Differences in ethical attitudes of undergraduates of Asian and U.S. ancestry.

ABSTRACT

The study investigated responses of 550 undergraduates to nine hypothetical marketing moral dilemmas.

U.S. born students, students of U.S. ancestry, students whose parents mainly spoke English at home, and students whose parents are U.S. born are more likely to believe

Implications of findings for getting ethnically diverse managers to compete successfully in the global economy were discussed

DIFFERENCES IN ETHICAL ATTITUDES OF UNDERGRADUATES OF ASIAN AND U.S. ANCESTRY

This study investigates responses of undergraduates to nine hypothetical marketing dilemmas. It compares answers of students who were born in Asia but are living in the U.S. with students who were born in the U.S. Each marketing dilemma presents the respondent with a real, but hypothetical, ethical quandry.

The present research is relevant for marketing management and to the management of employees. First, it is relevant because ethics is important to business decision making. While there are some that would say that business decisions should be made only on the basis of financial criteria, such as profitability and market share, this point of view is quite narrow and shortsighted. If one considers that most business relationships require trust, then it is apparent that ethics in business decision-making is not only relevant, but essential (Financial Times, 1998). Even business partners not sharing similar ideologies can develop trust if they treat each other fairly. This might help explain why, in "1999, North Korea became the largest recipient of U.S. aid to Asia" (Choe and Huff, 2001, p.291) and why the U.S. has done so well in China (Marber, 2001).

Secondly, this research is important to understanding the issues related to creating harmony in an ethnically diverse workforce. According to Schiffman and Kanuk (1997), the "Asian-American population is currently more than seven million and is the fastest growing minority" (p.451). These authors add that nearly 40 percent of new immigrants to the U.S. are from Asia, and that Asian-Americans spend about $38 billion on consumer products each year. Recently, Ford became the first major car company to launch a campaign at Asians (Reuters, 1999). Zhen has a cosmetics line for Asian women who find that their complexion needs are not otherwise met (King, 1998). If Asians in the U.S. have distinctive values, beliefs, and customs, then companies doing business in the U.S. need to consider the consequences of this in the workforce and day-to-day operations. Davids (1999) believes that a code of ethics needs input from foreign nationals. In short, separate answers by these two ethnic groups in our research would have ramifications for educators in BBA and MBA programs. Different answers would also suggest that different approaches are needed to instill a company's code of ethics into a diversity of employees and to market differently to different cultures.

The current investigation asks Asian and U.S. undergraduates: (1) what they think about the types of ethical conflicts people in business face; (2) how they feel about such conflicts; and (3) what they would actually do if it was their conflict to resolve.

Purpose Of The Study

The present research is interested in the extent to which undergraduates of U.S. and Asian backgrounds respond differently to realistic hypothetical marketing moral dilemmas. The following issues differentiate this study from previous research in the area of business ethics attitudes and ethnicity.

(1) All the hypothetical moral dilemmas deal with marketing rather than with political or general business management issues. Each deals with an issue that has been in the news and is, therefore, realistic and probable.

(2) Main language spoken at home as the participant was growing up is asked.

(3) Country born in and years that the respondent has been living in the U.S. are both requested.

(4) Nationality (birthplace of ancestors) is asked, with respondents being asked to write in their responses instead of being g yen choices; i.e., ethnicity is self-designated.

(5) Mother and father's ancestry appears on the survey to see if it impacts on their children's moral attitudes. Language and parents' ancestry should reflect the strength of cultural influence on the research participant's responses.

(6) This study looks at Asian as well as U.S. undergraduates (born here or in Asia) living in the United States; prior studies comparing these groups' business ethics compared U.S. participants with those residing in other countries.

(7) Moral attitudes were studied in terms of participant's thoughts, feelings, and actions, rather than just one or two of these dimensions.

