the perpetration of inhumanities. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3, 193–209. doi:10.1207/s15327957pspr0303_3.
Barnard, C. (1938). The functions of the executive. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bartol, K. M., & Martin, D. C. (1990). When politics pay: Factors influencing managerial compensation decisions. Personnel Psychology, 43, 599–614. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.1990.tb02398.x.
Batson, C. D. (2008). Empathy-induced altruism motivation. Paper presented at the inaugural Herzliya symposium on “prosocial motives, emotions, and behavior”, Herzliya, Israel.
Batson, C. D. (2009). These things called empathy: Eight related but distinct phenomena. In J. Decety & W. Ickes (Eds.), The social neuroscience of empathy (pp. 3–15). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Batson, C. D., Duncan, B. D., Ackerman, P., Buckley, T., & Birch, K. (1981). Is empathic emotion a source of altruistic motivation? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40, 290–302. doi:10.1037//0022-3514.40.2.290.
Batson, C. D., & Shaw, L. L. (1991). Evidence for altruism: Toward a pluralism of prosocial motives. Psychological Inquiry, 2, 107–122. doi:10.1207/s15327965pli0202_1.
Brief, A. P., Buttram, R. T., & Dukerich, J. M. (2001). Collective corruption in the corporate world: Towards a process model. In M. E. Turner (Ed.), Groups at work: Advances in theory and research (pp. 471–499). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Brief, A. P., Dietz, J., Cohen, R. R., Pugh, S. D., & Vaslow, J. B. (2000). Just doing business: Modern racism and obedience to authority as explanations for employment discrimination. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 81, 72–97. doi:10.1006/obhd.1999.2867.
British Broadcasting Corporation. (2012). Spain and Portugal see big anti-austerity rallies. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19611375
Cameron, K. (2011). Responsible leadership as virtuous leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 98, 25–35. doi:10.1007/s10551-011-1023-6.
Cameron, K. S., Dutton, J. E., & Quinn, R. E. (2003). Positive organizational scholarship: Foundation of a new discipline. San Francisco: Barrett-Koehler.
Cawley, M. J., Martin, J. E., & Johnson, J. A. (2000). A virtues approach to personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 28, 997–1013. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(99)00207-X.
Choi, J. (2006). A motivational theory of charismatic leadership: Envisioning, empathy, and empowerment. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 13, 24–43. doi:10.1177/10717919070130010501.
Cohen, T. R. (2010). Moral emotions and unethical bargaining: The differential effects of empathy and perspective taking in deterring deceitful negotiation. Journal of Business Ethics, 94, 569–579. doi:10.1007/s10551-009-0338-z.
Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. S. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Comer, D. R., & Vega, G. (2011). Moral courage in organizations: Doing the right thing at work. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Damasio, A. R. (1994). Descartes’ error: Emotion, reason, and the human brain. New York: G. P. Putnam.
Davis, M. H. (1980). A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 10, 85.
Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring individual-differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 113–126. doi:10.1037//0022-3514.44.1.113.
Davis, M. H. (1994). Empathy: A social psychological approach. Madison, WI: Brown & Benchmark.
Day, D. V. (2001). Leadership development: A review in context. The Leadership Quarterly, 11, 581–613. doi:10.1016/S1048-9843(00)00061-8.
Detert, J. R., Treviño, L. K., & Sweitzer, V. L. (2008). Moral disengagement in ethical decision making: A study of antecedents and outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 374–391. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.93.2.374.
Dietz, J., & Pugh, S. D. (2004). I say tomato, you say domate: Differential reactions to English-only workplace policies by persons from immigrant and non-immigrant families. Journal of Business Ethics, 52, 365–379. doi:10.1007/s10551-004-1539-0.
Dovidio, J. F., Allen, J. L., & Schroeder, D. A. (1990). Specificity of empathy-induced helping: Evidence for altruistic motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 249–260. doi:10.1037//0022-3514.59.2.249.
Duan, C. M., & Hill, C. E. (1996). The current state of empathy research. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43, 261–274. doi:10.1037/0022-0167.43.3.261.
Dutton, J., Glynn, M., & Spreitzer, G. (2006a). Positive organizational scholarship. In J. Greenhaus & G. Callanan (Eds.), Encyclopedia of career development. (pp. 642–645). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi:10.4135/9781412952675.n223
Dutton, J. E., Worline, M. C., Frost, P. J., & Lilius, J. (2006b). Explaining compassion organizing. Administrative Science Quarterly, 51, 59–96. doi:10.2189/asqu.51.1.59.
Eisenberg, N. (1991). Values, sympathy, and individual differences: Toward a pluralism of factors influencing altruism and empathy. Psychological Inquiry, 2, 128–131. doi:10.1207/s15327965pli0202_5.
Eisenberg, N. (2000). Emotion, regulation, and moral development. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 665–697. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.665.
