The Effects of Social Networks on Group Moral Reasoning in the Royal Netherlands Army

This article discusses the impact of social networks on moral reasoning. Recent models of ethical behaviour have focussed on the characteristics of individuals, issues and organisations. In line with Brass Butterfield and Skaggs (1998) this study argues that these perspectives fail to incorporate an important angle, namely the relationship between involved actors. Using social network analysis on operational military groups (N = 15), this study investigates the influence of relationship density and relationship power on moral reasoning. Also the study examines whether these relationship structures are influenced by group development. Findings show that the social network properties influence moral reasoning by creating a similarity within groups. No support was found for the influence of informal leaders or of group development. The implications of these findings are discussed for further research on moral reasoning, social networks and group leadership