Pr Ethics in Russia (Back Up)

8/3/2019 Pr Ethics in Russia (Back Up)

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PR ETHICS IN RUSSIA 1

Social Distance in Russian Public Relations Students

Perceptions of Ethical Issues

A perfect storm of unethical practices in public relations recently produced another

round of high profile media coverage of the profession in the U.S. (Phair, 2005). These incidents,

ranging from VNR controversies, to PR agency payments to city officials, to failing to disclose

payments for advocacy, underscore the importance of ethics to public relations scholars,

practitioners and educators, as well as the general public.

In recent years, scholars and practitioners have paid increasing attention to ethical

frameworks in decision making and to codifying ethics in practice. Yet, few studies have


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examined perceptions of ethics on the part of public relations students, especially outside of the

U.S. This study explores this important topic through the perceptions of Russian public relations

students and within the theoretical perspective of social distance (Perloff, 1993).

Compared to the United States, public relations in Russia is a relatively new occupation,

not yet 20 years old. Though influenced by Western approaches, Russian public relations

practice has distinct features based on the countrys historical, cultural, and political background.

In this regard, the present study might be considered an investigation of how two schools of

public relationsWestern and Russianare intertwined and are being absorbed by Russian

public relations students. The authors argue that the perception of ethics by future professionals

is crucial in understanding how they will position themselves in the public relations profession.

Overall, this study found that Russian public relations students acknowledged the

importance of ethics in their school curricula, which supports the idea that studying ethics in

college may lead to better ethics in professional practice (Gale & Bunton, 2005). The participants

also agreed that public relations leadership and ethics are inseparable. However, compared to

perceptions of themselves, the participants' views of the ethicality of "other Russian PR students"

and "American PR students" were less favorable, thought strikingly similar to each other. This

finding suggests that the third person effect is a robust phenomenon that challenges the notion of

social and cultural connectedness which presumably exists between the participants and other

Russian PR students.

Scholarship on Ethics and Public Relations

Public relations scholars have suggested a variety of ethical frameworks and models to

bring ethical criteria to strategic decision-making processes in organizations. Edgett (2002)

proposed 10 criteria for ethical advocacy. David (2004) outlined a framework by which to

evaluate professional values in public relations. Bowen suggested models for ethical issues


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management (2004) and for ethical decision-making (2005a). These and other theorists (e.g.,

Grunig, Grunig, & Dozier, 2002) contend that ethical practices help organizations do the right

things in society, build trust with stakeholders, and strengthen the profession.

Ethical frameworks are often divided into two broad categories: teleological and

deontological. A teleological framework is one in which ethical actions are those that result in

the greatest good (Curtin & Boynton, 2001, p. 411). Utilitarianism or consequentialist theory

are forms of teleology. Utilitarianism takes a societal view, suggesting that ethical decisions are

those that have the greatest impact on society at large (Bowen, 2005a). Philosophy and ethics

scholar Sissela Bok (1989) wrote, For utilitarians, an act is more or less justifiable according to

the goodness or badness of its consequences (p. 48).

Consequentialism is a broader perspective that asks us to predict the possible outcomes

of our decisions and perform a cost-benefit calculation among potential outcomes. The ethical

outcome is that which generally has the most positive consequences and the least negative

consequences (Bowen, 2005a, p. 296).

Deontological frameworks are rules-based. Deontologists subscribe to the idea that there

are universal moral principles that must be followed. Professional codes of ethics such as those

by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) or the International Association of Business

Communicators (IABC) are examples of deontological frameworks.

However, practitioners are not always seen to play important roles in ethical decision

making. Fitzpatrick (1996) found that public relations remains a relatively untapped resource in

ethics programs (p. 249). The highest percentage of ethics officers in U.S. companies she

surveyed cited law as their primary field of responsibility (27.9% of respondents), and only 6.7%

cited public relations as their primary field. Of those companies that had established ethics

committees, only 11.5% of those committees included public relations representatives. In


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addition, public relations counsel was cited as least important when ethics officers were asked to

rate the importance of various sources in helping them reach ethical decisions (p. 253).

