IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v123y2014i2p197-219.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Temptation, Monetary Intelligence (Love of Money), and Environmental Context on Unethical Intentions and Cheating

Author

Listed:
  • Jingqiu Chen
  • Thomas Tang
  • Ningyu Tang

Abstract

In Study 1, we test a theoretical model involving temptation, monetary intelligence (MI), a mediator, and unethical intentions and investigate the direct and indirect paths simultaneously based on multiple-wave panel data collected in open classrooms from 492 American and 256 Chinese students. For the whole sample, temptation is related to low unethical intentions indirectly. Multi-group analyses reveal that temptation predicts unethical intentions both indirectly and directly for male American students only; but not for female American students. For Chinese students, both paths are non-significant. Love of money contributes significantly to MI for all students. In Study 2, using money as a temptation and giving them opportunities to cheat on a matrix task, most Chinese students (78.4 %) do not cheat in open classrooms; supporting survey and structural equation modeling (SEM) results in Study 1. However, students in private cubicles cheat significantly more (53.4 %) than those in open classrooms (21.6 %). Finally, students’ love of money attitude predicts cheating. Factor rich predicts the cheating amount, whereas factor motivator predicts the cheating percentage. Our results shed new light on the impact of temptation and love of money as dispositional traits, money as a temptation, and environmental context (public vs. private) on unethical intentions and cheating behaviors. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Jingqiu Chen & Thomas Tang & Ningyu Tang, 2014. "Temptation, Monetary Intelligence (Love of Money), and Environmental Context on Unethical Intentions and Cheating," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 123(2), pages 197-219, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:123:y:2014:i:2:p:197-219
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-013-1783-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-013-1783-2
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-013-1783-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    2. Thomas Tang & Toto Sutarso, 2013. "Falling or Not Falling into Temptation? Multiple Faces of Temptation, Monetary Intelligence, and Unethical Intentions Across Gender," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(3), pages 529-552, September.
    3. Jarvis, Cheryl Burke & MacKenzie, Scott B & Podsakoff, Philip M, 2003. "A Critical Review of Construct Indicators and Measurement Model Misspecification in Marketing and Consumer Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Oxford University Press, vol. 30(2), pages 199-218, September.
    4. Yuh-Jia Chen & Thomas Tang, 2013. "The Bright and Dark Sides of Religiosity Among University Students: Do Gender, College Major, and Income Matter?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(3), pages 531-553, July.
    5. Thomas Tang & Hsi Liu, 2012. "Love of Money and Unethical Behavior Intention: Does an Authentic Supervisor’s Personal Integrity and Character (ASPIRE) Make a Difference?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 107(3), pages 295-312, May.
    6. Cohen-Charash, Yochi & Spector, Paul E., 2001. "The Role of Justice in Organizations: A Meta-Analysis," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 86(2), pages 278-321, November.
    7. Greenberg, Jerald, 1993. "Stealing in the Name of Justice: Informational and Interpersonal Moderators of Theft Reactions to Underpayment Inequity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 81-103, February.
    8. Kouchaki, Maryam & Smith-Crowe, Kristin & Brief, Arthur P. & Sousa, Carlos, 2013. "Seeing green: Mere exposure to money triggers a business decision frame and unethical outcomes," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 121(1), pages 53-61.
    9. Thomas Tang & Toto Sutarso & Grace Davis & Dariusz Dolinski & Abdul Ibrahim & Sharon Wagner, 2008. "To Help or Not to Help? The Good Samaritan Effect and the Love of Money on Helping Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 82(4), pages 865-887, November.
    10. Thomas Li-Ping Tang & Toto Sutarso & Adebowale Akande & Michael W. Allen & Abdulgawi Salim Alzubaidi & Mahfooz A. Ansari & Fernando Arias-Galicia & Mark G. Borg & Luigina Canova & Brigitte Charles-Pau, 2006. "The Love of Money and Pay Level Satisfaction: Measurement and Functional Equivalence in 29 Geopolitical Entities around the World," Management and Organization Review, The International Association for Chinese Management Research, vol. 2(3), pages 423-452, November.
    11. Thomas Tang & Yuh-Jia Chen, 2008. "Intelligence Vs. Wisdom: The Love of Money, Machiavellianism, and Unethical Behavior across College Major and Gender," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 82(1), pages 1-26, September.
