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Ethics Awareness Inventory - Gain New Insight Into Your Ethical Perspective
Your 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 reaching an ethical decision 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. For additional research: This category is most closely aligned in philosophy with a utilitarian theory of ethics
(See Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill).
Remember to review the BLENDED CATEGORIES section if your second highest score is within one or two points of your highest score.

Your Ethical Style
You believe that we each have a moral right to experience the “good life.” One way to measure how good life really is would be to determine how satisfied the majority of the people in our society seem to be. 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
9 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.
9 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.
9 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.
9 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.
9 People you work with may not share your ethical approach, thereby interfering with your ability to achieve the desired results.
9 What is best for the greater good of society may not be best for you
For more information on The Williams Institute:

www.ethics-twi.org

info@ethics-twi.org

480-517-1891

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