Propensity to Morally Disengage (Moore et al.)
Ethics & CSRReliability: alpha 0.803 sample items
About this scale
An 8-item adult measure of dispositional propensity to morally disengage, designed for organizational settings. Each item captures one of the eight Bandura mechanisms with a context relevant to working adults.
Sample item(s)
“It is okay to spread rumours to defend those you care about.”
“Taking something without the owner's permission is okay as long as you're just borrowing it.”
“Considering the ways people grossly misrepresent themselves, it's hardly a sin to inflate your own credentials a bit.”
Reliability
Reported internal consistency: alpha 0.80. As a rule of thumb, Cronbach’s α ≥ .70 is considered acceptable, ≥ .80 good, and ≥ .90 excellent for established measures.
Notes
Strong predictor of UPB and other unethical organizational behaviour.
Source & citation
Moore, C., Detert, J. R., Treviño, L. K., Baker, V. L., & Mayer, D. M. (2012): Why employees do bad things: Moral disengagement and unethical organizational behavior. Personnel Psychology, Vol. 65, No. 1, pp. 1–48.
Moore et al. (2012): Propensity to morally disengage. Personnel Psychology, 65(1), 1–48.
Source. Scale details are summarised from the publication cited above. Always consult the original source for the full item set, scoring, and permission to use.
Use it in your research
Need to check the reliability or psychometrics of this scale in your own data? Use the free DrAIStudio research tools:
Cronbach’s alpha calculator
All statistical calculators
Search the full Scale Atlas
Academic writing humanizer