    12. Raymond Fisman & Edward Miguel, 2007. "Corruption, Norms, and Legal Enforcement: Evidence from Diplomatic Parking Tickets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 115(6), pages 1020-1048, December.
    13. Gino, Francesca & Pierce, Lamar, 2009. "The abundance effect: Unethical behavior in the presence of wealth," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 109(2), pages 142-155, July.
    14. Mead, N.L. & Baumeister, R.F. & Gino, F. & Schweitzer, M.E. & Ariely, D., 2009. "Too tired to tell the truth : Self-control resource depletion and dishonesty," Other publications TiSEM c60167a3-c3aa-4b83-9192-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    15. Barbara Ritter, 2006. "Can Business Ethics be Trained? A Study of the Ethical Decision-making Process in Business Students," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 68(2), pages 153-164, October.
    16. Thomas Tang, 2010. "From Increasing Gas Efficiency to Enhancing Creativity: It Pays to Go Green," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 94(2), pages 149-155, June.
    17. Tang, Thomas Li-Ping, 1996. "Pay differentials as a function of rater's sex, money ethic, and job incumbent's sex: A test of the Matthew Effect," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 127-144, February.
    18. Elisaveta Sardžoska & Thomas Tang, 2012. "Work-Related Behavioral Intentions in Macedonia: Coping Strategies, Work Environment, Love of Money, Job Satisfaction, and Demographic Variables," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 108(3), pages 373-391, July.
    19. Gino, Francesca & Schweitzer, Maurice E. & Mead, Nicole L. & Ariely, Dan, 2011. "Unable to resist temptation: How self-control depletion promotes unethical behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 191-203, July.
    20. T. Tang, 2007. "Income and Quality of Life: Does the Love of Money Make a Difference?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 72(4), pages 375-393, June.
    21. Yuh-Jia Chen & Thomas Tang, 2006. "Attitude Toward and Propensity to Engage in Unethical Behavior: Measurement Invariance across Major among University Students," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 69(1), pages 77-93, November.
    22. Garðarsdóttir, Ragna B. & Dittmar, Helga, 2012. "The relationship of materialism to debt and financial well-being: The case of Iceland’s perceived prosperity," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 471-481.
    23. Hong Wong, 2008. "Religiousness, Love of Money, and Ethical Attitudes of Malaysian Evangelical Christians in Business," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(1), pages 169-191, August.
    24. Lim, Vivien K. G. & Teo, Thompson S. H., 1997. "Sex, money and financial hardship: An empirical study of attitudes towards money among undergraduates in Singapore," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 369-386, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Elodie Gentina & Thomas Li-Ping Tang & Qinxuan Gu, 2017. "Does Bad Company Corrupt Good Morals? Social Bonding and Academic Cheating among French and Chinese Teens," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(3), pages 639-667, December.
    2. Shandana Shoaib & Yehuda Baruch, 2019. "Deviant Behavior in a Moderated-Mediation Framework of Incentives, Organizational Justice Perception, and Reward Expectancy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 157(3), pages 617-633, July.
    3. Elodie Gentina & Carole Daniel & Thomas Li-Ping Tang, 2021. "Mindfulness Reduces Avaricious Monetary Attitudes and Enhances Ethical Consumer Beliefs: Mindfulness Training, Timing, and Practicing Matter," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(2), pages 301-323, October.
    4. Ningyu Tang & Jingqiu Chen & Kaili Zhang & Thomas Li-Ping Tang, 2018. "Monetary Wisdom: How Do Investors Use Love of Money to Frame Stock Volatility and Enhance Stock Happiness?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(6), pages 1831-1862, August.
    5. Church, Bryan K. & Kuang, Xi (Jason) & Liu, Yuebing (Sarah), 2019. "The effects of measurement basis and slack benefits on honesty in budget reporting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 74-84.
    6. Zucheng Zhou & Ben Nanfeng Luo & Thomas Li‐Ping Tang, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility Excites ‘Exponential’ Positive Employee Engagement: The Matthew Effect in CSR and Sustainable Policy," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(4), pages 339-354, July.
