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The association of moral development and moral intensity with music piracy

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Abstract

Prior research has not found a meaningful relationship between digital piracy and moral development, possibly because students do not recognize digital piracy as a moral issue. Rather than measure moral development as an individual characteristic, this study tests which components of moral development are seen as relevant to digital piracy. If some of the stages of moral development are applicable to music piracy behavior, people are more likely to pirate than to engage in other more morally intense behaviors. Some of the stages of moral development are found to be associated with moral development. Proximity to the victim reduces the acceptability of music piracy.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Dr., Moscow, ID, 83844-3161, USA

    Darryl J. Woolley

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  1. Darryl J. Woolley
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Correspondence to Darryl J. Woolley.

Appendix: Survey instrument items

Appendix: Survey instrument items

Scenarios

Downloading

A student named Jane really wants music from a specific band. She is short of cash. She finds that she can download unlicensed copies of the band’s music on the internet for no cost

Share CD

Jane’s friend asked to copy one of Jane’s music CD’s. Her friend has done her favors in the past

CD theft

A student named Jane really wants music from a specific band. She is short of cash. While she is eating lunch at a fast food place, she notices that the person at the table next to her left a CD on the table. She looks and recognizes that it is from the band. When he leaves his table for a while, Jane looks around and notices that nobody would see if she takes the CD

Measurement components—downloading scenario (wording slightly adapted to each scenario)

Piracy scale

 

 1

She should or would download the music

 2

You would download the music

Stage 1

 

 1

People who download unlicensed music are sometimes arrested

 2

People who download unlicensed music sometimes pay large fines when they are caught

Stage 2

(Reverse scored)

 1

She should download the music because she wants to

 2

She should download the music because it is free

Stage 3

(Reverse scored)

 1

Most of her peers would download the music

 2

She would be embarrassed if people found out she downloaded the music

Stage 4

(Reverse scored)

 1

Even though downloading the music is illegal, it’s no big deal or the law would be enforced more

 2

Laws about downloading unlicensed software are not enforced

Stage 5

 

 1

Downloading the music is unfair to the record producers

 2

Downloading the music is unfair to the music performers

Stage 6

 

 1

It is unethical to download the music

 2

It is dishonest to download unlicensed music

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Woolley, D.J. The association of moral development and moral intensity with music piracy. Ethics Inf Technol 17, 211–218 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-015-9376-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-015-9376-7

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