The purpose of this study is to examine whether ethical reasoning behavior is influenced by the three personal characteristics: years of experiences, age and gender. Three hypotheses were formulated. Questionnaires were sent to 1,500 managers and executive within the small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. A total of 744 usable questionnaires were returned, yielding a response rate of 49.6%. Factor analysis was initially conducted to identify the major ethical reasoning dimensions, and these dimensions were then used as a basis for determining the effects of personal characteristics on the ethical reasoning behavior. Overall, it was found that SMEs executives and manager think and reason ethically varied from their age and years of experience. While we failed to prove the linear relationship (either positive or negative) between these two variables and the ethical reasoning behavior, respondents aged between 46 to 50 years old are found to score highest on the ethical reasoning evaluation. Female and male respondents have slight difference in ethical reasoning. The implications and suggestions for future research are presented.

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