    7. Elodie Gentina & L. J. Shrum & Tina M. Lowrey & Scott J. Vitell & Gregory M. Rose, 2018. "An Integrative Model of the Influence of Parental and Peer Support on Consumer Ethical Beliefs: The Mediating Role of Self-Esteem, Power, and Materialism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(4), pages 1173-1186, July.
    8. Thomas Li-Ping Tang & Toto Sutarso & Mahfooz A. Ansari & Vivien Kim Geok Lim & Thompson Sian Hin Teo & Fernando Arias-Galicia & Ilya E. Garber & Randy Ki-Kwan Chiu & Brigitte Charles-Pauvers & Roberto, 2018. "Monetary Intelligence and Behavioral Economics Across 32 Cultures: Good Apples Enjoy Good Quality of Life in Good Barrels," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(4), pages 893-917, April.
    9. Vasilis Theoharakis & Seraphim Voliotis & Jeffrey M. Pollack, 2021. "Going Down the Slippery Slope of Legitimacy Lies in Early-Stage Ventures: The Role of Moral Disengagement," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 172(4), pages 673-690, September.
    10. Mehmet Ferhat Özbek & Mohammad Asif Yoldash & Thomas Li-Ping Tang, 2016. "Theory of Justice, OCB, and Individualism: Kyrgyz Citizens," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(2), pages 365-382, August.
    11. Thomas Li-Ping Tang & Toto Sutarso & Mahfooz A. Ansari & Vivien K. G. Lim & Thompson S. H. Teo & Fernando Arias-Galicia & Ilya E. Garber & Randy Ki-Kwan Chiu & Brigitte Charles-Pauvers & Roberto Luna-, 2018. "Monetary Intelligence and Behavioral Economics: The Enron Effect—Love of Money, Corporate Ethical Values, Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), and Dishonesty Across 31 Geopolitical Entities," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(4), pages 919-937, April.
    12. Thomas Li-Ping Tang, 2016. "Theory of Monetary Intelligence: Money Attitudes—Religious Values, Making Money, Making Ethical Decisions, and Making the Grade," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(3), pages 583-603, February.
    13. Yalin Mo & Junyu Zhao & Thomas Li-Ping Tang, 2023. "Religious Beliefs Inspire Sustainable HOPE (Help Ourselves Protect the Environment): Culture, Religion, Dogma, and Liturgy—The Matthew Effect in Religious Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 184(3), pages 665-685, May.
    14. Elodie Gentina & Thomas Li-Ping Tang & Qinxuan Gu, 2018. "Do Parents and Peers Influence Adolescents’ Monetary Intelligence and Consumer Ethics? French and Chinese Adolescents and Behavioral Economics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 115-140, August.
    15. Yau-De Wang & Conna Yang, 2016. "How Appealing are Monetary Rewards in the Workplace? A Study of Ethical Leadership, Love of Money, Happiness, and Turnover Intention," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 129(3), pages 1277-1290, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Thomas Tang & Toto Sutarso, 2013. "Falling or Not Falling into Temptation? Multiple Faces of Temptation, Monetary Intelligence, and Unethical Intentions Across Gender," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(3), pages 529-552, September.
    2. Elisaveta Sardžoska & Thomas Tang, 2015. "Monetary Intelligence: Money Attitudes—Unethical Intentions, Intrinsic and Extrinsic Job Satisfaction, and Coping Strategies Across Public and Private Sectors in Macedonia," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(1), pages 93-115, August.
    3. Soňa Lemrová & Eva Reiterová & Renáta Fatěnová & Karel Lemr & Thomas Tang, 2014. "Money is Power: Monetary Intelligence—Love of Money and Temptation of Materialism Among Czech University Students," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(2), pages 329-348, December.
    4. Thomas Li-Ping Tang, 2016. "Theory of Monetary Intelligence: Money Attitudes—Religious Values, Making Money, Making Ethical Decisions, and Making the Grade," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(3), pages 583-603, February.
    5. Thomas Li-Ping Tang & Toto Sutarso & Mahfooz A. Ansari & Vivien K. G. Lim & Thompson S. H. Teo & Fernando Arias-Galicia & Ilya E. Garber & Randy Ki-Kwan Chiu & Brigitte Charles-Pauvers & Roberto Luna-, 2018. "Monetary Intelligence and Behavioral Economics: The Enron Effect—Love of Money, Corporate Ethical Values, Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), and Dishonesty Across 31 Geopolitical Entities," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(4), pages 919-937, April.
