What are the steps 5 to ethical decision-making?

5 Steps: Identify, Gather, Multiple, Act, Reflect

Step 1. I: Identify the ethical issue (and your typical approach)

Are you aware of the ethics involved in the situation? Are you aware of how you and others typically approach decisions about what is right? It is important to recognize that many of our decisions have an ethical component. Not just very large or complex dilemmas like the death penalty or euthanasia, but also daily decisions such as “Should I share my true feelings about my friend’s new haircut the day before their big interview?”, “What should I recycle?”, “Should I get up and workout or sleep longer?”, “Should I steal a jet and fly to Indonesia for a hot stone massage?” (Spoiler alert: hopefully that last one is not an everyday decision for you.) As Prentice mentions: “Studies demonstrate that people are more likely to make poor ethical choices when they are barely aware that a decision has an ethical aspect.” Take5 each day to observe your emotions, gut reactions and thought processes. This will help you identify the ethical components of your decisions. Click HERE for a video and more information about identifying ethical issues.

5 Steps: Identify, Gather, Multiple, Act, Reflect

Step 2. G: Gather facts

Do you really have all the relevant facts? What evidence can help with our decisions?  Where is the weight of that evidence? Do our facts come from good and reliable sources or are they mostly from unconfirmed internet postings, misinformation, fake news, personal biases (e.g. self-serving bias) or that guy who’s always looking under tables for used gum? (Yeah, we know one of those guys too.)

5 Steps: Identify, Gather, Multiple, Act, Reflect

Step 3. M: Multiple approaches (see Ethicspectrum)

Not sure what’s right? Look to the 5Cs on the back of the Ethics Card. Rushworth Kidder talks about Right vs. Wrong decisions and Right vs. Right decisions. Sometimes we clearly know what is right, but need the wisdom and courage to act (see Step 4 below). Other times we are not sure what’s right. This may be because there are good aspects of multiple options and/or because we are biased in some way. There are some very well-respected approaches from the field of moral philosophy that can help when we are unsure about what’s right. The 5th C “Consult” emphasizes the importance of recognizing harmful intuitions or biases that can affect our ability to make decisions, including social and organizational pressures (also know as Behavioral Ethics). Each of the 5Cs has pros and cons. Considering multiple approaches can help us take advantage of the strengths and balance out the weaknesses of these well-respected approaches.

5 Steps: Identify, Gather, Multiple, Act, Reflect

Step 4. A: Act

Know what’s right, but need to move to action? Seeing the right path doesn’t necessarily lead to taking the right path. We need to actually follow through and act ethically (moving from theory to practice), often in consultation with others. Once we know what we should do, we must: 1. be motivated to actually do it (care about doing the right thing) and 2. follow through with action. This may be easy at times and at other times may require great courage. Click HERE for a video and more information about the motivation to act. Click HERE for a video and more information about following through with action. During this step it is once again essential to be aware of harmful biases and social and organizational pressures that can greatly impact our behavior. For a series of entertaining videos and information about these biases and pressures see: Ethics Unwrapped, Concepts Unwrapped

5 Steps: Identify, Gather, Multiple, Act, Reflect

Step 5. R: Reflect

What can you learn from this process? After we have acted it can be essential to pause and “Take5” to reflect so that we can learn from our experiences for the future. Taking time to think about what happened, and how we decided to act, can help us to continue to make positive changes. Then we can start the 5 step process over as we continue to work to become ethically fit. Note: Reflection should be infused throughout all 5 steps.

Note: Remember that when you put the 1st letter of each of the 5 steps together it spells IGMAR. Also see our Ethics Card.

How long should this 5 step process take? The more familiar we are with these steps, the more quickly we can implement them. Remember when you first learned to read, drive or play a sport (or that time you trained to become a ninja)? It took a lot of concentrated effort at first, but over time certain things became habit and you could do them much more quickly (like silently climbing a tree and camouflaging yourself with foliage). It’s the same with ethics. Practice over time can help a great deal. You may be doing many aspects of these 5 steps unconsciously already.

There is also strong research based evidence for the power of taking time to reflect about ethical decisions:

“Experiment 2 examined both reflection and reasoning by examining the effects of argument strength and deliberation time on moral judgment. Consistent with the influence of reasoned reflection, we found that a strong argument was more persuasive than a weak one, but only when subjects were encouraged to reflect… these results suggest that it is possible to persuade people by appealing to their ‘heads’ as well as their ‘hearts.’” (Paxton, Ungar and Greene, 2011)

Understanding what IS vs. what OUGHT to be: In order to increase our chances of living and leading ethically, it is important to consider how we should live and lead and how we actually do live and lead (i.e. how the world “is” is not always related to how it “ought” to be).