HYPOTHESES

Honeycutt, Siguaw and Hunt (1995) showed the U.S. to be genuinely more interested than other nations in upholding codes of ethics. In Whitcomb, Erdener, and Li (1998), Chinese students were more likely than U.S. students to pay a bribe. Ralston, Giacalone, and Terpstra (1994) found that Hong Kong managers viewed strong-arm coercion as more ethical than U.S. managers did. Davis, Johnson, and Ohmer (1998) found that Americans were more bothered by sexual harassment than Indonesians were. Brody, Coulter, and Lin (1999), in a whistle-blowing scenario, found U.S. accounting students more likely than Taiwanese to suggest informing the manager or owner. In Burton, Farh, and Hegarty (2000), Hong Kong business students gave economic social responsibilities more weight and noneconomic responsibilities less weight than did U.S. students. Brodgett, Lu, Rose, and Vitell's (2001) Taiwanese sales agents were more sensitive to the interests of their company and a competitor but were less sensitive than American sales agents to the interests of a colleague.

One view of Asian values is that of Watsuji Tetsuro (Koehn, 1999), that Asian people trust each other because they view each other as "parents, spouses, clients, employees, supervisors, subordinates" (p.74).

Sue (in Murray, 1998) talks of an Asian-American other 'orientation', a cultural tendency to value group interconnectedness. Davids (1999) writes that "cronyism" is part of doing business in Asia. Hofstede (1980, cited in Chan, Wong, and Lueng, 1998) calls it a "strong cultural motivation towards group conformity", including "a high tendency to behave according to group norms" (p. 1167). This is consistent with Kohlberg's (1969) third stage of moral reasoning, which states that definitions of right and wrong revolve around the interests of important people in one's life.

Oh (1993) notes that in East Asia, Confucianism is the foundation of ethics/morality in business and in personal life. Subordination helps harmonize professional as well as family relationships. The family comes first and families own and operate businesses. To question the ethics of an organization is like questioning the morals of the family. Lu, Rose, and Blodgett (1999) found that sales agents from Taiwan, a Confucian culture, placed more value on company and fellow employee interests than did managers from the U.S., an individualistic culture that places less emphasis on group consensus, group cohesion, and interpersonal obligations.

From the Watsugian and Confucian perspectives "the effect of one's actions on the larger social matrix of relations must always be considered" (Koehn, 1999, p.75). East Asians believe in "rules for the conduct of everyone according to (one's) station in life" but "individualism and competition remain hallmarks of American society" (Murphey, 1997, p.7). "Pursuit of individual goals, ambitions, or competition was seen as selfish and disruptive whereas working together the group is best able to further the interest of individuals" (Murphey, 1997, p.8). Perhaps questioning the group's ethics is selfish as well, especially since (organization) leaders were expected "to act responsibly"; "status brought with it a heavy obligation, to set a good example to those below and to be sensitive to the needs of others" (Murphey, 1997, p.9).

Moritsugu (1998) points out two things that could influence the moral attitudes of Asian Americans. One is "language barriers" which could make a written moral transgression seem less severe since ethical nuances may be missed. Second is that better than 40 percent of Asians and Pacific Islanders are not citizens which could mean they are not fully assimilated into U.S. values about business ethics.

Jones (1997) says that the rise of Western capitalism is explained by a set of values including the Protestant ethic, self-discipline, hard work, the careful use of time, the reinvestment of one's gains, creative innovation, faith in the rewards of a just God, and personal honesty. He reports that those who adhere to the Protestant ethic show a stronger resistance to cheating.

Baker and Veit (1998) compared managers from four Pacific Rim countries (Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Thailand) with a comparable group from North America (U.S. and Canada). The North American professionals were significantly more likely to rate moral or religious beliefs as an important deterrent to unethical investment behavior than were their Pacific Rim colleagues. But they were not asked a range of ethical marketing decisions.

Berger and Malinowski (1998) found several differences between the moral attitudes of Asian and U.S. undergraduates responding to hypothetical marketing dilemmas. U.S. respondents were more likely to believe that the dilemmas describe unethical actions than Asian-born students.

Overall, there is support for the following hypotheses:

H1: U.S. born students will be more likely than Asian born students to:

a. believe an ethically questionable action is wrong.

b. anticipate guilt if they considered doing the same thing, and

c. say they would not do it.

H2: Students of U.S. ancestry will be more likely than students of Asian ancestry to:

a. believe an ethically questionable action is wrong,

b. anticipate guilt if they considered doing the same thing, and

c. say they would not do it.

