Relationships between personal values and reported behavior on ethical scenarios for law students

Abstract

Lawyers' values might be considered to play some role in the decisions that are made in everyday legal practice. This study aimed to explore the effects of personal value hierarchies on ethical decision making within the context of several ethical dilemmas. A questionnaire was administered utilizing hypothetical situations presented in 11 ethical scenarios and including the Rokeach Value Survey. Logistic regression results suggested that different personal values were significant predictors of reported behavioral choices on respective ethical scenarios. However, the most important values associated with behavior consistent with ethical conduct in scenarios were ‘honesty’ and ‘equality’. The implications of results are discussed in the contexts of ethics education in a tertiary educational environment and in relation to regulation for the professions. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.