Bocchario, Whistleblowing Flashcards
Who is a whistleblower?
Person who informs on a person regarded as engaging in unlawful or immoral behaviour
Aim 1
Who are the people that disobey or blow the whistle?
Aim 2
Do whistleblowers have personal characteristics that differentiate them from those who obey
Aim 3
Why do they choose the challenging path?
Design of the study?
Scenario study, took place in a laboratory at the University of Amsterdam
Sample number
149 undergraduate students
Sampling method
Volunteer sample, €7 given or course credit
Comparison group, who and aim
138 students that predicted the obedience, disobedience and whistleblowing numbers
Aim of pilot studies
8 pilot studies involving 92 undergraduates from the University of Amsterdam.
Aiming to endure the procedure was credible and morally accepted
Comparison questions
“What would you do?”
“What would the average student at your university do?”
How were ethics maintained in the study?
Introduction, aim of the study, potential risks involved and right to withdraw. Assured of confidentiality
Who were the participants greeted by?
Male, Dutch experimenter who was formally dressed and stern
What did the experimenter request?
Asked for fellow students names without justification
What were they presented with? Summarise this
Cover story about the effects of sensory deprivation on brain function. Previous research lead to panic, the cognitive abilities were temporarily impaired and experience of visual and auditory hallucinations in participants
How long did the experimenter leave the room for thinking time?
3 minutes
What was in the second room?
Computer to write the statement on, mailbox and fill out form to report back to the company.
What were participants asked to mention in their statement?
To mention at least 2 good adjectives to sound enthusiastic
How long did the experimenter leave the participants for in the second room?
7 minutes
At the end of the study, what did the participants have to complete?
2 personality tests and were fully debriefed
% of comparison group results
Obey- 4%
Disobey - 32%
Whistleblow - 64%
Experimental results
Obey-77%
Disobey-14%
Whistleblow- 9%
Results for individual differences
People with higher faith are more likely to whistleblow
Conclusion 1
There is no significant difference in term of religion and personality traits
Conclusion 2
People tend to obey authoritative figures
Conclusion 3
Behaving morally appears to be hard even when it appears to be easy
Conclusion 4
People are bad at predicting what they or others will do in a situation
