Ethical Perspective

You tend to base your ethical perspective on the results or consequences of your actions. You believe that conduct should be directed toward promoting the greatest good for the greatest number of persons. In judging whether an individual's actions are ethical, you look for concrete evidence. It is not enough for an individual to "talk the talk." Results are needed to indicate that she/he is "walking the walk." In your opinion, what really counts in ethical debates is the "bottom line." Discussions about process and principles are not as important as what is ultimately achieved for the overall good of society. The goal of ethics is to achieve the greatest possible good for society as a whole. This category is most closely aligned in philosophy with a utilitarian theory of ethics (Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill). YOUR ETHICAL STYLE
You believe that we each have a moral right to experience the "good life." This "goodness" can be measured, in part, by the level of satisfaction expressed by the majority of the persons who make up our society. If most people are unhappy, something is morally wrong and needs to be fixed. Therefore, your approach to ethics is likely to focus on what could be done to improve the well-being of the greatest number of persons. One approach might be to develop rules of ethical conduct for people to follow, along with corresponding sanctions, in order to achieve what is best for society as a whole. Another quite different approach might be to improve overall satisfaction by creating a more pleasant environment in which people enjoy learning and working together for the betterment of society. With either approach, your ethical style demands that you achieve measurable results.FRUSTRATIONS YOU FACE IN ADDRESSING ETHICAL DILEMMAS The inability to adequately measure the far-reaching impacts of an ethical decision may compel you to focus your decision making on the immediate scope of the problem, thereby creating conflicts with those who are not results-oriented.You are frustrated by the wide variety of competing views regarding what is good for society as a whole and by the process used to determine whose view ultimately prevails.In attempting to maximize the general good, you will, at some point, need to decide whether your goal is to improve the total benefit to society as a whole (the aggregate) or the total benefit per person within society (the average). This definition will have a direct impact on your approach to ethical decision making.People who cling to the idealistic notion of protecting the interests of some minority of the population may stand in the way of achieving the good life for the majority.People you work with may not share your ethical approach, thereby interfering with your ability to achieve the desired results.What is best for the greater good of society may not be best for you.Remember to refer to the BLENDED CATEGORIES section if your second highest score is within one or two points of your highest score. The final step in the exploration of ETHICS AWARENESS using the inventory is a review of some of the pertinent questions associated with ethical decision making. No matter which ethical perspectives you were referred to by the results of the ETHICS AWARENESS INVENTORY and no matter what your ethical style, the important thing to understand is that we all face situations in which we must choose what we believe is "right." Contrary to recent attempts to present "value-neutral" research and education, when faced with an ethical decision, we all believe that there are "right" and "wrong" answers. This does not mean, however, that we will all arrive at the same answer. Therefore, it is critical to develop a process to guide our struggle in making ethical decisions—one that will allow us to consider a variety of aspects that affect not only our immediate decisions but its effect on other people. You may access pertinent questions associated with this process in the ETHICAL DECISION MAKING section.