Eisenberg, N., Guthrie, I. K., Murphy, B. C., Shepard, S. A., Cumberland, A., & Carlo, G. (1999). Consistency and development of prosocial dispositions: A longitudinal study. Child Development, 70, 1360–1372. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00100.
Eisenberg, N., & Miller, P. A. (1987). The relation of empathy to pro-social and related behaviors. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 91–119. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.101.1.91.
Eisenberg, N., Valiente, C., & Champion, C. (2004). Empathy-related responding: Moral, social, and socialization correlates. In A. G. Miller (Ed.), The social psychology of good and evil (pp. 386–415). New York: Guilford.
Fehr, E., Goette, L., & Zehnder, C. (2009). A behavioral account of the labor market: The role of fairness concerns. Annual Review of Economics, 1, 355–384. doi:10.1146/annurev.economics.050708.143217.
Ferraro, F., Pfeffer, J., & Sutton, R. I. (2005). Economics language and assumptions: How theories can become self-fulfilling. Academy of Management Review, 30, 8–24. doi:10.5465/AMR.2005.15281412.
Fineman, S. (1996). Emotion and organizing. In S. R. Clegg, C. Hardy, & W. R. Nord (Eds.), The handbook of organizational studies (pp. 543–564). London: Sage.
Greenberg, J. (1990). Employee theft as a reaction to underpayment inequity: The hidden cost of pay cuts. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75, 561–568. doi:10.1037//0021-9010.75.5.561.
Haidt, J. (2001). The emotional dog and its rational tail: A social intuitionist approach to moral judgment. Psychological Review, 108, 814–834. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.108.4.814.
Haidt, J. (2003). The moral emotions. In R. J. Davidson, K. R. Scherer, & H. H. Goldsmith (Eds.), Handbook of affective sciences (pp. 852–870). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hamilton, V. L., & Sanders, J. (1992). Responsibility and risk in organizational crimes of obedience. In B. M. Staw & L. L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (pp. 49–90). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Hamilton, V. L., & Sanders, J. (1999). The second face of evil: Wrongdoing in and by the corporation. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3, 222–233. doi:10.1207/s15327957pspr0303_5.
Hine, J. A. H. (2004). Success and failure in bureaucratic organizations: The role of emotion in managerial morality. Business Ethics: A European Review, 13, 229–242. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8608.2004.00367.x.
Holt, S., & Marques, J. (2012). Empathy in leadership: Appropriate or misplaced? An empirical study on a topic that is asking for attention. Journal of Business Ethics, 105, 95–105. doi:10.1007/s10551-011-0951-5.
Hosmer, D., & Lemeshow, S. (1989). Applied logistic regression. New York: Wiley.
Humphrey, R. H. (2002). The many faces of emotional leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 13, 493–504. doi:10.1016/S1048-9843(02)00140-6.
Johnson, M. (1993). Moral imagination: Implications of cognitive science for ethics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Kahneman, D., Knetsch, J. L., & Thaler, R. (1986). Fairness as a constraint on profit seeking-Entitlements in the market. American Economic Review, 76, 728–741.
Kohlberg, L. (1969). Stage and sequence: The cognitive developmental approach to socialization. In D. A. Goslin (Ed.), Handbook of socialization theory and research. Chicago: Rand McNally.
Locke, E. A. (1986). Generalizing from laboratory to field: Ecological validity or abstraction of essential elements. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
Mencl, J., & May, D. R. (2009). The effects of proximity and empathy on ethical decision-making: An exploratory investigation. Journal of Business Ethics, 85, 201–226. doi:10.1007/s10551-008-9765-5.
Moore, C., Detert, J. R., Treviño, L. K., Baker, V. L., & Mayer, D. M. (2012). Why employees do bad things: Moral disengagement and unethical organizational behavior. Personnel Psychology, 65, 1–48. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.2011.01237.x.
Moses, J. L., & Byham, W. C. (1977). Applying the assessment center method. Elmsford, NY: Pergamon.
Park, N., & Peterson, C. M. (2003). Virtues and organizations. In K. S. Cameron, J. E. Dutton, & R. E. Quinn (Eds.), Positive organizational scholarship: Foundations of a new discipline (pp. 33–47). San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
Park, N., & Peterson, C. M. (2008). Positive psychology and character strengths: Application to strengths-based school counseling. Professional School Counseling, 12, 85–92. doi:10.5330/PSC.n.2010-12.85.
Pavlovich, K., & Krahnke, K. (2012). Empathy, connectedness, and organisation. Journal of Business Ethics, 105, 131–137. doi:10.1007/s10551-011-0961-3.
Petersen, L.-E., & Dietz, J. (2008). Employment discrimination: Authority figures’ demographic preferences and followers’ affective organizational commitment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 1287–1300. doi:10.1037/a0012867.
Piaget, J. (1932). The moral judgment of the child. London: Routlege and Kegan Paul.
Powley, E. H. (2009). Reclaiming resilience and safety: Resilience activation in the critical period of crisis. Human Relations, 62, 1289–1326.
