LAUSR

Ethics Position Theory (EPT) (Forsyth, 1980) states that people have relatively stable implicit moral philosophies in terms of degree for idealism and relativism. The present study hypothesizes that the complexity of a situation might lead to shift in their ethical ideologies. The level of complexity any situation poses is assessed based on centrality approach, i.e. stakeholder centrality (self/other) and situational centrality (rational/emotional). The extent of shift in various ethical positions has been examined in detail in the present study and is individually assessed for all four ethical position dimensions i.e. absolutists, exceptionists, situationists and subjectivists. The 2X2 between groups experiment is designed which traces the shifting patterns of 224 professionals with a mean age of 24.4 years. The results show mobility and retention of ethical moral personalities and states that individuals tend to anchor high idealism in rational situations when it directly impacts their selves. However when situation impacts others, there is more reliance on relativism. The study also states that when emotions are involved in situations, people tend to anchor more towards high relativism.