The Individual Manager and Ethical Choices

When determining a person's level of moral development, Kohlberg asked the person to read real$-$life dilemmas similar to the one that follows. He was not interested in whether a person saw a particular act as being ethical or unethical, but rather in the reasoning a person used to come to his or her conclusion.

Read the scenario and answer the question that follows.

Amy's roommate, Brian, invites her to a frat party that some friends are hosting. Amy decides to stay home and work on a term paper due later that week. At some point in the evening, Brian stumbles home and passes out in the hallway. When Amy finds him, he is completely unresponsive. After several attempts to wake him, Amy calls $911$ and accompanies her roommate to the hospital. She explains what happened to her professor the next morning but can't get an extension on the paper. When she tells Brian, he says, "I took that class a few semesters ago. You can use my paper. Think of it as my way of thanking you." Should Amy accept his offer?

Which of the following responses best represents reasoning from the preconventional level?

She shouldn't plagiarize, but I$\text{'}$d like to think that her professor could make an exception to the rule regarding late papers. I mean. should