Reuters. (2012). Michigan judge upholds Detroit police wage cut. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/30/us-detroit-police-ruling-idUSBRE87T1H920120830
Schlenker, B. R. (1980). Impression management: The self-concept, social identity and interpersonal relations. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Sekerka, L. E., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2007). Moral courage in the workplace: Moving to and from the desire and decision to act. Business Ethics: A European Review, 16, 132–149. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8608.2007.00484.x.
Sekerka, L. E., Bagozzi, R. P., & Charnigo, R. (2009). Facing ethical challenges in the workplace: Conceptualizing and measuring professional moral courage. Journal of Business Ethics, 89, 565–579. doi:10.1007/s10551-008-0017-5.
Sekerka, L. E., Vacharkulksemsuk, T., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2012). Positive emotions: Broadening-and-building upward spirals of sustainable development. In K. Cameron & G. Spreitzer (Eds.), The oxford handbook of positive organizational scholarship (2nd ed., pp. 168–177). New York: Oxford University Press.
Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55, 5–14. doi:10.1037//0003-066x.55.1.5.
Selman, R. L. (1971). Taking another’s perspective: Role-taking in early childhood. Child Development, 42, 1721–1734.
Selman, R. L. (1980). The growth of interpersonal understanding. New York: Academic Press.
Simon, H. A. (1997). Administrative behavior (4th ed.). New York: Free Press.
Solomon, R. C. (1991). Business ethics, literacy, and the education of emotions. In R. E. Freeman (Ed.), Business ethics: The state of the art (pp. 188–211). New York: Oxford University Press.
Stansbury, J., & Sonenshein, S. (2012). Positive business ethics: Grounding and elaborating a theory. In K. S. Cameron & G. M. Spreitzer (Eds.), The oxford handbook of positive organizational scholarship (pp. 340–352). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Stocks, E. L., Lishner, D. A., & Decker, S. K. (2009). Altruism or psychological escape: Why does empathy promote prosocial behavior? European Journal of Social Psychology, 39, 649–665. doi:10.1002/ejsp.561.
Stone-Romero, E. F. (2002). The relative validity and usefulness of various empirical research designs. In S. G. Rogelberg (Ed.), Handbook of research methods in industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 77–98). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Tangney, J., Stuewig, J., & Mashek, D. (2007). Moral emotions and moral behavior. Annual Review of Psychology, 58, 345–372. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.56.091103.070145.
Tenbrunsel, A. E., & Smith-Crowe, K. (2008). Ethical decision making: Where we’ve been and where we’re going. The Academy of Management Annals, 2, 545–607. doi:10.1080/19416520802211677.
Turner, N., Barling, J., & Zacharatos, A. (2002). Positive psychology at work. In C. R. Snyder & S. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 715–728). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Verbos, A. K., Gerard, J. A., Forshey, P. R., Harding, C. S., & Miller, J. S. (2007). The positive ethical organization: Enacting a living code of ethics and ethical organizational identity. Journal of Business Ethics, 76, 17–33. doi:10.1007/s10551-006-9275-2.
Verhaert, G. A., & Van den Poel, D. (2010). Empathy as added value in predicting donation behavior. Journal of Business Research, 64, 1288–1295. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2010.12.024.
Wang, L., & Murnighan, J. K. (2011). On greed. Academy of Management Annals, 5, 279–316.
Weber, M. (1947). The theory of social and economic organization (A. M. Henderson & T. Parsons, trans.). New York: Free Press.
Weick, K. E. (1965). Laboratory experimentation with organizations. In J. G. March (Ed.), Handbook of organizations (pp. 194–260). Chicago: Rand McNally.
Werhane, P. H. (1998). Moral imagination and the search for ethical decision-making in management. Business Ethics Quarterly, 1, 75–98.
Acknowledgment
We sincerely thank Professor Arthur P. Brief from the University of Utah and Professor Lars-Eric Petersen from the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in Germany for their support.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendix
Appendix
Empathy Scale
-
1.
I sometimes find it difficult to see things from the “other guy’s” perspective. (R)
-
2.
I sometimes try to understand my friends better by imagining how things look from their perspective.
-
3.
When I’m upset at someone, I usually try to “put myself in his shoes” for a while.
-
4.
Before criticizing somebody, I try to imagine how I would feel if I were in their place.
-
5.
I often have tender, concerned feelings for people less fortunate than me
-
6.
Sometimes I don’t feel very sorry for other people when they are having problems. (R)
-
7.
When I see someone being taken advantage of, I feel kind of protective towards them.
-
8.
Other people’s misfortunes do not usually disturb me a great deal. (R)
-
9.
When I see someone being treated unfairly, I sometimes don’t feel very much pity for them. (R)
-
10.
I am often quite touched by things I see happen.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dietz, J., Kleinlogel, E.P. Wage Cuts and Managers’ Empathy: How a Positive Emotion Can Contribute to Positive Organizational Ethics in Difficult Times. J Bus Ethics 119, 461–472 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1836-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1836-6