skip to main content
Today's Teens, Tomorrow's Corporate Offenders?

Today's Teens, Tomorrow's Corporate Offenders?

by Steve Crabtree

Arguably the biggest news story of 2002, at least on the U.S. domestic front, was the rash of ethics scandals that damaged or destroyed a number of giant corporations, leaving thousands of people jobless and weakening an already tentative economic recovery. Until the resulting reform process plays out, the outlook for corporate ethics remains hazy. But we can glean some insight on the future by examining the mind-sets of those who will shape it. Today's teens are forming attitudes that they will carry with them into the business world. So, what can we learn from their answers to questions about lying, cheating, and stealing?

A Gallup Youth Survey conducted prior to the onset of last year's scandal parade* provided some understanding of teens' perspectives on the kinds of moral transgressions that played a role in the corporate scandals. Teens were read a list of possible offenses and asked whether or not each would make them feel guilty, even if no one ever found out about them.

The good news is that a high percentage of teens said they would feel guilty about each one. Of the items especially applicable to corporate ethics, stealing was the most likely to produce guilt (88%), followed by not paying a debt (83%). However, also high on the list was "being disloyal to your group" (80%). This may seem like a positive finding, but it may be worth asking: in the context of corporate malfeasance, might this type of loyalty discourage the kind of whistle-blowing that brought a number of last year's scandals to light?

Where's the Guilt?

Are there any telling patterns in teens' susceptibility to feelings of guilt about lying, cheating, or stealing? Not many -- boys and girls seem to be equally likely to say they'd feel guilty about each, as do teens of different races and religious preferences. There is a slight tendency for older teens (those aged 16 to 17) to be less likely than younger teens (13 to 15) to say they'd feel guilty about a few items, particularly cheating on a test in school -- 83% in the younger group said they would feel guilty about that, compared to 66% in the older category.

One interesting and consistent variation occurs across the types of communities in which teens live. Those who say they live in large cities are somewhat less likely to say they would feel guilty about some items -- most notably stealing something and not paying a debt -- than those living in suburbs (those in small towns and rural areas tend to fall somewhere in between, but are generally closer to the suburban figures). This pattern of variation is absent among racial categories and levels of academic standing.

This finding supports the idea that morality among young people is shaped in part by their environment. Whether it's because the average income of inner-city dwellers tends to be lower, or simply that an urban environment presents more opportunities for morally challenging situations, city living seems to have an effect on teens' moral fortitude.

Implications

American teens are morally strong, but also influenced by their environment. The idea that they may, on occasion, feel compelled to lie was tested with a separate question, in which teens were asked to give their level of agreement with the statement, "I sometimes tell lies if I have to." Thirty percent of those in large cities said they "strongly" agreed, compared to 16% of those in the suburbs, and 21% of those in rural areas. Schools in urban areas may be more obligated to provide strong ethical guidelines to help students maintain a moral code that faces more pressure than it might in other types of communities.

*Findings are based on telephone interviews with 454 teens, ages 13 to 17, conducted June through September 2001. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of sampling error is ±5%.


Gallup https://news.gallup.com/poll/7570/Todays-Teens-Tomorrows-Corporate-Offenders.aspx
Gallup World Headquarters, 901 F Street, Washington, D.C., 20001, U.S.A
+1 202.715.3030