IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v137y2016i2d10.1007_s10551-014-2501-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effects of Euphemism Usage in Business Contexts

Author

Listed:
  • Terri L. Rittenburg

    (University of Wyoming)

  • George Albert Gladney

    (University of Wyoming)

  • Teresa Stephenson

    (University of South Dakota)

Abstract

Transparency is important in today’s business environment. The use of euphemisms decreases transparency yet is increasing in business and business education. This study examines the effects of euphemism on people’s attitudes toward actions and their intentions to perform those actions. It also measures the effect of oversight on attitudes and behavioral intentions. Using a 2 × 2 experimental design, we measured participants’ attitudes by employing a semantic differential scale and behavioral intentions by using a simple yes/no question regarding the action described. A questionnaire with 20 brief scenarios provided the euphemistic (transparent) versus non-euphemistic (less-transparent) condition. Oversight versus non-oversight conditions were manipulated through instructions to participants. Hypotheses regarding the effects of euphemism were supported; participants were both more likely to rate an action as appropriate and to indicate they would take that action when stated euphemistically. Oversight did not have a significant effect on attitude toward the action, but did significantly affect participants’ intentions to take that action. Findings suggest both managerial and ethical implications for businesses. Greater transparency includes more straight talk and less euphemism and is recommended to ensure employees’ understanding and implementation of ethical business actions.

Suggested Citation

  • Terri L. Rittenburg & George Albert Gladney & Teresa Stephenson, 2016. "The Effects of Euphemism Usage in Business Contexts," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(2), pages 315-320, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:137:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-014-2501-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-014-2501-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-014-2501-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-014-2501-4?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. Weber, James, 1992. "Scenarios in Business Ethics Research: Review, Critical Assessment, and Recommendations," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(2), pages 137-160, April.
    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. Farrow, Katherine & Grolleau, Gilles & Mzoughi, Naoufel, 2021. "‘Let's call a spade a spade, not a gardening tool’: How euphemisms shape moral judgement in corporate social responsibility domains," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 254-267.
    2. Grolleau, Gilles & Mzoughi, Naoufel & Peterson, Deborah & Tendero, Marjorie, 2022. "Changing the world with words? Euphemisms in climate change issues," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).

    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. Mindy K. Shoss & Dustin K. Jundt & Allison Kobler & Clair Reynolds, 2016. "Doing Bad to Feel Better? An Investigation of Within- and Between-Person Perceptions of Counterproductive Work Behavior as a Coping Tactic," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(3), pages 571-587, September.
    2. Andrea Bazzoli & Matteo Curcuruto & James I. Morgan & Margherita Brondino & Margherita Pasini, 2020. "Speaking Up about Workplace Safety: An Experimental Study on Safety Leadership," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-22, September.
    3. Lee, Eun-Ju & Yun, Jin Ho, 2019. "Moral incompetency under time constraint," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 438-445.
    4. Sean Valentine & Philip Varca & Lynn Godkin & Tim Barnett, 2010. "Positive Job Response and Ethical Job Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 91(2), pages 195-206, January.
    5. Clot, Sophie & Grolleau, Gilles & Ibanez, Lisette, 2022. "A reference point bias in judging cheaters," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    6. Sumantra Sarkar & Anthony Vance & Balasubramaniam Ramesh & Menelaos Demestihas & Daniel Thomas Wu, 2020. "The Influence of Professional Subculture on Information Security Policy Violations: A Field Study in a Healthcare Context," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 1240-1259, December.
    7. Johannes Brinkmann, 2019. "The Potential Use of Sociological Perspectives for Business Ethics Teaching," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 273-287, April.
    8. John R. Sparks, 2015. "Ethical judgments are different: an information processing perspective on the unique nature of ethical judgments and ethical judgment processes," Chapters, in: Handbook on Ethics and Marketing, chapter 5, pages 89-110, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Robert Steinbauer & Robert Renn & Robert Taylor & Phil Njoroge, 2014. "Ethical Leadership and Followers’ Moral Judgment: The Role of Followers’ Perceived Accountability and Self-leadership," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 120(3), pages 381-392, March.
    10. Dib-Slamani, Hind & Grolleau, Gilles & Mzoughi, Naoufel, 2022. "Robbing a robber is not robbing," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 1-7.
    11. Sally Gunz & Hugh Gunz, 2008. "Ethical Decision Making and the Employed Lawyer," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(4), pages 927-944, September.
    12. Brad Greenwood & Idris Adjerid & Corey M. Angst & Nathan L. Meikle, 2022. "How Unbecoming of You: Online Experiments Uncovering Gender Biases in Perceptions of Ridesharing Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 175(3), pages 499-518, January.
    13. Farrow, Katherine & Grolleau, Gilles & Mzoughi, Naoufel, 2021. "‘Let's call a spade a spade, not a gardening tool’: How euphemisms shape moral judgement in corporate social responsibility domains," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 254-267.
    14. Jasper Hotho & Dana Minbaeva & Maral Muratbekova-Touron & Larissa Rabbiosi, 2020. "Coping with Favoritism in Recruitment and Selection: A Communal Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(4), pages 659-679, September.
    15. Syahrul Ahmar Ahmad Author_Email: syahrul.ahmar@johor.uitm.edu.my & Malcolm Smith & Zubaidah Ismail & Rahimah Mohamed Yunos, 2011. "Internal Whistleblowing Intentions: Influence Of Internal Auditors’ Demographic And Individual Factors," Annual Summit on Business and Entrepreneurial Studies (ASBES 2011) Proceeding 2011-051-155, Conference Master Resources.
    16. Antonin Ricard & Abrar Ali Saiyed, 2015. "Attitude Toward Internationalization And Early Internationalization: Comparison of Indian and French SMEs' Decision Makers [Attitude vis-à-vis de l'international et précocité de l'internationalisat," Post-Print hal-01839563, HAL.
    17. Grolleau Gilles & Ibanez Lisette & Mzoughi Naoufel, 2020. "Is a ‘Bad Individual’ more Condemnable than Several ‘Bad Individuals’? Examining the Scope-severity Paradox," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 16(3), pages 1-18, November.
    18. Greg Loviscky & Linda Treviño & Rick Jacobs, 2007. "Assessing Managers’ Ethical Decision-making: An Objective Measure of Managerial Moral Judgment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 73(3), pages 263-285, July.
    19. Pablo Ruiz-Palomino & Ricardo Martinez-Cañas, 2011. "Supervisor Role Modeling, Ethics-Related Organizational Policies, and Employee Ethical Intention: The Moderating Impact of Moral Ideology," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 102(4), pages 653-668, September.
    20. Filipe Sobral & Gazi Islam, 2013. "Ethically Questionable Negotiating: The Interactive Effects of Trust, Competitiveness, and Situation Favorability on Ethical Decision Making," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(2), pages 281-296, October.

    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:137:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-014-2501-4. 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.