The Profession

Professional public relations associations have long emphasized the need for ethical

practice through codes, accreditation measures, training programs and other means, and such

efforts appear to have accelerated. The most recent PRSA Code of Ethics, for example, is

introduced with this statement: Ethical practice is the most important obligation of a PRSA

member (PRSA Member Code of Ethics, p. 5). The PRSA code is founded on professional

values of advocacy, honesty, expertise, independence, loyalty and fairness, and the document

concludes by asking professionals to work constantly to strengthen the publics trust in the

profession (p. 13).

Many researchers and practitioners have pointed to well-known shortcomings of existing

codes of ethics, including the general nature of their provisions, lack of enforcement measures

and cultural differences. Nevertheless, at least one recent development suggests such codes are

expanding globally. The Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management,

founded in 2000, consists of more than 60 member organizations that represent more than

150,000 practitioners internationally (Molleda, 2004). One of the alliances first initiatives was

development of a protocol to standardize the various codes of ethics in the profession

(Worldwide standard, 2003).

Another issue is differences among practitioners regarding professional ethics. In a study

funded by IABC, Bowen (2005b) found significant differences between men and women

regarding ethics training, ethical issues and preferred styles of moral discussion. Kim and Choi

(2003) concluded from their survey of practitioners that ethical standards appeared to change

with age and ideology. Wright (1985) found that the level of ethical standards increased with age


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among PR practitioners and business professionals.

Individual professionals also may see themselves as more ethical than other PR

practitionersa type of third-person effect. Sallot, Cameron, and Lariscy (1998) found that

practitioners hold their peers in comparatively low esteem, seeing them as unprofessional and

unenlightened compared to the way they view themselves. Practitioners see themselves

individually as having higher status, being more accountable, and having more professional skills

in strategic planning and research than their peers (p. 14). Berger and Reber (2005) found that

15 of 65 practitioners they interviewed admitted to having leaked information to external publics,

planted rumors in the grapevine, or used similar tactics that may blur ethical boundaries.

However, nearly twice as many (29) of those interviewed said they thought other practitioners

used such techniques.

Education

Increasing attention has been devoted to the importance of teaching professional ethics in

education, and to what ought to be taught (Gale & Bunton, 2005). Harrison (1990) surveyed

public relations and advertising professors and found nearly all of the educators believed that

studying ethics was important for their students.

The report of the 1999 Commission on Public Relations Education outlined areas of

knowledge that graduates of PR programs should understand, and ethical issues was one of them

(Commission on Public Relations Education, 1999). The Commission also recommended that

students be competent in many skill areas: research, management of information and

communication, written and oral communication, problem solving, strategic planning, issues

management, audience segmentation, technology and visual literacy, managing people and

resources and ethical decision-making (p. 20).

VanSlyke Turk (1989) surveyed practitioners regarding public relations curricula and


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found that they believed the top five skills for success as a manager in public relations were

planning and organizing, problem solving and decision making, goal setting and prioritizing,

time management, and ethical and legal issues. Toth (1999) reported that educators and

practitioners agreed that ethics and codes of practice were one of a number of important areas of

study in public relations.

One recent study examined the impact of ethics instruction (Gale & Bunton, 2005). The

researchers surveyed 242 alumni with majors in public relations or advertising and found that

graduates who had completed a media ethics course were more likely than those who had not to

value ethics more highly, better identify ethical issues, and deem ethical issues to be important in

their professional work.

Despite increasing research into ethics in public relations, we still know relatively little

about ethics pedagogies or practices in the classroom in the U.S. or any country. We know even

less about students knowledge or perceptions of professional ethics. This study contributes to

the literature by exploring perceptions of Russian public relations students regarding their own

understanding of ethics versus those of other Russian and American students.

Public Relations Education in Russia

Since the mid 1990sin Russia, the occupation of public relations manager turned from

being very popular and profitable (Tsetsura, 1999) to prestigious and fashionable (Sovetnik,

2005a). Today, the competition among Russian high school graduates to be accepted into a

university public relations program is intense, often with five applicants or more for each

opening. A public relations career is as desirable now as the traditionally attractive occupations

of economist and lawyer. As one Russian practitioner noted, Weve done too much PR for PR

(Fedorova & Ogar, 2002).

However, this growth in public relations education has been accompanied by some


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difficulties. Fedorova and Ogar (2002) found in their survey of 537 public relations students and

professionals that, as a rule, a Russian university had only one or two qualified public relations

teachers, and only 3% of the faculty had any experience in the public relations field. In addition,

nearly half of the surveyed students said that they were not satisfied with the quality of teaching

in their departments, and about two-thirds noted a lack of good textbooks. The researchers also

found that 70% of public relations students surveyed held full- or part time jobs, and working

students appeared to be motivated more by the desire to acquire professional experience than to

earn money. Interestingly, 44% of survey participants considered public relations a social

science discipline, and 96% wanted to continue raising their level of education after graduation.