H3: Students answering that English is the main language spoken at home as growing up will be more likely than students answering with an Asian language to:

a. believe an ethically questionable action is wrong,

b. anticipate guilt if they considered doing the same thing, and

c. say they would not do it.

H4: Students whose mothers were born in the U.S. will be more likely than students whose mothers were born in Asia to:

a. believe an ethically questionable action is wrong,

b. anticipate guilt if they considered doing the same thing, and

c. say they would not do it.

H5: Students whose fathers were born in the U.S. will be more likely than students whose fathers were born in Asia to:

a. believe an ethically questionable action is wrong,

b. anticipate guilt if they considered doing the same thing, and

c. say they would not do it.

METHOD

Subjects: Two hundred eighty U.S. born undergraduates and 161 Asian born undergraduates were selected from classes in the schools of business, arts and sciences, education, nursing, and computer science at a large Eastern secular institution and a large Eastern Catholic University were studied. The following totals were obtained (Table 1).

Materials: Nine marketing moral dilemmas were presented. They deal with moral issues that have global marketing implications. They deal with the following issues (file name in parentheses): (1) truth about contents of bottled water (WATER); (2) response to oil spill killing wildlife (OIL); (3) bribing foreign government to market milk (FORMLK); (4) asking high price for ecological packaging (ENVBOX); (5) tricking immigrant to buy unaffordable books (BKSLS); (6) targeting alcohol to minors (LIQUOR); (7) doing cosmetic testing which blinds animals (ANTEST); (8) targeting a cigarette brand to African-Americans (CIGRET); and (9) warning teens of explicit record lyrics (RAP). The dilemma topics represent key marketing ethics issues at the time of their development. The dilemmas are easy to understand and are engaging as well. Prior testing involving different groups have obtained relatively few extreme or neutral responses, a sign that the dilemmas were taken seriously. Since they are obviously marketing dilemmas, the survey has face validity. The variety of the dilemmas represents a genuine attempt at content validity, as well. Content validity means: "a scale's content logically appears to accurately reflect what was intended to be measured" (Zikmund, 2000, p. 327). There was no desire to link the scenarios to Confucian values since the survey is designed to be used in a variety of research projects, not just investigations of Asian values.

Half the respondents viewed the nine scenes in opposite order to control for order effects. To measure the cognitive attitude component, each respondent was asked, "how strongly do you believe/not believe the actor is doing the right thing?" (question "A"). Affect was measured by "how guilty/not guilty would you feel if you considered doing this?" (question "B"). Behavior was assessed by the question "how likely/unlikely is it that you would actually do it?" (question "C"). Ten point interval scales from -5 to +5 were used as they were for the question "how likely/unlikely" would doing this "compromise an important rule by which you live?" (question "D"). This last question "D" did not have a theoretical basis; it was asked purely out of curiosity. Earlier testing demonstrated internal consistency (reliability) for Questions A, B and C. Twenty-three of a possible 27 ANOVA's (9 dilemmas x 3 questions) between males and females were significant. In addition, all 27 intercorrelations involving thought, feeling, and action tendencies were significant. Further evidence for (content) validity is that across the nine dilemmas, the A means are significantly different from one another, as are the nine B means and the nine C means.

Demographic data was collected at the end. Respondents designated their own ethnicity by filling in country born in, nationality, primary language spoken at home as they were growing up and country parents born in. There are questions about religion on the survey. The question about strength of religious beliefs is from McNichols and Zimmerer (1985). Kidwell, Stevens, and Bethke (1987) was the source of the question about attending religious services. Religion was an important variable in a prior study using this survey, but was not studied in the current project.

Procedures: Participants were told they would be reading some challenging decisions business professionals could be faced with, and that after each dilemma they were to place answers on a series of scales. The cover page of the survey indicated that two named marketing professors were interested in their opinions and in demographic information. They were thanked in advance for their help.

RESULTS

Country Born In

Analysis of variance (ANOVA) allowed for twenty-seven possible main effects, given nine dilemmas reacted to cognitively (question "A"), affectively (question "B"), and behaviorally (question "C"). For the question "country born in", the variable was found to have a statistically significant relationship with the responses to the dilemmas in sixteen out of a possible twenty-seven cases (Table 2).

