What Makes A Hero? The Impact of Integrity on Admiration and Interpersonal Judgment

Abstract

Principled and expedient ideologies affect self-regulation and guide people along divergent ethical paths. A more principled ideology, indicative of higher claimed integrity, involves a greater personal commitment to ethical beliefs, standards, and self-schemas that facilitate positive social activities and help resist the temptation of illicit activities. Two studies showed that differences in reported integrity are related to people's preferences for and judgments of others. Those higher in integrity spontaneously described their heroes as more principled, honest, spiritual, and benevolently oriented toward others (Study 1). In addition, integrity was related to people's evaluations of characters who made ethical or unethical career decisions (Study 2). The judgments of those higher in integrity were greatly influenced by whether or not the decision was ethical but were largely unaffected by the consequences (career success or failure), whereas those lower in integrity were less influenced by whether the decision was ethical and more influenced by the career consequences.

Personal reputation in organizations: Two‐study constructive replication and extension of antecedents and consequences

“…Tsui (1984) found that personal reputations for performance are formed, and others have argued that reputations can form according to behaviours of fairness and integrity (e.g., Becker, 1998;Schlenker, Weigold, & Schlenker, 2008). Furthermore, performance/results and character/integrity assessments have been found to be related to trust (e.g., Kim, Ferrin, Dirks, & Cooper, 2004) and selection (e.g., Cook & Emler, 1999).…”

Identifying Admired Models to Increase Emulation

“…While researchers like Schlenker et al (2008) defined admiration as a response toward "those who exemplify high integrity" (p. 328), Algoe and Haidt (2009) specifically defined admiration as a positive emotional "response to non-moral excellence" (p. 107). While researchers like Schlenker et al (2008) defined admiration as a response toward "those who exemplify high integrity" (p. 328), Algoe and Haidt (2009) specifically defined admiration as a positive emotional "response to non-moral excellence" (p. 107).…”

Individual Ethical Orientations and the Perceived Acceptability of Questionable Finance Ethics Decisions

“…Higher integrity scores are associated with self-reported descriptions of behavior consistent with personal principles as well as beliefs that people can be more ethical in their lives (Miller and Schlenker 2007). Previous research has shown that friends can accurately identify an individual's level of integrity and that it predicts antisocial activities (lying, cheating, stealing), prosocial activities (reported helping and volunteering), and socially desirable personality/attitudinal traits (empathy, spirituality) (see Schlenker 2008;Schlenker et al 2008). Those having greater integrity are more likely to perceive questionable activities as unethical.…”