Research Design Connection: Ethics and Distance
Scientists have learned that distance between workers’ work areas influences the likelihood that unethical behavior will “trickle-down” through an organization, from higher-level managers to other employees. Physical separation prevents unconscious copying of undesirable behaviors, and, unfortunately, similarly impedes the reproduction of desirable ones. Separation of middle managers from their superiors seems to be the most effective way to thwart the spread of unethical behaviors from the highest to the lowest levels of an organization. People are physically close to each other when they sit beside each other or work on the same floor of most buildings, for example. The researchers also observed a link between the physical closeness of people’s work areas and their ability to relate to/empathize with each other; closer locations were tied to closer bonds. Gijs van Houweilingen, Marius van Dijke, and David De Cremer. “Fairness Enactment as Response to Higher Level Unfairness: The Roles of Self-Construal …
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