In all sixteen cases, the findings were in the hypothesized direction. This confirms Hypothesis 1, that U.S. born students are more likely to indicate that the actor is doing the wrong thing.

Birthplace of Ancestors

Again, twenty-seven ANOVA's were performed for the other "nationality" question, "ancestors' birthplace." This time only six significant relationships to questions A, B and C were obtained (Table 3).

But in all six cases, the findings were as hypothesized, thus confirming Hypothesis 2, that students of U.S. ancestry are more likely to indicate that the actor is doing the wrong thing.

Main Language

Once again, the nine stories and three questions yielded twenty-seven ANOVA's, (for questions A, B and C), this time for "primary language spoken in the home as you were growing up." Thirteen analyses were statistically significant and all thirteen were significant in the predicted direction (Table 4).

Asian responses were one of the following:

Mandarin, Japanese, Cantonese, Korean

This confirms Hypothesis 3, that students answering "English" as the main language spoken at home as they were growing up are more likely to indicate that the actor is doing the wrong thing.

Country Mother Born In

The same twenty-seven analyses (for questions A, B and C) performed for the country the research participant was born in were performed for the mother's country of birth. Fourteen statistically significant ANOVA's were computed. All fourteen were in the hypothesized direction (Table 5).

This confirms Hypothesis 4, that students whose mothers were born in the U.S. are more likely to indicate that the actor is doing the wrong thing.

Country Father Born In

As for the country the undergraduate's father was born in, fifteen of twenty-seven statistically significant analyses of variance were calculated (for question A, B and C). Fourteen of the fifteen were in the hypothesized direction (Table 5).

This confirms Hypothesis 5, that participants whose fathers were born in the U.S. are more likely to indicate that the actor is doing the wrong thing.

Belief, Guilt, and Behavior

In the present investigation, Question A, again was involved in the greatest number of significant ANOVA's (27), as opposed to 20 for Question B (emotion) and 17 for Question C (cognition). More specifically, in four of the five tables, "A" was involved in the most significant differences. In Table 5, "A" was tied with "B".

Dilemmas

In the current study, the moral dilemmas differ greatly in the number of significant ANOVA's obtained. The oil spill, Spanish family, teen drinking and animal testing generated twelve to fourteen significant differences each, while the other five ethical scenarios provided between one and six such findings.

Compromise an Important Rule

All five tables show at least eight significant ANOVA's to Question D (the violation "would compromise an important rule by which you live") out of a possible nine. All together, that is forty-two of a possible forty-five significant F values. In all forty-two cases, the more positive moral attitudes were expressed by the participants with U.S./English-speaking backgrounds.

DISCUSSION

The five hypotheses received strong support. Students born in the U.S. and other research subjects of American ancestry, including the many who said that English was the main language spoken at home as they were being reared were more likely to indicate that the actor is doing the wrong thing.

The millions of Asian-Americans form a substantial market and an important component of our workforce. Organizational codes of ethics must be adhered to by every employee, regardless of ethnicity. This might be easier to do if the code reflects the input of managers from different countries and from others whose upbringing reflect sub-cultural uniqueness.

Honeycutt et al. 0995) believe U.S. and Asian employees are equally capable of being trained to behave ethically, but managers must be sure that the proper actions are being "taught and rewarded" (p.235). Chan et al. (1998) believe moral "education aimed at developing correct ethical norms and peer pressure may be effective" (p. 1169).

The present research is consistent with what Whitcomb et al. (1998) call the "significant differences in the work values of East Asia and Western cultures" (p.839). They also mention the collectivist value of Confucianism. Confucianism teaches four key principles: (1) the stability and order of society is based on unequal status (hierarchical) interpersonal relationships, (2) the family is the prototype of in-group social organizations, (3) virtuous behavior is reciprocal and harmonious, and (4) virtuous behavior includes self-improvement (p.840). Thus, the less positive moral attitudes of these Asian students reflect: (1) not questioning the moral judgments of superiors at work, (2) loyalty and subordination to the organization as if it's your family, (3) reciprocating the kindness of the employer by supporting his/her ethical decision making, and (4) advancing in the corporation by obedient, persistent hard work. The business "is a quasi-family and evokes primary loyalties" (Steidlmeier, 1999, p.123).

