2003 IMTA Proceedings - International Military Testing Association

608
DEFENCE ETHICS SURVEY: THE IMPACT OF SITUATIONAL MORAL
INTENSITY ON ETHICAL DECISION MAKING
BACKGROUND
Sanela Dursun, MA and Major Rob Morrow, MA
Director Human Resources Research and Evaluation
Ottawa, Canada
Dursun.S@forces.gc.ca & Morrow.RO@forces.gc.ca
In 1998, The Directorate for Human Resources Research and Evaluation (DHRRE) was
approached by the Defence Ethics Program (DEP) to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the
ethical climate of the Canadian Forces and Department of National Defence (CF/DND) and the
values used by members to make ethical decisions. A model (Figure 1) of ethical decisionmaking
applicable to the Department of National Defence was developed (Catano, Kelloway &
Adams-Roy, 1999).
Figure 1
PREDICTORS
A Model of Ethical Decision Making Behaviour
An instrument, based upon the model, was constructed to describe the ethical climate in
the organization, to derive an understanding of the ethical values of respondents, and, to gauge
individual levels of moral reasoning and systematic approaches to ethical decision-making. The
results indicated that the components of the model were successful in accounting for ethical
decision making except for situational moral development and situational moral intensity
(Catano et al, 1999).
45 th Annual Conference of the International Military Testing Association
Pensacola, Florida, 3-6 November 2003
ETHICAL DECISION