A more recent study (Sovetnik, 2005b) found that the majority of Russian public relations

practitioners they surveyed consider the opportunity for self-realization in a creative manner to

be the most attractive trait of their occupation. This finding indicates that despite the fact that

teachers actively use foreign sources in the educational process (Fedorova & Ogar, 2002), public

relations in Russia is viewed as an activity with an artistic spirit rather than simply a job with a

strong technological component, which may be more the perception in the U.S. and Western

Europe. Russian practitioners said their practice is based on intuition, whereas the Western

practice is based more on methodology (Sovetnik, 2004).

However, at least quarter of Russian practitioners said they did not possess sufficient

skills in the use of PR technologies (Sovetnik, 2005b). In another study (Sovetnik, 2004), about

one-third of the student participants wanted to learn more about public relations practice in the

United States, which they consider the founder of public relations and the leader of PR

practice. In the same survey, 28% of participants indicated they were willing to go to the United

States for an internship. As for students of public relations departments of Russian universities,

many of them spend summers participating in the Work and Travel USA program, where they


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become familiar with American culture.

Perceptions of Public Relations Ethics in Russia

Public relations practice consists of a range of acts and actions that presumably lead to

establishing mutually beneficial relations between a company and public. Yet, as Bakhtin (1993)

noted, [T]he irreproachable technical correctness of a performed act does not yet decide the

matter of its moral value (p. 4). Another Russian scholar (Bodalev, 1995) pointed out that moral

development is determined not only by knowledge of ethical norms but also spiritual beliefs, the

personal values, attitudes, and any corresponding behaviors. Discussing public relations ethics,

Russian scholars think that modern public relations is practical philosophy of morality of

modern Russian business (Sinepol & Shkolnikov, 2002). In other words, the public relations

sphere reflects the complexity of nascent capitalistic relations in the country.

Importantly, the market-driven economy with its derivative a developed PR system

might conflict the Russian mass consciousness because, according to Tulchnsky (2001), PR

does not fit well the Russian Orthodox experience. To focus on enhancing an organizations

image, for example, might be seen by Russians as an effort to hide a real face, or to put on a

mask. Moreover, because of cynical manipulation and political propaganda performed at the

initial stage of development of public relations in the 1990s, PR in Russia has become associated

with black PR, which refers to dirty tricks towards opponents and various forms of deception.

Perhaps as a result of this negative connotation for public relations, there is a tendency in Russia

today to rename academic departments frompublic relations departments to departments of

communication management.

Third-Person Effect and Social Distance

Acknowledging the importance of ethics in public relations practice, the present study

investigates Russian public relations students perceptions of ethical issues through the third-


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person effect (TPE). This phenomenonpeople generally perceive others to be more susceptible

to media influence than they arewas first defined and investigated by Davison (1983). Since

then, much research has born out Davidsons (1983) statement that in the view of those trying

to evaluate the effects of communication, its greatest impact will not be on me or you, but on

themthe third persons (p. 3). Although me and you are put in one category, it is

implied that some degree of distance exists between self and such close others as friends and

lovers (Tsfati & Cohen, 2004). More explicit remoteness exists between me and you as a

single unit and them, or others.

The notion of social distance was first introduced by the sociologist Emory Bogardus

(1925), who referred to it as the degrees and grades of understanding and feeling that persons

experience regarding each other (p. 299). Considering the social distance phenomenon as an

aspect of Davisons (1983) third-person perception, Perloff (1993) articulated the notion of

psychological distance as a complex variable including perceived similarity, familiarity, and

identification and pointed out two different ways to conceptualize psychological distance.

First, social distance falls along a continuum going from just like me to not at all like

me (p. 175). Second, social distance reflects the heterogeneity and size of the audience or

group (pp. 175-176). Perloff (1993) noted that researchers studying the social distance

phenomenon have not made explicit the fact that social distance can be conceptualized and

measured in different ways. Nevertheless, Perloff (1993), reviewing 16 studies of the third-

person effect, acknowledged that the TPE is magnified when the hypothetical others are defined

in broad and global terms (p. 176). Thus, in Perloffs (2002) terms, a social distance corollary is

the notion that self-other disparities grow in magnitude with increases in perceived distance

between self and comparison others (p. 497).

