Values and Ethics

Let’s take a
look at
what really
matters to
you.
 What do you believe in?
 Who do you care about?
 What motivates you?
 Are you a spiritual person?
 Why are you really in college?
 How do you tell the
difference between right and wrong?
 What are values?
 They are the ideas and beliefs about life
that guide us to do what we do and be
what we are…
 They can be about:
Politics Family
love Friends
Religion Dishonesty
Being of service Taking Risks
Education Respect
Money Leisure
Career And so on…
 Different kinds of Values
 Moral Values:
• Values you hold for yourself but
don’t force on others such as right
vs. wrong, honesty vs. dishonesty,
being of service to others
 Aesthetic Values:
• Personal standards of beauty as
seen in nature, art, music, personal
appearance
 Performance Values:
• Benchmarks you set for yourself
such as accuracy, speed, reward for
achievement, self-discipline and
overall accomplishment
Means & Ends Values
 Instrumental Values (the means):
• Objectives used to reach goals such as
being responsible, obedient, loving,
ambitious, independent, honest
 Intrinsic Values (the end):
• Personal happiness, a comfortable life,
personal freedom, true friendship, a
successful career
 Values Checklist
 Having good friends
 Having freedom and
independence
 Having a positive relationship
 Being well educated
 Having self-respect & the
respect of others
 Serving others
 Being financially secure
 Having peace of mind
 Being spiritual
 Getting recognition (being
famous)
 Making a meaningful
contribution to mankind
 Being a good citizen
 Being a moral person
 Being healthy
 Being a great athlete
 Being intelligent
 Being physically attractive
 Having strong family ties
 Being creative
 Being honest & having
integrity
 Being personally responsible
 Being dedicated and
 Getting along well with people
committed
in general
 Direction:
Values – Goals – Behavior – Self-value
 Values give direction and consistency
to behavior.
 Values help you know what to and
not to make time for.
 Values establish a relationship
between you and the world.
 Values set the direction for one’s life.
 Where do we get values?

 our homes,  culture,

 school,  employers,
 society,  time-period in
 friends, which you
 TV, were raised.
 Temples,
church,
 music,
 books,
 families,
 Your age will greatly influence your values.
Different people and things influence you at
different ages:
 Ages 1-7 --- parents
 Ages 8-13 --- teachers, heroes
(sports, rocks, TV)
 Ages 14-20 --- peers (values because
of peers or peers because of values?)
 Ages 21+ your values are
established, but you may test your
values from time to time.
 Value versus Facts:

 Values are things we feel  Facts simply state what

“should”, “ought”, or “are actually are. It is easy to
supposed to” influence our confuse values with facts.
lives.
FACT: Many people are active
VALUE: All people should be in a specific religion.
active in a specific religion.
FACT: The most economical
VALUE: The best time to buy time to buy clothing is
clothing is when the price when the seasons change
is discounted. and the price is reduced.

 A value is a statement of  A fact is established by

one’s personal beliefs. observation and
measurement.
 Values and Behaviors:

 Happiness comes from letting values

decide your behavior and goals.

 Values can change over a life-time as

your experiences change your view.
 Forging Academic Values:

 College takes much more time and work

than high school.
 You also have much more freedom which
requires much more personal responsibility.
 Avoid being unnecessarily frivolous, make
yourself stay “on-task”!
 And, unless you honestly have no choice,
DON’T SKIP CLASS!
 Forging Academic Values:#1
 Let’s be frank: If you cheat or plagiarize, you are
side-stepping the real reason you came to
college: to get an education.
 Academic dishonesty myths:
• The risk of getting caught is small.
 It only takes getting caught once and you could be out.
• There is no other way to be “successful.”
 No? Then dishonesty should be the hallmark of all human
endeavor.
• It doesn’t matter in the long run.
 Not if you don’t have a conscience.
• The penalty for getting caught won’t be severe.
 Is this something you want to find out the hard way?
 Forging Academic Values:#2
 If, on the other hand, you honestly give it your
“best shot”:
• Practicing academic integrity builds moral character.
 There’s nothing like having your conscience tell you did it
right!
• Choosing moral actions builds others’ trust in you.
 Having people believe in you is a major plus.
• Making bogus grades masks real feedback about
learning.
 How will you ever know what you are really capable of?
• Improving integrity in the classroom can rebuild national
character.
 The college classroom is an excellent place to begin
stemming the tide of corporate greed and corruption.
 Challenges to your Values
 At college, you meet new people whose values may be
quite different, if not totally opposite, to your own.
• You may be politically liberal and find yourself
befriending a staunch conservative.
 Are you going to pass judgment and walk away?
 Or are you going to be tolerant and try to see the person in
a new way?
 Tolerance is a very positive trait, but even it can be carried
too far.
 If you see your new friend show a really self-destructive
tendency, like excessive drinking, it is probably best not to
aid and abet them in their weakness, but rather to tell them
what you really think.
 Your challenge is to balance your personal welfare, your
tolerance for diversity and your freedom of choice.
 Changing Society, Changing Values
 Values are changing, caused by:
• Demographic changes caused by much immigration
from other countries
• Globalization of the world economy
• Growing environmental concerns
• Political polarization
• Breakup of the family
• Computer technology and the Internet
• The Feminist movement
• Federal intervention in state’s rights
• Terrorism
• And on and on…
 All of these, and many more, will greatly affect the values of
the individual.
 Values for Success
 Connecting your personal values to being
successful :
• Clarify your values to be sure you really understand
them-
 As strange as it may seem, many people operate on values
without thinking them through.
 Truly understanding your values is key to applying them
successfully in college, in a career, or in life.
• Make a forthright self-evaluation-
 Are your values workable in college?
 Do you need to change or re-figure them?
• If necessary, change your values to make them more
productive and effective…
 Think about your legacy…
 In order to aid you to understand if you are truly
living up to your values, Stephen Covey, author of
the bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly Successful
People, suggests you ask yourself this question:
• Imagine that you are attending your own funeral, looking
down at yourself in the casket.
• After you sit down, four people:
 A family member
 A friend
 A co-worker
 Someone from your church or community organization
give a eulogy for you.
• What would you want them to say about you?
“If you stand for
nothing.

You fall for

anything.”
 A 28 Day Project
 In order to determine what you believe is the most
important personal value of all, here is a method originally
developed by the ancient Greeks for determining
something really important.
 At the same time every day (for instance, upon rising in the
morning or at bedtime) for 28 days, keep a journal and
write down: “The personal value I consider most important
is ______” Try to keep it to as few items as possible. One
thing is best, but if you have several items, write them
down. Limit yourself to no more than three.
 At about the 25th or 26th day of the procedure, one
particular value should emerge as the predominant one.
 Enjoy, learn and grow!