Discovering Your Ethical Type!
This activity addresses module outcomes 1-3. Upon completion of this activity, you will be able to:
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Identify and describe your ethical decision making preference (CO1) ;
Identify and describe the advantages and disadvantages of each preference (CO1);
Analyze how your ethical type influences your approach to ethical issues at the individual, institutional, and international level (CO1).
You are now ready to take The Ethical Type Indicator and engage in an online discussion with your classmates.
The purpose of this activity is to take The Ethical Type Indicator to determine your personal ethical preference(s) and to share your scored preference(s) and what it means to you and how you deal with ethical issues. You should have already ordered and taken The Ethical Type Indicator. NOTE: There is a charge for this instrument.
Larimer, Louis V. The Ethical type indicator, HRD Press, Inc., Amherst, MA, 2003. (http://www.hrdpress.com/Ethical-Type-Indicator-On-Line (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.)
If you have a hard copy of the book, turn to the instructions in the book, The Ethical Type Indicator. Answer the 42 descriptive statements on the answer sheet, transfer your answers to the sheet on page 6 and then plot your scores on page 7. You should then read the sections of the book on interpreting the scores (pages 8-16). Of course, you will want to read the section in which you score the highest but you should also read the entire section about the various types. Think about how you scored and reflect on what this means to you. How would the different types meet ethical dilemmas? Before scoring your individual scores, which ethical type do you think represents you? You will discuss your individual scores in an online discussion with your classmates.
You may also go online and answer the questions and shortly after you submit your indicator, you will receive a summary of your type based upon your responses
Questions
After assessing your own ethical type, please respond to the following questions in your initial post:
What did you discover was your ethical type preference? Did this surprise you? Why or why not?
Does your ethical type, as indicated by the Ethical Type Indicator tool, reflect how you resolved ethical or moral issues in the past? Why or why not?
What other ethical types have merit for you? Why do they appeal to you?
Module 2: Module Notes: The Ethical Reasoning Process
Why do we want to look at our own ethical type and what shapes us? Do you know your ethical type? Can you identify and defend the ethical principles that you draw upon for decision making? How do you resolve ethical and moral dilemmas at work, at play, and in your community? In this module, we will use a tool titled, The Ethical Type Indicator (Louie V. Larimer, 2003), to self-assess our ethical preferences. We will use this information to better understand ourselves, how we make decisions and why, and to understand the ethics and morals of others. Then we will apply ethical decision-making at the strategic level.
The study of ethics generally refers to the study of standards for judging the rightness or wrongness of conduct. The choice you make in any given ethical dilemma is a function of your personality, moral character, inner strength, personal core values, internal sense of what is right and wrong, moral courage, integrity, honor, and ethical fitness. These qualities are the result of several competing influences: family, peers, friends, education, religious/spiritual beliefs, culture, worldly experiences, the media, and even unconscious motivations and influence. Reasoning and choice are critical to the study of ethics. Do you know your core ethical and moral values?
Ethics is about trying to separate right from wrong, honor from shame, virtue from vice. It is the studied search for wisdom and an inquiry into what we ought to do. Some other terms related to ethics are integrity and character. Integrity refers to a quality or state of unimpaired condition of being sound, whole, complete, undivided; strict adherence to a moral code of values. Character is the sum of one’s thoughts and feelings, tempered by one’s conscious choices (i.e., the exercise of free will), and manifested, revealed, and demonstrated by one’s personal conduct and behavior. A person with integrity and character will know right from wrong and have high ethical standards.
Consider the scandal caused by Bernie Madoff (a mock credit card, called the “Bernie Madoff Card,” is on the right). Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for investment fraud for defrauding thousands out of billions of dollars. The Madoff Ponzi Scheme is considered to be the largest financial fraud in history.
Ethics, integrity, and character can prevent and deter unlawful and unethical conduct. How often have we heard that there was poor organizational climate or a lack of leadership when problems arose within the organization? Can or should ethics be taught in settings outside the home? There are many things that create a person’s ethical being and are constantly evolving. Your intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual components are not static. They change in response to new knowledge and worldly experience. Ethical knowledge will give you a better framework from which to analyze an ethical dilemma and consciously choose a path that will lead you to an ethical solution. What are the dominant ethical influences in your life? Family? Peers? Education? Media? Worldly Experience? Religious/spiritual teachings? Conditioned reflexes? Reflective judgment (a disciplined process of pausing, reasoning, weighing the alternatives, and sorting out various conditioned reflexes before acting)?
When confronted with a moral or ethical dilemma, you will begin by falling back on your background and the emotions that shaped you. It is first and foremost an emotional journey that will battle with your intellectual reasoning. To solve ethical dilemmas, you will want to use both your emotions and your intellect. Knowing your ethical beliefs and core values will be there to guide you. You also have free will which gives you the ability to control your thoughts, emotions, and behavior. So, you have the ability to choose which path to take. Of course, you will be able to ratify or change your decision as part of the process. This is the process of ethical reasoning.The Ethical Type Indicator (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., developed by Louie V. Larimer is a tool that can begin the process for your own self-discovery.
One of the major reasons for knowing your ethical type and perhaps the types of others is to be able to make ethical decisions for your organization. There are many frameworks out there to help you step through the process. Most of them follow the same path. On page 27 of Larimer’s, The Ethical Type Indicator, he lays out his 12-step process. It is akin to the scientific method of research where you gather the data, consider options, test each decision by checking in with your own ethical belief system and values, and then make a decision and act upon it. Another framework you might find helpful (although similar) comes from the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Explore their website and review the information about the framework for decision making. Be sure to check out the application for making ethical decisions (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. also developed by the Markkula Center.
References
Larimer, L.V. (2003). The ethical type indicator. Amherst, MA. HRD Press, Inc.
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics (May, 2009). A Framework for Ethical Decision Making. Retrieved from https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/a-framework-for-ethical-decision-making/).
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Making an Ethical Decision: A practical tool for thinking through tough choices. Retrieved from https://legacy.scu.edu/ethics/ethical-decision/
To discover your ethical type, we will turn to one of many measurement instruments, The Ethical Type Indicator, created by Louie V. Larimer. After finishing the instrument, you will use the information for an online discussion about your ethical type and what that knowledge might mean to you. The purpose of this activity is for you to assess your preference for ethical decision-making by using this one tool (there are others). This will give you awareness into how you resolve ethical dilemmas and provide you with some insight into your own ethical beliefs and values.
