How do you approach ethical situations?
Take the Values of the Wise™ Ethical Decision-Making Guide.

Each statement below represents one of the 22 "Ethical Approaches" that together make up the entire Ethical Decision-Making Guide.

Please check the number that best describes your attraction to the following statements, with "1" meaning "absolutely none" and "10" meaning "an enthusiastic yes!" 

In other words, how much you agree with or appreciate the statements on a scale of 1-10. It should take no longer than thirty minutes.  When you have finished, you will receive immediate feedback ranking various ethical approaches.

a) An act is right if I have a good reason for doing it

b) I always know when something is wrong because it goes against what I believe to be right

c) I trust myself to know when a decision I make is actually good, even when a lot of other people disagree with me

d) I have my own standards that help me decide what is right and what is wrong

e) It's OK to know a lot of theories about what is right, but in the end you still have to do what you personally believe is right, even if you can't describe in words why it is

a) It's the right thing to do if good things are likely to come from my decision

b) If you want to know what to do in any given situation you have to imagine what the outcome will be and then decide accordingly

c) What you intended your decision to do doesn't matter; it's the effects that count

d) If the consequences of a decision I make turn out good, then my decision was a good one

e) If I were to get rewarded or praised for my action, then it's the right thing to do

a) I think a good act is when someone benefits more from what you do for them than it costs you to do it

b) What I do can only be said to be good if it actually makes someone else's situation a little better without making mine worse

c) Before I do anything for someone else, I always give some thought to how it will affect my own life

d) Certain considerations are much more important than others, such as animal testing that may find cures to human diseases

e) What is right is based on a calculation about what the decision will cost, for whom, what the rewards will be, and who will receive them

a) Different cultures have different ways of deciding what is right

b) I learned right from wrong in the country I was born in, and I still believe the same today even though it's different in the country where I now live

c) Our country has the correct understanding of what is the right thing for us to do in a given situation, no matter what other countries may say

d) My religion or belief system has the only accurate perspective on what's right and wrong

e) It's wrong to go against my country's laws and traditions

a) It is best to consider how the consequences of my action will effect every thing that will be affected - humans and animals alike - when deciding what is the right thing to do

b) It would be wrong to save one drowning person and let the ship with many people crash into the rocks

c) It is acceptable to hurt one person in order to help many, such as torturing a suspect for information that will save many others

d) The goal of an ethical decision should be to behave in such a way that it will make the most people happy, even if it means leaving out one or two people

e) You can't please everyone, so being moral means that you try to create the greatest good for the most people possible

a) You can't go wrong if you stick with the ethical rules you've been taught when you were young

b) If it's wrong to lie then it's wrong to lie,even if I believe things would turn out better if I told a harmless white lie

c) There is nothing abstract about deciding right and wrong; there’s a rule that applies to practically every situation

d) Even if it felt good to break the rules I wouldn’t do it

e) I try to imagine what rule I can apply to an ethical problem that will make the most people happy

a) My love for my family and friends is the primary consideration in deciding what to do in a given situation

b) I think about people's feelings very carefully and put primary emphasis on that when deciding what is right and wrong

c) Any act is wrong if it's going to hurt those I love

d) It's reasonable to make a decision that will benefit people I know more than it will benefit strangers

e) What is right is what will have the most positive effect on my relationships with other people

a) In making an ethical decision I make sure everyone is in agreement, and no one's opinion is ignored

b) Having everyone agree on an ethical decision is much better than 'majority rule' or 'might makes right'

c) I don't see the point in acting on a decision unless everyone agrees it's a good decision

d) The best course of action is the one you can eventually get everyone to agree to

e) An act is wrong when everyone in my community or country says that it is

a) I look to my experiences from the past to decide how things are likely to go if I make a given decision

b) If I'm struggling with a problem, I ask my family and friends how they decided similar problems, and that helps my thinking

c) I find the ethical stories in religious books, history texts, and even fictional novels are very helpful in making similar decisions

d) The best way to make an ethical decision is to research the outcome of decisions others have made along the same lines

e) What is right is based on how similar cases were resolved in the past so that they had good outcomes

a) What may be wrong in one instance may not be wrong in some other instance

b) It's too hard to say what's right and what's wrong in the abstract; it depends on the situation

c) Knowing the surrounding life circumstances and the people involved helps me decide if some action was wrong or not

d) There is really no 'one-size-fits-all' approach to my ethical decision-making, it all depends on what's happening at the time

