Personal and Social Influences

320 Words2 Pages
Describe how personal and societal values can influence ethical decision making. Rassin wrote “Values lie at the core of the diverse world of human behavior and are expressed in every human decision and action.” Personal values give our lives meaning, they are how and why we react in certain ways, and allow us to have faith in ourselves. We learn these from our infancy throughout our lives, as we grow and learn our values can change based on what is important to us. Values are what we see as right versus wrong, good versus evil, important versus unimportant. Societal values are values and abilities that contribute to moral character, and give us a sense of community. This is why we do not condone murder or violent crime as a society. We view this as unacceptable behavior. We are taught as children how to behave; we are told not to fight, not to steal, not to lie, and not to cheat. We are told to tell the truth. We are taught to love our families. As we interact with others we are taught to value our families and friends. This is how our conscience is developed. Personal and societal values influence ethical decision making by making us look at what we believe is right or wrong and how it will affect us and family and friends. Is what I am doing the right thing to do? Sometimes we make a decision not to act because we don’t want to hurt someone else or their feelings. There are also times that we do not act because we feel that we do not have enough information to make an informed decision on what is important to us and our families. Ethical decisions that we make are based on our conscience, our own personal beliefs of right or wrong. Rassin, M. (2008, Sept) Nurses Professional and Personal Values, Nursing Ethics 15(5)
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