Assertiveness Bias in Gender Ethics Research: Why Women Deserve the Benefit of the Doubt

Saar Bossuyt () and Patrick Kenhove ()
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Saar Bossuyt: Ghent University
Patrick Kenhove: Ghent University

Journal of Business Ethics, 2018, vol. 150, issue 3, No 9, 727-739

Abstract: Abstract Gender is one of the most researched and contentious topics in consumer ethics research. It is common for researchers of gender studies to presume that women are more ethical than men because of their reputation for having a selfless, sensitive nature. Nevertheless, we found evidence that women behaved less ethically than men in two field experiments testing a passive form of unethical behavior. Women benefited to a larger extent from a cashier miscalculating the bill in their favor than men. However, in three follow-up studies, we found that women did not necessarily intend to benefit at the expense of someone else. Women are less prone to speak up to a cashier than men are, even when the mistake is made in their disfavor. These results reveal that gender differences in assertiveness affect differences in unethical behavior.

Keywords: Assertiveness; Behavioral experiments; Consumer ethics; Gender differences; Gender ethics; Social desirability bias; Unethical consumer behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-016-3026-9

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