Do Education and Religion Shape College Students’ Ethical Reasoning

Abstract

This study examines ethical perceptions among college students at a four-year university in the Southwestern United States, focusing on the influences of behavioral religiosity and educational background. Students evaluated ten unethical scenarios using a five-point Likert scale, which were categorized through factor analysis into legal/regulatory and informational ethics. Hierarchical regression analyses reveal that educational factors, including university status and exposure to ethics coursework, significantly predict stricter ethical judgments, particularly for legal/regulatory violations. Gender emerged as the strongest demographic predictor, while church attendance demonstrated no significant effect on either ethical dimension. These findings challenge assumptions about the role of religiosity in professional ethical reasoning and underscore the importance of integrating comprehensive ethics education into university curricula. The results provide empirical evidence that structured ethics education, rather than religious participation, effectively shapes students’ ethical development. It offers conceptual insights for curriculum design to prepare future business professionals for the ethical challenges they encounter in their careers.