American Accounting Association 2006 Midwest Region Meeting March 30 – April 1 Chicago, Illinois

Friday, March 31, 4:00 p.m. to 5:40 p.m.
Concurrent session 4F - Teaching and Thinking about Ethics (Teaching and Curriculum, Public Interest)

Title: Student Ethics: Religiosity as a Predictor of Honesty

D’Arcy Becker University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire	Susan Haugen University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire
Ingrid Ulstad University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire

ABSTRACT: Recent scandals have raised concerns regarding the ethics of business professionals. The current business climate in the United States makes ethics education of future business leaders more important than ever. Various organizations call for the training of students in systematic thinking and reasoning about ethics. This may be essential at the college level if business ethics are to be improved. Before ethics can be taught, however, educators must know what students believe is ethical and acceptable behavior.

Our study investigates student beliefs about cheating behaviors and a possible link between these beliefs and student religiosity. Overall results show students rated cheating behaviors more acceptable than one might hope. The ethical views of the college students participating in this study may not meet the standards the business community and society expect. The level of religiosity appears to affect beliefs. Students with a higher level of religiosity are less accepting of cheating behaviors. Religiosity, however, does not entirely account for the difference in beliefs.

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