Question

How do education, social economic status, and culture influence ethical decision making?

Answer 1

Ethical standards are the standards of our environment that are acceptable to most people.

Ethical thinking involves the intricate process used to consider the impact of our actions on the individuals or institution we serve. While most decisions are routine, we can unexpectedly face an ethical dilemma when unusual situations occur suddenly for which an immediate response is needed.

The foundation of ethical decision-making involves choice and balance; it is a guide to discard bad choices in favor of good ones.

To be truly comprehensive, advisor development programs must address ethics and the role culture and values play in ethical decision-making. Our institutions have become more diverse. This is true in regard to easily recognizable differences, such as race and age, but also in terms of hidden differences, such as culture and disability. Care must be given to the reexamination of values and perspective,and how these influence so many ethical dilemmas.

We must understand that values are acquired in childhood and manifest themselves on our campuses as permanent perceptions that shape and influence the nature of our behaviors. Values involve emotion, knowledge, thought, and ultimately choice of response. Values vary between individuals and, because values govern behavior, they color the way individuals view and respond to their world. It is important to understand the impact values have on choice. While values can, and do, change over time, they represent a significant component of personality. It is through individual values that culture is defined, and provides broad social guidelines for desirable standards. Generally described as normal societal standards, or norms, values influence how people make choices.

When working with people, it is imperative that we appreciate that each person's intrinsic values are different. Because values are so ingrained, we are not often aware that our responses in life are, in large part, due to the values we hold andare unique to our own culture and perspective. Furthermore, we seldom reflect on the fact that the people with whom we associate hold their own unique set of values that may be different from our own. Advisors need to be aware that, like their students, they bring their own set of values to the advising session. Thus advisors must be aware of, and open to, these differences in values as they work within their institution's regulations and standards. Sometimes these are, or seem to be, conflicting.

Several factors influence decision making. These factors, including past experience, cognitive biases , age and individual differences, belief in personal relevance and an escalation of commitment, influence what choices people make. Understanding the factors that influence decision making process is important to understanding what decisions are made. That is, the factors that influence the process may impact the outcomes.

Heuristics serve as a framework in which satisfactory decisions are made quickly and with ease. Many types of heuristics have been developed to explain the decision making process; essentially, individuals work to reduce the effort they need to expend in making decisions and heuristics offer individuals a general guide to follow, thereby reducing the effort they must disburse.

People make decisions about many things. They make political decisions; personal decisions, including medical choices, romantic decisions, and career decisions; and financial decisions, which may also include some of the other kinds of decisions and judgments. Quite often, the decision making process is fairly specific to the decision being made. Some choices are simple and seem straight forward, while others are complex and require a multi-step approach to making the decisions.

Some individual differences may also influence decision making. Research has indicated that age, socioeconomic status (SES), and cognitive abilities influences decision making (de Bruin, Parker, & Fischoff, 2007; Finucane, Mertz, Slovic, & Schmidt, 2005). Finucane et al. established a significant difference in decision making across age; that is, as cognitive functions decline as a result of age, decision making performance may decline as well. In addition, older people may be more overconfident regarding their ability to make decisions, which inhibits their ability to apply strategies (de Bruin et al., 2007). Finally, with respect to age, there is evidence to support the notion that older adults prefer fewer choices than younger adults (Reed, Mikels, & Simon, 2008).

Age is only one individual difference that influences decision making. According to de Bruin et al. (2007), people in lower SES groups may have less access to education and resources, which may make them more susceptible to experiencing negative life events, often beyond their control; as a result, low SES individuals may make poorer decisions, based on past decisions.

Over and above past experiences, cognitive biases, and individual differences; another influence on decision making is the belief in personal relevance. When people believe what they decide matters, they are more likely to make a decision. Acevedo and Krueger (2004) examined individuals’ voting patterns, and concluded that people will vote more readily when they believe their opinion is indicative of the attitudes of the general population, as well as when they have a regard for their own importance in the outcomes. People vote when they believe their vote counts. Acevedo and Krueger pointed out this voting phenomenon is ironic; when more people vote, the individual votes count less, in electoral math.