For example, just because we know that we should workout:

• “Working out really gives me an energy boost and helps me feel like a responsible person”
• “Working out helps to reduce health care costs”

… does not mean we will understand the factors that affect whether or not we actually do workout…

• “I’m much more likely to workout if my friend is going too”
• “I sometimes trick myself into thinking I’ll work out later in the week, when deep down I know I won’t”

On the other hand, just because we know what factors impact whether or not we actually do workout…

• “If I get my workout clothes out before I go to bed I am much more likely to get up to workout”
• “I’ve learned that I workout more often when I reward myself with a special snack only if I worked out at least 3 times that week”

… does not mean that we will understand why we should workout…

• “If everyone worked out at least 30minutes a day we could really reduce the incidence of heart disease”
• “Working out improves my mood and increases my ability to be there for my friends and family”

The same is true with ethics. Just because we understand what we should do, does not mean that we will actually do it. On the other hand, just because we understand what factors impact what we actually do, does not mean that we understand what we should do.

Take5.gmu.edu is committed to focusing on both how we should live and lead and how we actually do live and lead (theory and practice), since they are both indispensable. The 5 steps above incorporate ideas about how we should live and lead and how we actually do live and lead.

In this module, we provide some guiding principles, and pathways to help guide ethical decision-making. These are a series of basic questions that should be asked when confronted with ethical dilemmas. These are often complex situations with no clear-cut resolution, and without a right or wrong answer. But these decision-making processes will go a long way towards helping all of us make informed decisions that can justify consequent actions.

Ethical Reasoning Can Be Taught: Ethical reasoning is a way of thinking about issues of right and wrong. Processes of reasoning can be taught, and school is an appropriate place to teach them. the reason that, although parents and religious schools may teach ethics, they don ot always teach ethical reasoning. See the article by: Sternberg, Robert J. Teaching for Ethical Reasoning in Liberal Education. Liberal Education 96.3 (2010): 32-37.

And, like learning to play baseball or play the violin, it's important to practice early and often. So, let's get started:

Beneficence

Beneficence is the concept that scientific research should have as a goal the welfare of society. It is rooted in medical research, the central tenet is "do no harm" (and corollaries remove harm, prevent harm, optimize benefits, "do good"). For a more expansive introduction to beneficence, see the essay on The Principles of Beneficence in Applied Ethics from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Some simple guiding questions in applying the concept of beneficence to ethical dilemmas include:

• Who benefits?
• Who are the stakeholders?
• Who are the decision-makers?
• Who is impacted?
• What are the risks?

Take a look at the video on Causing Harm--"Causing harm explores the different types of harm that may be caused to people or groups and the potential reasons we may have for justifying these harms." From "Ethics Unwrapped", McCombs School of Business, University of Texas-Austin.

A 7-STep Guide to Ethical Decision-Making

The following is a summary of: Seven-step guide to ethical decision-making (Davis, M. (1999) Ethics and the university, New York: Routledge, p. 166-167.

1. State the problem.
   • For example, "there's something about this decision that makes me uncomfortable" or "do I have a conflict of interest?".
2. Check the facts.
   • Many problems disappear upon closer examination of the situation, while others change radically.
   • For example, persons involved, laws, professional codes, other practical constraints
3. Identify relevant factors (internal and external).
4. Develop a list of options.
   • Be imaginative, try to avoid "dilemma"; not "yes" or" no" but whom to go to, what to say.
5. Test the options. Use some of the following tests:
   • harm test: Does this option do less harm than the alternatives?
   • publicity test: Would I want my choice of this option published in the newspaper?
   • defensibility test: Could I defend my choice of this option before a congressional committee or committee of peers?
   • reversibility test: Would I still think this option was a good choice if I were adversely affected by it?
   • colleague test: What do my colleagues say when I describe my problem and suggest this option as my solution?
   • professional test: What might my profession's governing body for ethics say about this option?
   • organization test: What does my company's ethics officer or legal counsel say about this?
6. Make a choice based on steps 1-5.
7. Review steps 1-6. How can you reduce the likelihood that you will need to make a similar decision again?
   • Are there any cautions you can take as an individual (and announce your policy on question, job change, etc.)?
   • Is there any way to have more support next time?
   • Is there any way to change the organization (for example, suggest policy change at next departmental meeting)?

