Three studies examined folk concepts of the good life. Participantsrated the desirability and moral goodness of a life as a function of thehappiness, meaning, and effort experienced. Happiness and meaning weresolid predictors of the good life, replicating King and Napa (1998).Study 1 (N = 381) included wealth as an additional factor. Resultsshowed little desire for exorbitant (over moderate) wealth, but also adesire to avoid poverty. When effort was operationalized as number ofhours worked, respondents desired the easy life, particularly atmoderate levels of income. When effort was operationalized as effortfulengagement (Study 2), 186 undergraduates and 178 community adults ratedthe hardworking life as morally superior to the easy life. Communityadults preferred meaningful lives of ease, while college studentspreferred meaningful lives that involved effort. Study 3 (N = 359) foundthe meaningful, effortful life was rated as most morally good, and thehappy effortful life was rated as most desirable, happy, and meaningful.The role of hard work in naive notions of The Good Life is discussed.

https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1924&context=soss_research

Is the Good Life the Easy Life

In this study, we examine the relationship between appeal to self-perceptions of moral identity, included in the teaching of ethics, and the strengthening of moral judgment among postgraduate business students. As appeal to moral identity emphasizes personal engagement in the appraisal of an ethically charged situation, it addresses critiques of abstract rule application and principle transfer leveled at traditional business ethics teaching. Eighty-one participants (divided into experimental and control groups) completed a series of reflective writing exercises throughout a twelve-week business ethics unit. Based on an instrument completed at the beginning and end of the education process, our results indicate a positive shift in moral judgement intensity. We, therefore, recommend appeal to moral identity as a leverage strategy to be employed in business ethics education in order to strengthen students’ moral judgment.

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Strengthening Moral Judgment: A Moral Identity-Based Leverage Strategy in Business Ethics Education

A sample of 164 business students rated the fairness and appropriateness of 14 justifications for someone receiving a salary of $2 million a year. The occupation (marketing executive, movie star) and the gender of the person being rated were manipulated. Also manipulated was the response condition: whether one responded as if they were the $2 million salary recipient or whether the recipient was someone else. The results show that certain types of factors (e.g., inputs such as hard work, talent, and performance) are seen as better justifications than other factors (e.g., external factors such as positive benefits to society or difficulty of the job). There were very few gender differences in justifications, but the different occupations were related to different justifications. Also, people felt the salary was fairer and more justified when they were perceived as receiving the money than when it was someone else. The results are discussed in terms of theoretical and practical issues related to student per...

Susan R. Crandall

Papers

Business Students' Justifications of Exceptionally High Salaries Is it OK to Make $2 Million a Year?