The Role of Identification in the Privacy Decisions of Information System Students

This research is aimed at understanding the ethical decision making process of information systems students, particularly when those decisions involve online privacy. The research model on which the hypotheses are based includes both deontological and teleological factors, as well as something heretofore overlooked by IS ethics researchers.Organizational identification is hypothesized to serve a filtering role, to help the individual faced with an ethical decision to focus on those stakeholders that are most relevant. The research model was tested using survey methods with a sample of senior-level IS undergraduates. The main effects of the deontological and teleological factors explained 35% of the variance in an individual’s moral judgment about online privacy. Contrary to expectations, organizational identification did not moderate these two effects. However, the interaction of all three factors was significant, both practically and statistically.