08832323.2015.1007907
Journal of Education for Business
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Personal Values and Mission Statement: A
Reflective Activity to Aid Moral Development
Tyler Laird-Magee, Barbra Mae Gayle & Raymond Preiss
To cite this article: Tyler Laird-Magee, Barbra Mae Gayle & Raymond Preiss (2015) Personal
Values and Mission Statement: A Reflective Activity to Aid Moral Development, Journal of
Education for Business, 90:3, 156-163, DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2015.1007907
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Date: 11 January 2016, At: 19:14
JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR BUSINESS, 90: 156–163, 2015
Copyright Ó Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 0883-2323 print / 1940-3356 online
DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2015.1007907
Personal Values and Mission Statement: A
Reflective Activity to Aid Moral Development
Tyler Laird-Magee
Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon, USA
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Barbra Mae Gayle
University of Maryland University College-Europe, Adelphi, Maryland, USA
Raymond Preiss
Viterbo University, La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
Personal values guide ethical decision-making behaviors. Business professors have
traditionally addressed undergraduate ethics-based learning through a learn ethics approach
using case studies, simulations, presentations, and other activities. Few offer a live ethics
orientation requiring completion of a personal values self-assessment and creation of a
personal values and mission statement through a reflective paper. Utilizing content analysis,
the authors’ findings suggest that undergraduates’ narratives can serve as a cognitive
developmental tool to actively engage ethical reasoning awareness and encourage moral
formation and development within the learning environment.
Keywords: business ethics, ethics framework, marketing ethics, personal mission statement,
personal values
To produce future business leaders with both personal and
professional decision-making integrity, higher education
must provide undergraduates with an opportunity to live
ethics not just learn ethics (Solberg, Strong, & McGuire,
1995). Ethical reasoning—identifying right and wrong in
personal and business contexts—requires understanding
one’s personal values, ethical roles, and how to utilize this
knowledge when facing workplace ethical dilemmas
(Baker, Ya Ni, & VanWart, 2012). Knowing an individual’s
personal values is fundamental as they guide moral judgments (Posner, Kouzes, & Schmidt, 1985). Students do not
arrive at college without personal values, having been
shaped by familial, cultural, and societal norms (Wadell &
Davis, 2007). However, most students are not cognizant of
their personal values, not having been forced to consider,
reflect, and purposefully articulate them (Searight & Searight, 2011).
Correspondence should be addressed to Tyler Laird-Magee, Linfield
College, Department of Business, 900 SE Baker Street, McMinnville, OR
97138, USA. E-mail: tlairdm@linfield.edu
This study’s focus was to determine whether a specifically designed assignment can enhance an undergraduate’s
self-awareness of his or her personal values and sense of personal mission. To provide a platform for this study, the following literature review identifies pedagogical approaches
to teaching ethics in business, specifically marketing.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Marketing professors have approached teaching ethics similarly as those in other business disciplines (Loe & Ferrell,
2001). Reviewing 500C ethics-related marketing articles
appearing over 50 years in 58 journals, Schlegelmilch and
Oberseder (2010) observed researchers focused on the
“description of managerial actions when facing ethical situations, but do not clarify how moral standards should be” (p. 14).
Ferrell and Keig (2013) conducted an exploratory case
study of business schools requiring a stand-alone marketing
ethics course (n D 28) and found five conceptual
approaches: managerial, philosophical, cross-cultural,
stakeholder focused, and society–social issues. Regardless
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PERSONAL VALUES AND MISSION STATEMENT: REFLECTIVE ACTIVITY
of approach, the researchers noted that most courses used
significant classroom discussion, some type of individual
paper, a group paper or presentation, and one or more case
analysis assignments to learn ethics.
Moving beyond what might be called a learn ethics pedagogy through the case study analysis approach, Solberg
et al. (1995) proposed six recommendations for a live ethics
pedagogy including: a student created class code of ethics
and engaging in community service. Marketing professors
who have personalized an ethical framework suggested by
Solberg et al. (1995) for students by developing ethical
codes of conduct have taken two paths. Either they have
required students to create a code of conduct for an entire
class to abide by (Buff & Yonkers, 2005; Kidwell, 2001) or
they have required student groups in the forming stage to
create a code of conduct to ensure work is done within
agreed on standards (Buff & Yonkers, 2005; Solberg et al.
