DOES CLASS MATTER? THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL CLASS ON JOURNALISTS' ETHICAL DECISION MAKING.

This study investigated experimentally whether social class of people who appear in news stories influences Chilean journalists' ethical reasoning. Based on schema, social identity, and moral development theories, it found that journalists applied lower levels of ethical reasoning when faced with an ethical dilemma associated with the poor, an effect moderated by participants' involvement in the story. Psychological mechanisms--such as involvement, mental elaboration about stories' subjects, and identification with them--influenced participants' ethical thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]