摘要：For the first time, field observation research is conducted in a natural, controlled
environment (i.e., classroom) to investigate ethical decision-making of college students. One
hundred twelve (112) college students enrolled in four Principles of Marketing classes in a
southeastern United States university participated in the study. In two of the four classes, the
importance of ethical behavior was discussed in each class meeting (sensitized groups); in the
other two classes, the importance of ethical behavior was discussed on the first day of class and
not mentioned thereafter (non-sensitized groups). The findings reveal that given the opportunity
to cheat, 100% of students that were not sensitized to the importance of ethical behavior cheated.
Furthermore, a number of these students made a conscience effort to cover up their actions. For
sensitized students, some engaged in cheating while others did not. Findings of focus group
interviews revealed that students engaged in cheating were in the pre-conventional stage of
cognitive moral reasoning, while those that did not cheat were in the conventional stage of
cognitive moral reasoning. This finding suggests that sensitizing students to the importance of
ethical behavior may advance them up the ladder of cognitive moral reasoning.
