Exploring the Interaction of Self Narratives with Other Perception - Relevance for Managerial Anthropology and Business Ethics

Abstract

Narrative self understanding is becoming more prominent as a field of research in human behaviour, and is particularly interesting for business ethicists who wish to look into behavioural ethics. The way a person possesses his own story can affect his perception of others and his understanding of what is due to them from him. It can therefore affect his capacity to treat them with justice and fairness. This paper looks at the self narratives of twenty subjects vis-à-vis their perceptions of a common event (as a proxy of their judgements of others which therefore would influence their relations with others). It thus uses a qualitative method of textual analysis to examine the relationship between the way a person perceives and describes himself or herself and the way he or she perceives others. The study throws light on an important aspect that needs to be included in curricula of managerial anthropology and of business ethics.