A Seven Step Process for Making Ethical Decisions--An example from the "Orientation to Energy and Sustainability Policy" course at Penn State.

A related guide to ethical decision making can be found at Kansas University Iinternatinoal Center for Ethics in Business.

Additional Approaches to Ethical Decision Making

Shaun Taylor's presentation: Geoethics Forums (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 380kB Jun11 14), given at the 2014 Teaching GeoEthics workshop, provided a simple model to help students engage Ethical Decision-Making that includes a) the context/facts of the situation, b) the stakeholders, c) the decision-makers, d) these inform a number of alternate choices, e) that are mediated through the evaluation of impacts and negotiations among the parties, that lead to f) selection of an optimal choice. Taylor provides guidance for what makes a good ethical dilemma discussion, including:

• Trust, respect, disagreement without personal attacks
• Being judgmental vs. making a judgment
• Emphasize process vs. conclusion
• Uncertainty is OK
• Description then prescription

Teaching Activity: GeoEthics Forums--The Grey Side of Green (a guide for ethics decision making)

Daniel Vallero also addressed ethical decision making in his presentation at the 2014 Teaching GeoEthics workshop, and defines this 6-step approach to ethical decision making:

1. State or define the problem/issue
2. Gather information ("facts") from all sides
3. Delineate all possible resolutions.
4. Apply different values, rules, principles, regulations to the different options.
5. Resolve conflicts among values, rules, etc.
6. Make a decision and act.

The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University provides additional context and advice for ethical decision-making. They have identified five sources of ethical standards (the utilitarian approach, the rights approach, the fairness or justice approach, the common good approach, and the virtue approach.Their framework for Ethical Decision making includes: Recognize the Ethical Issue, Get the Facts, Evaluate Alternative Actions, Make a Decision and Test it, Act and Reflect on the Outcome.

Reviews of the literature on ethical decision-making can be found at:

• O'Fallon, M.J., and Butterfield, K.D., 2005, A Review of the Empirical Ethical Decision-Making Literature: 1996-2003, Journal of Business Ethics vol 59 #4, p. 375-413; https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-005-2929-7
• Robert C. Ford and Woodrow D. Richardson (2013) Ethical Decision Making: A Review of the Empirical Literature, In: Michalos A., Poff D. (eds) Citation Classics from the Journal of Business Ethics. Advances in Business Ethics Research (A Journal of Business Ethics Book Series), vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht
• Cottone, R. R. and Claus, R. E. (2000), Ethical Decision‐Making Models: A Review of the Literature. Journal of Counseling & Development, 78: 275-283. doi:10.1002/j.1556-6676.2000.tb01908.x

The American Counseling Association has published their A Practitioner's Guide to Ethical Decision Making (Acrobat (PDF) 20kB Jun18 18) (1995) authored by Holly Forester-Miller, Ph.D. and Thomas Davis, Ph.D.

Assessment of Ethical Reasoning, Values, Moral Thinking

• Assessment--Measuring Students' Moral Development -- from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions (suggestions on types of graded assignments, advice on grading assignments, assessment of program effectiveness, and a bibliography)
• Assessment and Evaluation -- from the National Academy of Engineering, Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science; -- recommended criteria and rubrics for assessing student learning and an annotated bibliography!
• Ethical Reasoning Value Rubric -- from the Association of American Colleges and Universities
• Ethics Assessment Rubric -- from the University of Minnesota-Duluth, School of Business
• Ethical Reasoning in Action: Validity Evidence for the Ethical Reasoning Identification Test (ERIT)--Smith, K., Fulcher, K. & Sanchez, E.H. J Bus Ethics (2015). doi:10.1007/s10551-015-2841-8
• Carpenter, D. D., Harding, T. S., Finelli, C. J., & Passow, H. J. (2004). Does academic dishonesty relate to unethical behavior in professional practice? An exploratory study. Science and Engineering Ethics, 10(2), 311â€"324.
• Additional insights about mastery of ethical decision-making can be found at ETH2228 - SECTION 6: BEST PRACTICE MODELS OF ETHICAL DECISION MAKING from YourCEUS.com, Continuing Education for Social Workers.

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