    6. Elisaveta Sardžoska & Thomas Tang, 2012. "Work-Related Behavioral Intentions in Macedonia: Coping Strategies, Work Environment, Love of Money, Job Satisfaction, and Demographic Variables," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 108(3), pages 373-391, July.
    7. Thomas Li-Ping Tang & Toto Sutarso & Mahfooz A. Ansari & Vivien Kim Geok Lim & Thompson Sian Hin Teo & Fernando Arias-Galicia & Ilya E. Garber & Randy Ki-Kwan Chiu & Brigitte Charles-Pauvers & Roberto, 2018. "Monetary Intelligence and Behavioral Economics Across 32 Cultures: Good Apples Enjoy Good Quality of Life in Good Barrels," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(4), pages 893-917, April.
    8. Yuh-Jia Chen & Thomas Tang, 2013. "The Bright and Dark Sides of Religiosity Among University Students: Do Gender, College Major, and Income Matter?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(3), pages 531-553, July.
    9. Thomas Tang & Hsi Liu, 2012. "Love of Money and Unethical Behavior Intention: Does an Authentic Supervisor’s Personal Integrity and Character (ASPIRE) Make a Difference?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 107(3), pages 295-312, May.
    10. Ningyu Tang & Jingqiu Chen & Kaili Zhang & Thomas Li-Ping Tang, 2018. "Monetary Wisdom: How Do Investors Use Love of Money to Frame Stock Volatility and Enhance Stock Happiness?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(6), pages 1831-1862, August.
    11. Elodie Gentina & Thomas Li-Ping Tang & Qinxuan Gu, 2018. "Do Parents and Peers Influence Adolescents’ Monetary Intelligence and Consumer Ethics? French and Chinese Adolescents and Behavioral Economics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 115-140, August.
    12. Mehmet Ferhat Özbek & Mohammad Asif Yoldash & Thomas Li-Ping Tang, 2016. "Theory of Justice, OCB, and Individualism: Kyrgyz Citizens," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(2), pages 365-382, August.
    13. Elisaveta Sardžoska & Thomas Tang, 2009. "Testing a Model of Behavioral Intentions in the Republic of Macedonia: Differences Between the Private and the Public Sectors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(4), pages 495-517, July.
    14. Elodie Gentina & Thomas Li-Ping Tang & Qinxuan Gu, 2017. "Does Bad Company Corrupt Good Morals? Social Bonding and Academic Cheating among French and Chinese Teens," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(3), pages 639-667, December.
    15. Thomas Tang & Yuh-Jia Chen, 2008. "Intelligence Vs. Wisdom: The Love of Money, Machiavellianism, and Unethical Behavior across College Major and Gender," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 82(1), pages 1-26, September.
    16. Rajesh Srivastava & Thomas Tang, 2015. "Coping Intelligence: Coping Strategies and Organizational Commitment Among Boundary Spanning Employees," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(3), pages 525-542, September.
    17. Qinxuan Gu & Thomas Tang & Wan Jiang, 2015. "Does Moral Leadership Enhance Employee Creativity? Employee Identification with Leader and Leader–Member Exchange (LMX) in the Chinese Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(3), pages 513-529, February.
    18. Yalin Mo & Junyu Zhao & Thomas Li-Ping Tang, 2023. "Religious Beliefs Inspire Sustainable HOPE (Help Ourselves Protect the Environment): Culture, Religion, Dogma, and Liturgy—The Matthew Effect in Religious Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 184(3), pages 665-685, May.
    19. Gasiorowska, Agata, 2008. "Różnice indywidualne jako determinanty postaw wobec pieniędzy [Individual differences as determinants of money attitudes]," MPRA Paper 42684, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Elodie Gentina & L. J. Shrum & Tina M. Lowrey & Scott J. Vitell & Gregory M. Rose, 2018. "An Integrative Model of the Influence of Parental and Peer Support on Consumer Ethical Beliefs: The Mediating Role of Self-Esteem, Power, and Materialism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(4), pages 1173-1186, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:123:y:2014:i:2:p:197-219. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.