To measure estimates of effect on self and others, Brosius and Engel (1996) constructed a


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questionnaire with three independent variables: 1) first person, 2) third person, close distance,

and 3) third person, remote distance. In varying the psychological distance, the researchers found

that perceived effects were greater for remote others. They also found that third-person

effects are found to be most strong among people of higher age and education (p. 160).

Cohen, Mutz, Price, and Gunther (1988) found that Stanford students perceived media

effects to be less on themselves than on other Stanford students; also, other Californians were

considered to be more susceptible to media impact than other Stanford students (p. 169). A

similar study (Gunther, 1991) was done at the University of Minnesota, and the social distance

phenomenon was supported. As groups became more broadly defined (other University of

Minnesota students, other Minnesota residents), participants perception of media effects on the

groups increased. Other studies yielded similar findings (e.g., Duck, Hogg, & Terry, 1995;

Gibbon & Durkin, 1995; White, 1997).

Investigating the third-person effect in regard to political identification, Duck et al.

(1995) found that perception of self-other differences in media vulnerability are influenced by

the subjectively salient social relationship between self and other, and are governed by

motivational needs, such as self-esteem, social-identity, and differentiation from others (p.195).

Other researchers (e.g., Burger, 1981; Schlenker & Miller, 1977) suggested that because of self-

serving biases, a person considers close friends and relatives an extension of self, whereas such a

vague category as other might evoke stereotypes in the mind (Perloff & Fetzer, 1986).

After several studies, the notion of social distance was enshrined as the social distance

corollary (Meirick, 2005). According to Perloffs (1999) review, of the 11 studies that have

tested the social-distance notion, nine confirmed it, articulating this phenomenon as another

factor on which the strength of the third-person effect hinges (p. 364).

Within this theoretical framework, this study examines social distance as it is reflected in


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the perceived ethicality between (a) Russian PR student survey respondents and generalized

other Russian PR students; (b) survey respondents and generalized American PR students; and

(c) generalized other Russian PR students and generalized American PR students. Eveland,

Nathanson, Detenber and McLeod (1999) noted, There is a common tendency for individuals to

express a self-serving out-group biasthat is, to evaluate ones own group more favorably than

the out-group, which might be explained by the need for ego enhancement (p. 277). Also,

Gunther and Thorson (1992) found that when people consider media content positive, they

perceive the effects as being greater on themselves than on others. Accordingly, for this study, a

growing concern about unethical public relations practice of some firms and individuals might

prevent respondents from acknowledging their true degree of ethical awareness.

Hypotheses

Based on the TPE theory and previous research on the social distance corollary, the

following three hypotheses were developed:

H1: Survey respondents will perceive themselves as more ethical than other Russian PR students.

H2: Survey respondents will perceive themselves as more ethical than American PR students.

H3: Survey respondents will perceive generalized other Russian PR students as more ethical than

American PR students.

Method

Participants

Participants in the study were 206 public relations students in two Russian universities,

with 480 and 250 public relations majors respectively. One hundred and twenty five students (19

males and 106 females) were surveyed in the first university, located in a city of 500,000

inhabitants, and 81 students (14 males and 67 females) were surveyed in the second university,

which is located in a city with a population of about one million. Both cities are located in


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Central Russia, and the universities were selected for practical reasons. The first city is the

hometown of one of the researchers, which facilitated access to University students, while the

second university was chosen because the head of the PR program there had participated in a

previous research project and agreed to undertake another initiative. Thus, the sample was a

convenience sample that included all students in selected PR classes where access was granted.

Participant ages ranged from 17 to 26, with a mean of 19 years old (SD=1.53). The

majority of participants (117/206) were 18 and 19 years old. The sample consisted of 55

freshmen, 63 sophomores, 40 juniors, 35 seniors, and 13 fifth year students (higher education in

the Russian Federation requires completion of five years). The fact that only 16 percent of the

overall participants in two studies were males reflects the general situation in the public relations

field in Russia, where the majority of practitioners are women (Tsetsura, 2005). In addition,

statistical data from the universities in which the surveys took place indicate that 21 percent of

all students in the first university were male, and 15 percent of all students in the second

university were male.