e) Laws are often useless in deciding how to do the right thing because they can't account for the uniqueness of each situation

a) An ethical decision is one that doesn't go contrary to the goodness in all of us

b) People know what the right thing to do is because we're all born with a fairly strong sense of it

c) I believe God gave us all the ability to judge right from wrong

d) A good decision is that which is in keeping with God's law, divine plan, and overarching rules of right and wrong

e) I believe there is a natural flow and order to everything, and a good decision is one that doesn't disrupt it

a) A person's intention is not as important as what results actually come from their actions

b) If the decision I make works out well then I'll know it was the right decision

c) A ethical theory shouldn't just be a goal to aim for; it should be something you can actually put into practice

d) A decision is only as good as the actual, real-world results that it produces

e) What is right is based on whether the results of my decision actually bring the good I intended

a) When trying to make a decision that will affect someone else I try to imagine what it would be like to be that person

b) An act is wrong if I would not want that person to do that to me if the roles were reversed

c) I think about how I like to be treated and then act that way with others

d) Before I do anything I always ask myself how I would feel if this were done to me

e) I only do to others what I would wish them to do to me

a) I just know what's right and wrong; it's not so much a matter of thinking as it is a feeling I get

b) I let my conscience tell me what's right and wrong

c) Sometimes I just know that to do a certain thing is right because it just feels right

d) I rely on a voice inside-call it my 'gut'- to decide if something is wrong

e) We all have a sense of right and wrong, almost from the time we're born, that we can follow

f) What I intuitively believe to be right is right

a) Being ethical means never using others simply as a way to achieve your own goals

b) You can't be good by luck or accident; you have to choose to be good to be really good

c) I do what I would wish everyone else in the world to do in the same situation

d) Living up to your obligations to others is more important than just trying to be a 'good person'

e) If I do the right thing even when I don't really feel like putting forth the effort, that's when I know I'm being ethical

a) In order to make an ethical decision you can't just follow some rule; you have to think for yourself and take responsibility for the rightness of your decision

b) If I'm comfortable taking responsibility for my decision then I know I've made the right decision

c) You can only make good ethical decisions involving others if, first of all, you really know yourself

d) There is no higher authority than me when it comes to making decisions about ethical issues

e) I'm making the right decision when I'm being true to my self

a) I like to discuss decisions I have to make with people I know and trust

b) I might make a decision, only to change my mind after I talk it over with someone I'm close to

c) Sometimes I'll read a book to let the author offer some suggestions on making a right decision

d) Because ethical decisions always involve and affect others, it's a good idea to talk over such a decision with other people

e) The best way to arrive at the best decision is by careful consultation with others

a) It's not really correct to talk in terms of 'right' and 'wrong;' every person has the right to do whatever they want as long as it doesn't hurt others

b) As long as someone doesn't tell me what I can and can't do, I'm comfortable with that lifestyle

c) I think lying is wrong because it denies others the freedom to know the truth

d) A law is wrong when it restricts my freedom to say or do what I want

e) I'm being ethical when my decisions don't restrict anyone else's freedom

a) An act is wrong if God believes it's wrong

b) The Holy books of all the great religions tell humankind what's right and what's wrong

c) I trust the leaders of our religion to teach us right from wrong

d) When I have to make a difficult ethical decision I wait for an answer to my prayers

e) I look to the scriptures for guidance in deciding between right and wrong

a) More important than just doing the right thing is actually being a good person

b) Having been raised in a good household has given me the kind of personality that lets me make good ethical decisions

c) I believe a good person can't help but make good decisions simply because it's in their nature

d) If a child is raised properly it will grow up to do the right thing

e) The way I make an ethical decision is to imagine what a good person would do in my situation

a) Being biased in favor or against someone without good cause almost always leads to unethical decision-making

b) I prize absolute objectivity; I take myself out of the situation as much as possible when deciding if something is right to do

c) To be really fair you have to be willing to make a decision that treats everyone equally

d) Being impartial is key: you can't even give friends or family members special consideration if you want to make a truly fair decision

e) I believe you can't play favorites with anyone if you want to make the right decision

a) It's both rational and reasonable to consider my own welfare before the welfare of others

b) An ethical decision that benefits me is always a good ethical decision

c) You have a duty to take care of yourself before you spend your time worrying about other people

d) I think it's important to look out for myself first so that I can then help make the world a better place

e) Most people only do good because it makes them feel good, and there's nothing wrong with that