As for specific Asian cultures, "the unique Shinto-based culture of Japan places an emphasis on the individual's responsibility to the group, including family, co-workers, employer" (p.38, Erffmeyer, Keillor and LeClair, 1999). Helms (1999) discusses the importance of guanxi, or connections, in China. The firm is like a big family. A father and son may work in the same department, as might spouses. Ralston et al.'s (1994) literature search finds that an Eastern view of ethics is 'that which is allowed by law' (p.992) while a Western view holds that the law is the ethical minimum. "Hong Kong managers will find legal/destructive behavior more ethical than will American managers" (p.994). Since Western ethical behavior exceeds this minimum adherence to the law, our Asian-U.S. differences make sense.

Our data is also supported by Moritsugu (1998), who noted that language skills are still developing among Asians, some of whom are newly arrived in America. They could, therefore, be seriously challenged by the hypothetical dilemmas presented.

Baker and Veit 0998) not only found that Pacific Rim respondents place a lower importance on moral and religious beliefs than North Americans as a deterrent to improper behavior but place a greater importance on (1) sanctions by the government, (2) concern about being disciplined by one's employer, (3) sanctions by self-regulatory organizations, and (4) 'having a published code of ethics' (p.430). This is consistent with the more positive moral attitudes of our U.S. participants. It's as if the U.S. undergraduates choose to respond ethically while Asian students must be compelled to do so. According to Lu et al. (1999). Confucian Dynamism (CD) includes the concept of 'Wu Lin', ordered relationships. This suggests "that individuals obey, respect, and maintain loyalty to one's employer, superiors, parents, and older brothers in return for their protection that an individual with high CD will value his employer" (p.96). Such a person may overlook unethical conduct by the employer. Such a culture may perceive this behavior as less immoral than westerners would. In their study, U.S. sales agents did score lower on Confucian Dynamism than did the Taiwanese participants. As individualists, Americans may "rely more on personally constructed ethical codes" (p. 101). This could lead to moral decisions at a higher stage than the group's ethical consensus. Lu et al. (1999) add that Confucian cultures "may blindly adhere to company guidelines" that are ethically questionable, "thus leading to less than desirable outcomes" (p. 102).

Dilemmas

If some dilemmas bring out a greater identification with American values by Americans than the other moral scenarios, it would help explain why four of the hypothetical stories generated a much greater number of significant differences between U.S. and Asian undergraduates than the other five did. These four deal with: (1) wildlife lost in an oil spill, (2) a poor, hard-working family man naive enough to be fooled by an unscrupulous salesman, (3) the epidemic of adolescent drinking, and (4) the needless testing of defenseless animals.

Compromise an Important Rule

If Confucianism leads to an expectation that Asian students' moral attitudes will reflect family/organization influences, these attitudes should, then, be less influenced by "an important (individual/non-group) rule by which you live." This is precisely what is reflected by the responses to Question D. This is consistent with Nakano's (1999) finding that, in contrast to U.S. managers, Japanese managers are more influenced by company policy and company interests "over their own ethical beliefs" in ethical decision making. It is also consistent with Confucianism, which teaches that the family and organization are more important than the individual.

CONCLUSION

This study finds that cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses to hypothetical marketing moral dilemmas are influenced by country the respondent was born in, country father born in, country mother born in, birthplace of ancestors, main language spoken at home during childhood, and the hypothetical marketing moral dilemma itself. The moral attitudes of undergraduates of American, English-speaking backgrounds were more positive than those of participants of Asian ancestry and language.

Shiseido, a Japanese cosmetics firm, is adapting its Code of Business Ethics for global use (Mizuo, 1999). Workshops may be needed to explain to managers of U.S., Asian, and other backgrounds why the entire company needs to be on the same page with respect to issues of right and wrong. Davids (1999) points out that Honeywell conducts training around the world to implement its ethical code. Honeycutt et al. (1995) has urged managers to make sure ethics training is updated to ensure the teaching and reinforcing of proper behavior. Honeywell fires people for violating the code. Ralston et al. (1994) said that people from other cultures must be taught "to present themselves in socially appropriate ways if they hope to attain their objectives of gaining influence" (p.997). Armstrong and Sweeney (1994) add that "firms which intend to enter foreign markets should aim for greater understanding of the marketing ethics of the host country" (p.784). Erffmeyer et al. (1999) offer similar advice, seeing "the need for managers to consider possible differences in the ethical behavior of consumers when entering new international markets" (p.35). This advice bodes well for competitors in the twenty-first century, including success in our global economy of the next millennium.