1995). Both approaches have proven effective student
learning ethics models (Buff & Yonkers, 2005; Kidwell
2001) and have illustrated a viable alternative to the case
study approach.
Other researchers have addressed the live ethics pedagogy through community service engagement (Solberg
et al., 1995). Sleeper, Schneider, Weber, and Weber (2006)
explored if engaging in community service activities
increase students’ ethical awareness by constructing the
Business Education’s Role in Addressing Social Issues
(BERSI) Likert-type scale. They determined of the undergraduate business students studied (n D 851) female
students’ social issue attitudes were positively correlated
with students’ past activities via donation, volunteerism,
and non-profit organization work. Brown-Liburd and Porco
(2011) studied undergraduate accounting students and
showed three extra-curricular activities—internships, volunteer activities, and membership in Beta Alpha Psi—
enhanced students’ levels of cognitive moral development.
Unless marketing students consider personal ethical situations and ascribe meaning to their careers they are prone
to intellectualize ethics instruction rather than apply ethics
to a specific situation (Smith & VanDoren, 1989). This
personalization process, Searight and Searight (2011)
argued, should begin with students identifying their personal values, rather than “uncritically taking on values and
aspirations of others—typically an individual’s parents—
and automatically using these as a personal guide for career
and relationship issues” (p. 313).
Personal values are desires, beliefs, and choices (Argandona, 2003) are core to who an individual is (Posner,
2010), as they serve as a compass (Johnson, 2009) and
shape individual behaviors (Rokeach, 1979) and character
(Argandona, 2003). Personal values are related to moral
reasoning (Lan, Gowing, McMahon, Rieger, & King,
2008), and are fundamental in facing ethical dilemmas, as
they are used to assess and make ethical decisions (Gao &
Bradley, 2007; Nonis & Swift, 2001). Thus, as Schein
157
(1978, 1987, 1992) argued each individual has a set of core
values that have shaped his or her internal self-concept.
These deeper values are taken for granted and result in
behaviors that reflect the lived reality of those underlying
values. If an individual can express her or his values
those values can be inspected and debated, but most often
these values are so deeply embedded that they remain nonnegotiable and unrecognized even though they guide an
individual’s actions.
Challenging students to understand their personal values
is a fundamental step that aids in the development of an
individual’s professional ethics. Kramer (1988) proposed a
six-step experiential learning approach to address this issue.
The second step, identifying and understanding an individual’s personal values, students are asked to pick five of
Rokeach’s (1969) 18 instrumental values, those that give
meaning to an individual’s life, and five of 18 terminal values, a preferred state of existence or meaning (Rokeach,
1969). The five values students select from in each category
are generally their greatest strengths (Kramer, 1988).
Hunt and Vitell (1986) explored the link between personal ethics and developing professional ethics by proposing an early ethics decision-making model, the H-V theory
of ethics. In subsequent research they validated five major
gap categories between marketers and society: cultural
environment, professional environment, industrial environment, organizational environment, and personal characteristics (Hunt & Vitell, 2006). Focusing on the personal
characteristics component they included six interactive variables: religion, value system, belief system, strength of
moral character, cognitive moral development, and ethical
sensitivity (Hunt & Vitell, 2006). Each of these personal
characteristic components offer complex dimensions for
consideration as students walk through various steps to
address an ethical dilemma until they arrive at a stage
where they are “required to make choices and [are] encouraged to examine their own personal moral codes, including
their values systems” (Hunt & Vitell, 2006, p. 146). Schein
(2001) suggested that organizations have established their
cultural norms based on assumptions that are derived from
individual values but those underlying values are rarely
inspected or questioned until encountered in a variety of
experiences in a new culture such as an organization.
Having examined or reflected on personal values
through journaling gave business students a chance to set
their ethical compass Gill (2012) argued. Integrating a
reflective journal activity into an organizational psychology
course, Searight and Searight (2011) challenged undergraduates to create a personal mission statement based on their
identified values. Students reported this activity helpful,
aiding them to clarify their personal values and time usage.
