Temporal Stability of The Multidimensional Ethics Scale

Abstract

One of the most widely studied and widely used instruments for measuring ethical evaluations of business practices is the Multidimensional Ethics Scale (MES). Despite the MES having been the focus of considerable investigation, its critical property of temporal stability has received little orno attention. This research examines the test-retest reliability of the MES. The MES was originated by Reidenbach and Robin (1988, 1990). Using three scenarios, each presenting an ethically questionable business situation, they posited 3 3 items theorized to measure five different ethical philosophies. Pretesting reduced the items to 29 and subsequent studies reduced this list to eight items (Reidenbach, Robin, and Dawson 1991) yielding three dimensions: moral equity (4 items), relativism (2 items), and contractualism (2 items). The present research measured the original list of 29 items, though the refined eight-item scale is the primary focus of the analyses. Numerous researchers have examined and further developed the MES, a comprehensive review having been compiled by Hyman (l996). No study, however, has investigated the temporal stability, i.e., test-retest reliability, of the MES.