2003 IMTA Proceedings - International Military Testing Association

The perceived moral intensity scale developed by Singhapakdi et al. (1996) was adapted
for the purpose of the CF/DND study. A single statement was used for each component of
perceived moral intensity. A seven-point Likert-type scale was used in the measurement. As
moral intensity is a situation-specific construct, it was measured separately for each of the five
scenarios.
This study examined the effect of all dimensions of moral intensity except concentration
of effect. Most studies have not found support for this dimension of moral intensity. Chia &
Mee (2000) suggested that this dimension should be deleted from the moral intensity construct.
Jones (1991) admitted that he included concentration of effect in the moral intensity construct
“for the sake of completeness.”
The interpretation of scores is different for one of the five remaining dimensions of moral
intensity. For magnitude of consequences, temporal immediacy, social consensus and probability
of effect, a high score indicates a high level of perceived moral intensity, while for proximity a
high score indicates low level of moral intensity.
Recognition of moral issue
Respondents started by reading each scenario and their ethical perception was measured
by asking them to respond to a single item, “Do you believe that there is a moral or ethical issue
involved in the above action/decision?” (Barnett, 2001) on a 7-point scale ranging from 1
(completely agree) to 7 (completely disagree). Lower scores indicated that participants agree that
the action/decision had a moral or ethical component.
Ethical intention
Respondents’ ethical intentions were measured by asking them to indicate the likelihood
“that you would make the same decision described in the scenario” on a 7 point Likert scale with
1 representing “Definitely would” and 7 representing “Definitively would not”.
Ethical judgement
Respondents’ judgements about the morality of the actions in each scenario were
assessed with a 7-point, eight-item semantic-differential measure developed by Reidenbach and
Robin (1998, 1990). The ethical judgment scale has been used in several empirical studies and
has demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties, with reliability coefficients in the .70 to
.90 range (Barnett et al., 1998, Robin et al., 1996).
To assess the effectiveness of the moral intensity constructs on ethical decision-making,
regression analyses were conducted. Specifically, within each scenario, assessments of each of
the five components of moral intensity were used to predict ethical decision-making. A similar
set of regression analyses was conducted to assess the impact of moral intensity on moral intent.
Within each scenario, assessments of the moral intensity were used to predict moral intent.
Finally, moral intensity components were used to predict moral awareness, or the recognition of
a moral issue in the scenarios.
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45 th Annual Conference of the International Military Testing Association
Pensacola, Florida, 3-6 November 2003