Ethics Newsline®

From Zogby International:

“Young Americans entering the workforce overwhelmingly value honesty and integrity, with 92 percent saying they believe that doing the right thing is more important than getting ahead in their careers — but there is also a strong undercurrent of competing values, placing loyalty to friends, love, and getting ahead personally above honesty in business dealings.

“The survey finds that, despite more than nine-in-ten (92 percent) of young adults who say they value doing the right thing more than getting ahead in their careers, and 96 percent saying honesty and trust are important in the workplace, when faced with a number of potential ethical dilemmas, a substantial number are more likely to value loyalty to friends (43 percent) or forbidden office romances (32 percent) — and as many as one-third (34 percent) say that the cost of doing the right thing is sometimes too high.

“‘Loyalty and honesty are two essential components of good character,’ (ethics specialist Jim) Lichtman says. ‘However, time and again, when these two values conflict, individuals tend to choose loyalty over honesty…. Individuals often see themselves being placed in situations that call for them to choose between loyalty to a co-worker or boss and honesty to a client or another….’

“In addition to the 34 percent who say that doing the right thing can be too costly, another three-in-ten (31 percent) say ethics are important as long as they do not compromise personal goals. And this attitude is in evidence on a number of questions dealing with situational ethics.

“When asked if, in a management role in a company, they would consider dating a subordinate employee against company policy, even if it could potentially cost both the respondent and the other individual his or her jobs, one-third (32 percent) say they would pursue the relationship, and hope they did not get caught….

“In a question dealing with performance-enhancing drugs, 15 percent of respondents would, if on the verge of a professional sports career and encouraged to do so by their coach, violate known policies and use such drugs if they believed there was a low likelihood of getting caught — though the overwhelming majority, 84 percent, said they would not use the drugs.

“Throughout the survey, some values trumped proper ethical conduct. Loyalty to friends was one area that produced the greatest difficulty for respondents. Given a dilemma involving a friend stealing intellectual property — music downloads — from a mutual employer, and managers asking the respondent to investigate, 45 percent of respondents say they would turn in their friend. But 43 percent would not do so, and hope that management did not discover the wrongdoing independently….

“Do ethics still matter? ‘Clearly most 18-24 year-olds believe they do,’ Lichtman says. ‘Yet, when good, ethical conduct conflicts with what they want, many show a readiness to compromise the honesty and integrity they believe is so important in their lives.’…”