Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Publication Date
Spring 5-1-2024
Journal
Honours Undergraduate Theses
Abstract
This study investigated perceptions of self and others after a moral dilemma in the workplace. Participants in the study recalled a time when either they or a co-worker resolved a workplace moral dilemma and then rated themselves or their coworkers on warmth, competence, and morality. The moral dilemmas commonly involved role conflicts or strictness and leniency regarding rule compliance (41.5%), hiring and firing (25.6%), and coworker relations (14.6%). There was no significant difference between self- and others’ perceptions of warmth, competence, and morality after the dilemma, and these three dimensions significantly positively correlated with one another. Exploratory analysis of the moral dilemma descriptions revealed three themes: negative affect, amount of conflict, and ethics of justice or care. However, none of the themes differed in degree by self or others. The participants illustrated varying definitions of moral dilemmas from the researchers, which when combined with the nature of resolved dilemmas may have contributed to these findings.
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Notes
Thesis Advisor(s): Dr. Irene Cheung