The multi-disciplinary literature on ethics asserts that the relationship between religiosity and ethical perceptions and judgements is an under-researched topic. Despite its importance, few studies have examined the relationship between religiosity and the learning of business ethics. This research investigates whether religiosity is conducive to the learning of business ethics in a digital learning environment: a serious 3D ethics game. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 302 final-year students from two different academic institutions based in the UK. The results of a structural equation modelling analysis suggest that religiosity does not inform the ethical perceptions and decisions of religious individuals in digital learning environments. Religious individuals perceive the utilitarian aspects of a serious game such as ease of use to be more important for learning ethics than religion. In contrast, less religious individuals perceive the hedonic aspects of a serious game to be a key catalyst for enhancing the learning of ethics.
TopIntroduction
Most global financial, economic, and environmental crises have historically been caused or exacerbated by poor ethical decisions. Hence, business schools have a strong remit to ensure that graduates leave university with a deep understanding of their role and responsibility towards their prospective employers, community, and society (Felton and Sims 2005). Ethics now constitute a crucial part of the skill-set and knowledge required in management education (Hardy and Tolhurst 2014; Baden and Higgs 2015; Michaelson 2016). However, few studies have assessed or tested learners’ effectiveness in applying ethical theory in practice. Serious games such as practice-based managerial learning instruments could address this gap by enabling learners to impart ethical theory, as well as practical ethical skills and knowledge.
Some studies on business ethics contend that religious beliefs and values can significantly shape the cognitive stages of ethical development (Wagner and Sanders 2001; Longenecker, McKinney, and Moore 2004; Vitell 2009; Swimberghe, Sharma, and Flurry 2011; Peifer 2015). However, the effect of religiosity, i.e. the extent to which individuals adhere to the doctrines, beliefs, and ritual practices of religious institutions and are actively involved in congregational practices such as church attendance (Zinnbauer et al. 1997), on ethical decision-making remains an under-researched area (Singhapakdi et al. 2000; Vitell 2009; Craft 2013), despite the purported symbiotic relationship between religiosity and ethical decisions (Swimberghe, Sharma, and Flurry 2011; Salvador, Merchant, and Alexander 2014). For example, prior research suggests that religious individuals will display higher ethical sensitivity compared to non-religious individuals (Siu, Dickinson, and Lee 2000; Weaver and Agle 2002). In light of these prior research findings, this study investigates whether religiosity facilitates the effective learning of practical ethical skills and knowledge, using the unique context of a virtual educational gaming environment, namely, serious 3D ethics games.
The rationale behind choosing a serious gaming environment is twofold: first, serious games are increasingly used to support managerial learning (Salas, Wildman, and Piccolo 2009; Mustar 2009; Jang and Ryu 2011; Hess and Gunter 2013; Tsekleves, Cosmas, and Aggoun 2016; Allal-Chérif and Makhlouf 2016; Newbery et al. 2018; Rossi and Scappini 2014). Second, since virtual gaming environments allow users to experience episodes of immersion (Weibull 1985; Ruggiero 2000; Werner and James Jr 2001; Liu, Li, and Santhanam 2013), they offer researchers the opportunity to examine whether cognitive distractions experienced in virtual gaming environments can attenuate the hypothesised effect of religiosity on the ethical perceptions and judgements of religious individuals.