Procedures and Questionnaire

The survey required about 20 minutes to complete and was administered in university

classrooms near the end of the spring semester, 2006. Thus, even first year students, who had not

had an ethics course, had some awareness about aspects of public relations ethics after one year

of study. Although various courses at both universities include discussions of ethics, a specially

designed ethics course is mandatory for public relations majors in their third year of study.

Most questions in the survey were used or adapted from the questionnaire developed by

Gale and Bunton (2005) for their study of advertising and public relations graduates in the

United States. Their research examined relationships between ethical awareness and ethical

leadership for graduates who had completed a course in ethics versus those who had not. The


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researchers found that graduates who had completed such a course were more likely to value

ethics highly and to discuss ethical issues with colleagues.

The questionnaire included two parts. The first one consisted of 10 sets of questions (three

questions in each), and the wording was identical except for the first (self), second (other

Russian PR students), or third-person (American PR students) connotation. For example, in the

first set, the question about self was phrased, To me, ethics is a very important topic for

discussion in public relations courses. The other Russians question stated, To other Russian

PR students, ethics is a very important topic for discussion in public relations courses. The third

question in the set was phrased, To American PR students, ethics is a very important topic for

discussion in public relations courses.

On a 5-point, Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree),

respondents were asked to report their perceptions about various aspects of public relations

ethics, as well as their perceptions about how other Russian PR students and American PR

students might perceive these issues. The third-person effect was thus explored in this way.

In addition to the survey questions based on Gale and Bunton (2005), the second part of

the questionnaire included three open-ended questions to provide participants with an

opportunity to express their thoughts about ethics in public relations leadership. Qualitative

assessment of these questions will be included in a subsequent paper.

Though the majority of the participants spoke English, the questionnaire was translated

into Russian by one of the researchers to enhance understanding of the questions. Two Russian

professional journalists then examined the text independently and offered several suggestions for

improvements, which were incorporated into the final survey instrument.

Results

A one-way ANOVA test with self, other Russian PR students, and American PR students


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as three levels of the independent variable, was used to determine the significance of the effects

between comparison groups. A total of 10 tests were conducted; the significance level

established for all tests was .05.

Hypothesis 1 predicted that in regard to ethical issues, the perceived effects on self would

be more than the perceived effects on other Russian PR students. This hypothesis was supported.

The means in Table 1 present a strong pattern in the perception of self as more ethical than

generalized Russian counterparts. There were statistically significant differences in each test with

self versus other Russian PR students.

The second hypothesis predicted that respondents would perceive themselves as more

ethical than American PR students. The means on Table 1 indicates a pattern that generally

supports hypothesis 2: nine of ten tests were statistically significant. The test that did not yield a

statistically significant difference concerned perceptions of personal and professional ethics as an

indistinguishable phenomenon (set of questions #6), F(2,62) = 78.68,p < .05.

Hypothesis 3 predicted that respondents would perceive other Russian PR students as

more ethical than American PR students. This hypothesis was not supported. Only one of 10

tests was statistically significant, and, as indicated by Table 1, six of the nine non significant

tests were in the predicted direction. Thus, surveyed Russian PR students did not distinguish

between generalized other Russian PR students and American PR students.

T-tests did not indicate significant differences based on respondent demographics such as

age, level of education and completion of a course in ethics. In addition, answers did not differ

significantly between students at the two Russian universities. However, several significant

differences were found by gender. For example, more females than males said that ethics were

not cut and dried when participants evaluated other Russian PR students perceptions of this

issue, t=2.10,p


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PR students in general think that business ethics and personal ethics are two different things,

t=2.03,p


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be concerned with the social

impact of its actions. 4.5 0.6 4.1 0.7 3.9 0.8 39.54

8. In business if it is legal,

its OK (ethical). 2.4 1.1 2.8 0.8 3.2 0.8 35.26

9. A PR-leader needs to be ethical

in all relations with personnel

and clients. 4.4 0.8 3.8 0.9 3.7 0.8 41.82

10. A PR-leader who obeys ethical

rules will have greater professional

success. 4.0 1.0 3.6 0.8 3.5 0.8 18.88

____________________________________________________________________________Note. Responses were measured on a 5-point scale. Higher score means higher degree of ethicality.

