Description
The ability to recognize the ethical or moral implications of situations is known as moral (ethical) sensitivity. This paper describes the development of the concept of ethical sensitivity in the field of cognitive moral psychology and current research that examines ethical sensitivity. This significance of ethical sensitvity for the field of organizational communication is discussed. Because business ethics' scholars have been the primary investigators of ethics in organizations, weaknesses of empirical and theoretical research about moral decision-making in the field of business ethics are described. Methods for studying ethical sensitivity in organizations are discussed, with a focus on cognitive mapping as an improvement over many of the current methods used in business ethics research. Finally, questions from the field of organizational communication that might be answered using the construct of ethical sensitivity are discussed.
Publication Date
1-1-1996
Publisher
Electronic Journal of Communication
Keywords
Communication Studies, Faculty Works, Scholarship, Ethics, Organizational Communication, Cognitive Mapping, Psychology
Department
Communication Studies
Recommended Citation
Swenson Lepper, Tammy, "Ethical Sensitivity, Cognitive Mapping, and Organizational Communication: A Different Approach to Studying Ethics in Organizations" (1996). Communication Studies Faculty Works. 3.
https://openriver.winona.edu/communicationstudiesfacultyworks/3
Unique Identifier
WSUCMSTFACWORKS-1996-Swenson-Lepper-ETHICAL_SENSITIVITY_COGNITIVE_MAPPING_AN.pdf
Comments
Swenson Lepper, T. (1996). Ethical Sensitivity, Cognitive Mapping, and Organizational Communication: A Different Approach to Studying Ethics in Organizations. The Electronic Journal of Communication, 6(4).