Different cultures can work together if they share similar views of business ethics. For example, Agami (2001) argues "that cross-border mergers have transformed the Asia countries' economies from a 'state-supported capitalism' into a free capitalism" (p.319, Agami, 2001).

Marketing innovations in one culture can spread to another perhaps more easily if the two societies believe they have business values in common. This may help explain why "the Asia-Pacific region is quickly catching up" to the pioneering Internet effort in the United States (Lee, 2001, p.459).

The findings also have implications for future marketers. A single marketing plan may not be equally effective for U.S. and Asian consumers. These two markets may want different marketing approaches to be directed at them. The present research indicates that the "moral tone" of these marketing strategies may have to vary as well.

Future research can look at additional possible correlates of moral attitudes, such as stage of moral judgment and personality traits. But what is already known should be taught to undergraduate and graduate level marketing management students. This includes the fact that the Asian community is really a number of subcultures based on language, gender, religion, and nation of origin (Gooding, 1998). Also worthy of being taught comes from Harvey (1999): "Confucius proposed persuasion and education in morality; property; rules and regulations; and laws to regulate social ethics" (p.87).

The authors do not believe, nor do they present evidence, that a given ethnic group is morally superior or ethnically inferior to any other subculture. Value differences in attitudes are presented so that colleagues understand each other better and do a better job of working together. In addition, research findings from undergraduates cannot be automatically generalized to graduate students or other populations. Other sampling frames can be studied directly in future investigations.

As for the hypothetical dilemmas, themselves, perhaps a universal consensus of important ethnical issues in marketing can be established so that there is not a "Western value" bias to the stories. Such an agreement could standardize the teaching of the ethical dimensions of marketing. Ideally, this would prepare students to be moral marketers no matter what nation they were educated in and regardless of which country employed them. Prior to that moral education implementation, it should be empirically determined whether or not students from different cultures respond similarly to a revised, "universal" set of hypothetical marketing moral dilemmas. Such data would form a baseline for data comparison following more marketing education itself.

TABLE 1
Sample Demographic Totals (a)

Gender: Male 177 Female

Main Home Language          English 233        Asian 177
Country Born In:            U.S. 280           Central/S.A. 42
Country Mother Born In:     U.S. 114           Central/S.A. 91
Country Father Born In:     U.S. 110           Central/S.A. 86
If Foreign Born, Years In   At/Below 5.5
U.S.:                       Years 84
Ancestral Birthplace        U.S. 65            Central/S.A. 64
(Nationality):
Race:                       African/Black 69   Asian 218

Gender: Male 177 Female

Main Home Language          Spanish 54                 Other 76
Country Born In:            Europe 32       Asia 161   Other 23
Country Mother Born In:     Europe 51       Asia 235   Other 32
Country Father Born In:     Europe 54       Asia 226   Other 33
If Foreign Born, Years In   6-12 Years 92              13-40
U.S.:                                                  Years 78
Ancestral Birthplace        Europe 79       Asia 210   Other 49
(Nationality):
Race:                       White/          Latin/     Other 21
                            Caucasian       Hispanic

(a) The number of non-responses varies among demographics. While
these are convenience samples, an effort was made to include
different races, religions, and nationalities. In addition,
freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors were invited to
participate. Each gender is adequately represented. Asians are
not separated by Asian nationality since Confucianism does not
apply to a single Asian nation. Being Asian or not does have racial
implications but race is not a focus of the present research. The
same disclaimer applies to religion. Non-business were included
because all students work in one business or another after
graduation. Undergraduates were studied because they are at the
beginning of their careers and, thus, at the beginning of
professional ethical decision-making.