Discussion

Brosius andEngel (1996) stated that the third-person effect is not dependent on whether

there are media effects or not. It is a perceptual phenomenon (p. 143). It might be implied that

while assessing vulnerability of others, people are unconsciously revealing their own

susceptibility, which they do not admit if the question is self phrased. In this study, students

agreed with positive statements designed to measure their perception of ethics and disagreed

with the same statements related to others people, particularly, to Russian PR students in general.

This is important because the two universities students served as virtual other Russians for

each other while filling out the questionnaire.

According to Brosius and Engel (1996), perception of similarity between oneself and a

friend as an in-group member positively influences estimation of media effects. Although

Russian counterparts cannot be taken as such psychologically close people as friends, there was


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an assumption that participants would distinguish them more clearly from such psychologically

distant others as American PR students. The reason for this assumption was that besides reading

professional magazines about students life within the country, participants of the study

communicate with other Russians while attending national public relations conferences and

seminars and participating in student competitions. Thus, they have an opportunity to know

Russian counterparts better and, presumably, develop the feeling of belonginess to one group

of professionals.

At the same time, participants demonstrated what Brosius and Engels (1996) called

unrealistic optimism (p. 145), which is related to ego enhancement. According to Duck et al.

(1995), the tendency to perceive self as invulnerable even in comparison with in-group members

is consistent with the egocentric categorization model, which states that the cognitive

differentiation between oneself and other people is much clearer than the cognitive

differentiation between different others (p. 211). Consistent with this statement, participants of

this study showed only a slight difference in perceived ethicality of other Russian and American

public relations students. However, even though this result is consistent with the egocentric

categorization model, there is still the need for a more in depth investigation of the situation from

a cultural standpoint.

For example, is it possible that a popular United States scale like the Likert-type, 5-point

scale is too narrow for Russian students? Would it be more appropriate to use a 7- or even 10-

point scale? Also, some differences in teaching public relations courses might explain why

participants distanced themselves from both groups of studentsRussian and American. For

example,some PR instructors in Russia focus on theoretical aspects of ethics, believing that

public relations professionals should be familiar with ethics of Socrates, Epicure, Kant, and other

great thinkers. Other instructors concentrate on applied ethics, or how ethics are incorporated in


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the everyday activities of professionals. In addition to course content differences, teachers also

use a variety of pedagogies, which may affect student perceptions, attitudes, and understanding.

Brosius and Engel (1996) suggested further that it is important to find out how the third-

person effect connects with other identified self-other phenomena. They suggested that the

false uniqueness effect should be considered as being related to third-person effect (p. 159-

160). This phenomenon is also known as false distinctiveness (Valins & Nisbett, 1972) and

the uniqueness bias (Goethals, Messick, & Allison, 1991). According to Goethals et al. (1991),

uniqueness bias is the tendency for people to underestimate the proportion of people who can or

will perform desirable actions (p. 149). As a consequence, people in general perceive their own

behaviors as either uniquely or uncommonly good.

Studying high school students, Goethals et al. (1991), found that uniqueness bias was

greater for advanced placement students than for students in regular classes. Since the public

relations occupation is a prestigious one in Russia, it seems likely that participants in the present

study would experience the same feeling of pride and uniqueness as the advanced placement

students in Goethals et al. (1991) study did. Therefore, a perceived psychological distance

between the participants and two groups of Russian and American students might be taken as a

reflection of the special status of the public relations profession in the country.

It is logical to ask, why didnt study participants include other Russians in the

exceptional category when it came to evaluating their ethicality? One possible explanation stems

from the negative perception of public relations in Russian society. Indeed, PR in Russia is a

twofold phenomenon: it is highly desirable in spite of its questionable credibility. Public

professionals still practice three types of PR: black, grey, and white. Black practice

refers to unethical technologies, or as Bobrov (2005) put it, to manipulative forms of

communication that presumes goals of agitation, whereas grey PR follows the rule, If it is not


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prohibited by the law, it is permitted. Professionals, who practice white PR, are dedicated to

professional norms that are based on ethics. It might be presumed that distinguishing themselves

so obviously from generalized Russian PR students, the participants of the study distanced

themselves from those who practice black and grey PR.