The journaling approach supports the Deliberate Psychological Education (DPE) model, a cognitive developmental
theory which aids individuals in creating and interpreting
meaning based on a purposeful and deliberate cognitive
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T. LAIRD-MAGEE ET AL.
process (Schmidt, Davidson, & Adkins, 2013). DPE and
application of its five core conditions that must be met
within a learning environment—role-taking experience,
support and challenge, reflection, balance of reflection and
role-taking, and continuity—have been successfully applied
to assess moral reasoning development in a variety of contexts and student groups (Mosher & Sprinthall, 1971). The
first undergraduate business student study to apply DPE to
promote moral reasoning showed significant, positive
results in a one-unit business ethics course (Schmidt, McAdams, & Foster, 2009), providing a platform and recommended methodology to integrate this model into business
curricula (Schmidt et al., 2013).
In summary, prior researchers have established opportunities for undergraduates to analyze ethical dilemmas with
a learn ethics approach. A few studies exist with a live
ethics orientation or are anchored in observed reality as
Schein (1987) argued. Because research shows personal
values are vital as they serve as a compass (Johnson, 2009)
to effectively engage in ethical decision making, this pilot
study examines if students early in their business program—an intro to marketing course—are cognizant and
can explicitly identify their values and sense of personal
mission, thereby equipping them with a personal foundation
to more effectively engage in learn ethics activities embedded within a business curriculum.
METHODOLOGY
This pilot study linked the core business concept of a mission statement by challenging students to create their own
personal mission statement based on a clear articulation of
their personal values. The two-part assignment: (a) the
completion of an online values/strengths exercise which
facilitated identifying personal values and a personal mission statement and (b) a 1,500-word reflection paper that
expanded on the first assignment as undergraduates discussed their personal values and initial personal mission
statement and how both form the platform to operationalize
their personal ethics served as the data set.
The study was conducted at a Catholic university (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accredited) and reflection papers from two sections of an intro to
marketing course (n D 50) were analyzed. To address this
study’s goal of determining if a specifically designed
assignment could enhance an undergraduate’s self-awareness of his or her personal values and sense of personal mission, a content analysis was conducted using cognitive
complexity as the theoretical lens.
Content analysis is used to systematically and objectively measure and analyze large amounts of written and
oral communication (Berelson, 1952). The method relies
on and incorporates: (a) objectivity–intersubjectivity,
describe findings without bias; (b) an a priori design,
researchers must agree on units measured and coding procedures before coding; (c) reliability, consistent results on
repeated trials with two or more coders; (d) validity, measuring against well-defined parameters; (e) generalizability,
application to other defined populations; (f) replicability,
repeating study with similar outcomes (Neuendorf, 2002).
Cognitive complexity is a psychological construct, often
integrated within the DPE model to assess cognitive and
moral development (Brendel, Kolbert, & Foster, 2002).
Assessed by the number of “perceptual constructs” used that
are both “abstract” and “interconnected” (Infante, Rancer, &
Womack, 1993, p. 149), cognitive complexity measures two
dimensions: (a) differentiation, the number of interpersonal
constructs a person uses; and (b) hierarchic integration,
which determines the relationships between these constructs
within a person’s cognitive system (Crockett, 1965).
To begin analysis, one author (T. L-M.) conducted a
sampling of every fifth paper using a coding schema that
analyzed the units (message component), as Neuendorf
(2002) recommended. Through the process of isolating thematic units of measurement content categories evolved.
Based on initial content analysis, a two-step research methodology emerged. For Step 1 all papers were coded based
on a 5-point Likert-type scale using a cognitive complexity-based interpretation of each paper overall (Table 1).
After agreement of the units measured and method, two
coders, one author and another colleague, read the 50, 3–5page reflection papers and determined in which of the five
cognitive-complexity based categories each paper belonged.
Both coders compared their coding assessments, producing
90% agreement. For the 10% where there was no agreement,
a dialogue followed until both coders agreed on the appropriate ranking for each paper in question, which is in keeping
with content analysis standards (Neuendorf, 2002).
RESULTS
All students (n D 50) were 19–20 years old and were either
first semester sophomores or juniors. Fifty-four percent
(n D 27) were women and 80% (n D 40) of the students
were Caucasian. Nine were Asian or Pacific Islander; one
was Hispanic.