TABLE 2
Analysis of Variance by Country Born In

                      (n=276)     (n=152)
Dilemma   Question   U.S. Mean   Asian Mean       F

OIL          A        -2.4188     -1.2662     16.332 (c)
ENVBOX       A        -2.0108     -1.2208      7.480 (b)
BKSLS        A        -3.9140     -2.2662     40.800 (c)
LIQUOR       A        -2.4477     -1.4156     11.821 (b)
ANTEST       A        -3.2554     -2.1169     17.883 (c)
CIGRET       A        -2.0939     -1.1513      9.087 (b)
OIL          B         2.8813      1.8442     12.506 (c)
BKSLS        B         3.4695      2.0325     21.078 (c)
LIQUOR       B         2.0722       .9156     12.873 (c)
ANTEST       B         2.7806      1.5065     15.975 (c)
CIGRET       B         1.9097      1.1830      5.387 (a)
OIL          C        -1.4532      -.8247      4.162 (a)
BKSLS        C        -3.6607     -2.4575     20.423 (c)
LIQUOR       C        -2.1083     -1.1883      8.416 (b)
ANTEST       C        -3.1583     -1.9286     20.092 (c)
CIGRET       C        -1.9531     -1.1373      6.498 (a)
WATER        D         1.2319       .0584     15.998 (c)
OIL          D         2.0216       .3247     29.316 (b)
FORMLK       D         1.0616     -0.7320     35.519 (c)
ENVBOX       D          .7133       .0325      5.434 (a)
BKSLS        D         2.2616       .0588     38.122 (c)
LIQUOR       D         1.4477       .0131     13.392 (c)
ANTEST       D         1.6403       .1242     19.049 (c)
CIGRET       D         1.0866      -.1711     14.522 (c)
RAP          D         1.0108       .2980      4.239 (a)

(a) p<.05

(b) p<.01

(c) p<0.001

A   -5   not at all believe doing right thing
B   -5   would not at all feel guilty
C   -5   not at all likely would do it
D   -5   not at all likely would compromise rule

A   +5   strongly believe doing right thing
B   +5   would feel very guilty
C   +5   very likely would do it
D   +5   very likely would compromise rule

TABLE 3
Analysis of Variance by Ancestors' Birthplace

                      (n=62)      (n=195)
Dilemma   Question   U.S. Mean   Asian Mean       F

WATER        A         -2.1111      -1.2893    4.250 (a)
OIL          A         -3.0952      -1.5000   15.045 (c)
FORMLK       A         -2.7581      -1.8571    4.579 (a)
BKSLS        A         -3.9063      -2.4924   11.273 (b)
OIL          B         -3.3594       1.9796   10.247 (b)
BKSLS        C         -3.8000      -2.5816    8.928 (b)
WATER        D          1.4921        .3604    7.380 (b)
OIL          D          2.9375        .4235   32.488 (c)
FORMLK       D          1.9683       -.3827   26.658 (c)
ENVBOX       D          1.2188        .1168    7.129 (b)
BKSLS        D          3.0769        .3878   29.500 (c)
LIQUOR       D          1.2381        .3469    3.969 (a)
ANTEST       D          1.6406        .2908    7.680 (b)
CIGRET       D          1.2344        .0051    7.257 (b)

(a) p<.05

(b) p<.01

(c) p<.001

TABLE 4
Analysis of Variance by Primary Language
Spoken at Home as Growing Up

                       (n=229)       (n=175)
Dilemma   Question   English Mean   Asian Mean       F

WATER        A            -1.8777      -1.2599    4.946 (a)
OIL          A            -2.3522      -1.3068   13.109 (c)
BKSLS        A            -3.9526      -2.3672   37.029 (c)
LIQUOR       A            -2.4589      -1.5284    9.494 (b)
ANTEST       A            -3.1991      -2.1751   13.769 (c)
OIL          B            -3.0996       1.7443   22.061 (c)
BKSLS        B             3.3276       2.2373   11.519 (b)
LIQUOR       B             2.1212       1.0284   11.305 (b)
ANTEST       B             2.7792       1.5367   15.239 (c)
CIGRET       B             1.9787       1.2159    5.787 (a)
BKSLS        C            -3.6910      -2.4091   22.806 (c)
LIQUOR       C            -2.1472      -1.2898    7.298 (b)
ANTEST       C            -3.1082      -2.0621   14.387 (c)
WATER        D             1.5526        .2486   20.339 (c)
OIL          D             2.3668        .2898   45.827 (c)
FORMLK       D             1.3870       -.5455   37.602 (c)
ENVBOX       D             1.1853        .0961   14.361 (c)
BKSLS        D             2.6853        .1364   56.813 (c)
LIQUOR       D             1.8398       -.0971   24.740 (c)
ANTEST       D             1.8442        .1023   25.970 (c)
CIGRET       D             1.2140       -.0914   15.539 (c)
RAP          D             1.4522        .2816   11.861 (b)