Findings here also suggest the need to explore relations between the third-person effect and

the Russian collectivist culture. According to Stephan and Stephan (1996),

Collectivist cultures emphasize group over individual goals and regulate behavior

through ingroup rather than individual norms. Collectivists are more likely than

individualists to behave differently to ingroup than to outgroup members, regulate the

behavior of ingroup members, and define the self in terms of the ingroup (p. 119).

In the present study, the surveyed students demonstrated a reverse effect, showing that I

is more important than we, which is routinely taken as a sign of individualistic cultures.

However, even if a culture is distinguished as collectivistic, there still is room for varying

degrees of individualism in self-perceptions (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). In the case under

consideration, individualistic traits seem to be challenging such a fundamental dimension of

collectivist cultures as connectedness. Future research is needed to determine if this effect is due

to robustness and persuasiveness of the third person effect, or other factors, e.g., a negative

shadow of PR-practice in the country may have made the participants distance themselves from

other Russians.

In regard to American PR students, perceived psychological distance might be explained

by physical distance. In spite of the prevalence of American textbooks in school curricula,

Russian students are being taught to be careful in applying foreign experiences to Russian

practice (Bobrov, personal communication, September 17, 2006). Importantly, this process is

going on against a country-wide background that emphasizes the national uniqueness of Russia,


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which is explained by the need for an idea that will unite and strengthen the nation in the difficult

period of political, economic, and social turbulence.

The question that yielded the highest score in this study (M=4.5; SD=0.6) was positively

phrased and asked the participants if the management of a company should be concerned with

the social impact of its actions. The lowest score (M=2.0; SD=0.7) was received on a question

that was negatively phrased was, Ethics is cut and dry, not situation specific. Importantly, both

these scores were demonstrated in self-phrased tests. It appears that for the participants, it was

less problematic to assess their own perceptions of the issues than to evaluate insights of others.

This was evident during the administration of the survey, when some students articulated their

uncertainty about others attitude toward ethics in public relations profession. Doubts were

reduced by telling the participants that this survey was not so much about their concrete

knowledge as about their perceptions.

The only test that did not yield a statistically significant difference in perception of social

distance between the participants and generalized American PR students concerned personal and

professional ethics as an indistinguishable phenomenon (set of questions #6). Presumably,

demonstrating less distance between themselves and Americans, the participants discriminated

themselves from other Russians, who might have been associated with black PR.

On the other hand, the only test that yielded a statistically significant difference in the

pair, other Russians versus generalized Americans was phrased, In business if it is legal,

its OK (ethical). Bobrov (personal communication, September 17, 2006), commenting on this

result, suggested that Russian participants may have expressed a stereotyped perception of

Americans as money and business oriented people.

Consistent with previous research (Bowen, 2005b), this study found differences in the

perceptions of ethics on the basis of gender. First, evaluating their own views, more female


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participants than males said that professional success in PR leadership depends on adherence to

ethical rules. Second, females revealed more favorable attitudes while assessing other Russian

PR students perceptions of ethical issues in such sets of questions as Ethics is cut and dry, not

situation specific, Business ethics and personal ethics are two different things, and A PR-

leader who obeys ethical rules will have greater professional success. No gender differences

were found with regard to participants insights about generalized American PR students.

Conclusion

This study investigated whether Russian public relations students perceived themselves

as different from other Russian public relations students and American public relations students

with respect to professional ethics. The study shows that students perceived themselves as more

ethical than the two other groups. The results also indicated a perceived social distance between

the two pairs: surveyed studentsgeneral Russian students and surveyed studentsAmerican

peers. However, there were no a substantial difference between these pairs.

It might be assumed that in this research, two opposite phenomenagenerally negative

perception of PR practice in the country and a high prestige of PR occupation, which results in

the feeling of uniqueness of those who are study PRmagnify the third person effect by making

the participants distance themselves substantially from others. Overall, the study found some

evidence of the existence of the perceived social distance among Russian public relations

students. Yet, the findings of this study cannot be generalized to the rest of the population

because of the convenience sample. This research also examined perceptual variables rather than

any actual measured ethicality.

Nevertheless, it is useful to know how Russian students perceive themselves in regard to

ethicality today, when concern about the lack of ethical behavior among many public relations

practitioners in Russia is a contested issue. In addition, the study underscores the need for more


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research focused on ethics instructioncourse content, effective pedagogies and outcomesin

public relations educational programs if such programs do, in fact, favorably influence

professional ethics.

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Documents

Pr Ethics in Russia (Back Up)