Attitude and Divergence in Business Students: An Examination of Personality Differences in Business and Non-Business Students

Abstract

Many studies have reported that economics and business students have been more apt to act in self-interested ways when compared to their counterparts in other academic fields. It is our contention that past studies have not shed light on the underlying psychological differ-ences which might be leading to this difference in behavior. We put forth evidence that certain business majors are correlated with a marked increase in levels of narcissism and decreased levels of empathy, as measured by psychological personal-ity tests. Keywords Business school students, business school pedagogy, empathy, ethics, narcissism, selfishness