(a) p<.05

(b) p<.01

(c) p<.001

TABLE 5
Analysis of Variance by Mother's Country Born In

                      (n=112)     (n=219)
Dilemma   Question   U.S. Mean   Asian Mean       F

WATER        A         -1.9821      -1.2534    5.347 (a)
OIL          A         -2.6283      -1.4818   12.123 (b)
BKSLS        A         -4.0965      -2.4977   25.593 (c)
LIQUOR       A         -2.8053      -1.5591   13.353 (c)
ANTEST       A         -3.3097      -2.4434    7.792 (b)
CIGRET       A         -2.1504      -1.3379    4.983 (a)
OIL          B          3.1150       1.9091   12.462 (c)
BKSLS        B         -3.5088       2.3484    9.898 (b)
LIQUOR       B          2.2124       1.2182    7.145 (b)
ANTEST       B          2.7699       1.8145    6.623 (a)
BKSLS        C         -3.9561      -2.5500   20.275 (c)
LIQUOR       C         -2.5133      -1.3182   11.261 (b)
ANTEST       C         -3.1593      -2.2398    8.018 (b)
CIGRET       C         -1.9735      -1.1591    4.990 (a)
WATER        D          1.7411        .2127   21.394 (c)
OIL          D          2.7080       -.4864   39.568 (c)
FORMLK       D          1.4286       -.3455   23.592 (c)
ENVBOX       D          1.2301        .1946   10.019 (b)
BKSLS        D          3.3717        .3682   65.553 (c)
LIQUOR       D          2.3540        .1233   24.356 (c)
ANTEST       D          2.0354        .2000   21.774 (c)
CIGRET       D          1.4159        .0137   14.852 (c)

(a) p<.05

(b) p<.01

(c) p<.001

TABLE 6
Analysis of Variance by Father's Country Born In

                      (n=108)     (n=210)
Dilemma   Question   U.S. Mean   Asian Mean       F

WATER        A         -2.0000      -1.2642    5.218 (a)
OIL          A         -2.6972      -1.4692   13.530 (c)
ENVBOX       A         -2.2844      -1.3208    8.126 (b)
BKSLS        A         -4.1364      -2.4858   26.176 (c)
LIQUOR       A         -2.5321      -1.5071    8.010 (b)
ANTEST       A         -3.2844      -2.3868    7.852 (b)
OIL          B          3.1101       2.0000   10.421 (b)
BKSLS        B          3.4909       2.4057    8.402 (b)
LIQUOR       B          2.1193       1.2038    5.698 (a)
ANTEST       B          2.8716       1.8255    7.861 (b)
RAP          B           .7890       1.6143    4.878 (a)
OIL          C         -1.8440       -.9147    6.712 (a)
BKSLS        C         -3.9182      -2.5308   18.416 (c)
LIQUOR       C         -2.2936      -1.2654    7.546 (b)
ANTEST       C         -3.1743      -2.1604    9.397 (b)
WATER        D          .15278        .2453   13.922 (c)
OIL          D          2.8991        .4882   47.334 (c)
FORMLK       D          1.5421       -.3412   25.685 (c)
ENVBOX       D          1.4404        .1415   15.480 (c)
BKSLS        D          3.3028        .4313   54.140 (c)
LIQUOR       D          1.6972        .1286   18.421 (c)
ANTEST       D          2.0183        .1564   21.722 (c)
CIGRET       D          1.3028       -.0762   13.680 (c)

(a) p<.05

(b) p<.01

(c) p<.001

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Karen A. Berger is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Pace University. She received her Ph.D. in Marketing from New York University. She can be reach at (914) 779-3772.

Carl Malinowski is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Pace University. He received his Ph. D. in psychology from the City University of New York. He can be reach at (914) 773-3905.