The Ethics Awareness Inventory (EAI) is a system for self-assessment and personal reflection. The EAI helps individuals understand and articulate the underlying principles associated with their ethical perspective. A firm understanding of the foundations of individual ethical thought facilitates improved group communication and decision making.

 

The instrument facilitates an awareness of the conditions that define our ethical perspectives and those of others. Individuals completing the inventory report that they understand the differences between the four broad categories of ethical philosophy and that their perceptions of their ethical perspectives are reflected accurately in the EAI. The EAI is based on a major interdisciplinary research study drawing from widely accepted theories of philosophical thought and prominent organizational theories.

 

The EAI was designed to allow for shifts in ethical thought as an individual develops a deeper understanding of the principles underlying human decisions and actions. The Inventory increases awareness and encourages self-examination and growth.

 

External validity in relationship to the EAI was addressed by conducting a thorough review of philosophical, psychological, and organizational literature relating to ethical thought. The wealth of available research in this area required arranging the data into broad categories of similar theories. An initial content and thematic analysis of the literature suggested four prominent categories of ethical philosophy. Questions for inclusion in the EAI were developed by transforming principles of philosophical and management theory into common terminology. This approach provides an accessible framework in which to present the dimensions of individual ethical perspectives.

 

Internal validity was addressed by focussing on the accuracy of the assessment results, as measured by the respondents. Because there are no “right” or “wrong” answers against which to compare an individual’s scores, measurements of the reality of the results were partially assessed by the individuals themselves. Focus groups were conducted as another test of internal validity.

 

 

1.         Distribute the EAI and review the organization of the books with the students. Suggest that the students read pages 1 and 2, where the purpose and design of the instrument are explained. Caution the students not to break the seal at the back of the book prior to completing and scoring the EAI. These pages should remain sealed until the scoring is completed and the category letters are identified.

2.         Instructions for answering the questions are located on page 3, at the top of the page. Emphasize that students are to select one of the four possible answers that is MOST IN AGREEMENT with their ethical perspective and one that is LEAST IN AGREEMENT with their perspective.

3.         On page 5, the process changes slightly. Here the student is asked to select the word or phrase that they value MOST and the word or phrase they value LEAST.

4.         Pages 7 through 10 constitute a scoring module, which the students may remove from the book to facilitate easier scoring. Instructions for using the scoring module are at the top of page 7. The student is expected to circle in the MOST and LEAST columns the letters that correspond to the answers they gave on pages 3 through 6.

5.         After completing the scoring module, the student then should complete the scoring summary on page 10. Completing the scoring summary is the part of this instrument where a student may have the most trouble. Some people seem to have difficulty understanding negative numbers. If the number in the LEAST row for one of the C, O, R or E categories is larger than the number above it, the combined score will be a negative number.

6.         When the student enters the letter category at the bottom of the page for the largest combined score, it should be the category for the largest positive score. Correspondingly, when the student enters the letter category for the smallest combined score, it should be the category for the largest negative score.

7.         Note that each of the four categories (C, O, R, and E) is related to a broad category of ethical philosophy. In each case, information on this relationship is provided to the student briefly under the paragraph, titled Your Ethical Perspective, on pages 12-15 in the sealed section of the book. Two philosophers representing each ethical theory are identified in each paragraph. As the instructor administering the EAI, you may want to suggest to the students that they read the writings of the philosophers associated with their own ethical style.

8.         The last paragraph on page 11 addresses situations where the highest and second highest scores are close. In those cases, the student should refer to the Blended Categories information on page 16.

9.         As students discuss the results of using the EAI, they will understand better their own ethical philosophy and how they can work more effectively with others having a different philosophy.