Nair, PriyaKamalanabhan, T. J.2019-09-252019-09-252010-11-2420101940-1485http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12424/175980In recent times, incidents of financial frauds by promoters with the connivance of top management have shocked and disappointed the corporate world. Such instances generate a pertinent question, what factors trigger such unprincipled behavior on the part of professional managers? We undertook a vignette study to examine if cynical attitudes could predict unethical intentions among Indian managers when faced with a range of ethical dilemmas. Cynicism—the belief that others are engaging in unethical acts or that unethical behavior is common or normal—has been found to predict unethical intentions. The study is an empirical evidence of the hypothesis that general and organizational cynicism influence ethical intentions. Hierarchical regression analysis on a sample of 199 Indian managers from different organizations provides strong evidence for the assumption of this study, i.e., the moderating role of level of management between organizational cynicism and ethical intentions. A three-way interaction effect was found, whereby managers working at middle and senior level management positions at higher levels of organizational cynicism were less unethical than managers at the junior management positions.engWith permission of the license/copyright holdermanagementethicscynicismmanagers ethicsEconomic ethicsBusiness ethicsArticle