TABLE 1
Cognitive Complexity: Likert-Type Scale Definitions
5 D Fully formed prior college: personal application with 3C examples
past or present; explicit social responsibility outcome stated.
4 D Fully formed prior college: personal application with 1–2 example(s)
past or present; have general social responsibility outcome stated.
3 D Fundamental concepts established and refined before assignment:
general reflection but no past or present application.
2 D One/more concepts established prior: first time for reflection.
1 D Embryonic/new concept: first time to consciously consider; assignment
pushed his or her initial exploration.
PERSONAL VALUES AND MISSION STATEMENT: REFLECTIVE ACTIVITY
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Step 1: Cognitive Complexity Assessment
A content analysis of 50 values–mission statement
reflective papers revealed that 76% (n D 38) of the students (papers coded as having a general reflection but
no past or present application or less awareness) were
placed in the embryonic to fundamental stages of articulating their individual values. Two examples of the
responses that illustrated that for some students (n D 6)
this was the first time to consciously consider their values included: “There are many ways to be dishonest.
Stealing is one way. Although I find myself doing so
[stealing] every once in a while, I cannot stop myself.”
A second student example: “My parents gave me an
amazing look at who I am not striving to be.”
Thirty-eight percent of the students (n D 19) used one or
more values-based concepts, but appeared to be doing so for
the first time. One student reported that: “I have two perspectives in my life: to be happy and be responsible . . . being
responsible makes me happy, so that’s basically why I do
it.” A second student offered: “I do think it’s time to address
these questions [values and beliefs] because ultimately they
shape who you are and how you act as a person.”
Additionally, 26% (n D 13) of the students identified
values-based concepts that had been established and refined
before the assignment but had no past/present application.
One student said: “Learning to trust is something I have
worked very hard on in the last year. . . . I can’t judge everyone based on a few bad experiences with people who I
thought were my friends.” A second offered: “I examined
two organizations I have been involved in, Boy Scouts and
Air Force ROTC, and one thing I was taught [through
them] was in making the wrong decision now can better my
making of the right one later.”
Two categories of papers identified students as having
formed their personal values prior to entering the university
and connected these values with either past or present decisions to explicitly engage in social responsibility behaviors.
The sole difference between the two categories was the
number of examples students provided. Fifteen percent
(n D 8) of the students provided one or two examples of
past or personal application of values-based behaviors. One
example was the following:
My parents have instilled their values in me . . . hard work,
determination, and perseverance; they have shown me that
anything is possible. As immigrants to the U.S. at a young
age, they had little money and barely spoke English . . . their
goal was to work hard to give my brothers and me everything they didn’t have . . . they have inspired me to use my
skills and resources to help others who are less fortunate.
Nearly 10% (n D 5) were fully formed and explicitly
connected this self-knowledge outcome with three or more
specific, social responsibility behaviors tied to current or
159
future actions. One student’s response captured the essence
of this category:
Above all else, an individual possesses his/her own values
and beliefs. I feel that everyone governs their decisions
through the implementation of these principles. Professing
and identifying such mindsets reveal a great deal about a
person’s personality. From an ethical perspective, I feel that
my Catholic religion plays a very prevalent role in my daily
life. However, the traits that I attempt to embody the most
focus on three main elements: my family, hard work and a
sense of gratefulness. These three qualities serve as pillars
for how I live my life and approach each day.
Step 2: Values Influencers Precollege
A second level of content analysis followed to determine
what specifically influenced the 25% of the students whose
papers showed that they were fully aware of their personal
values before entering college and had articulated a personal decision to give back to others. In this new coding
schema, sentences were the units measured and descriptive
words or constructs (n D 267) which related to each of the
identified recurring categories in 13 papers were recorded
as either values influencers (what externally influenced student thinking) or social responsibility influencers (what was
the result of the types of service-related activities; see
Appendixes A and B).
The values influencer categories (n D 207; i.e., what
externally influenced students) included: family, 27%, religion 27%, physical challenge, 6%, ethnic culture, 6%, secular reference, 7%, and school, 3%. The social responsibility
categories (n D 60; i.e., specific identification of past or
future behaviors) included: give-back, general, 6%; giveback, specific, 2%; and others orientation, 15%. It is interesting to note when comparing papers coded with three or
more examples of past or personal application of valuesbased behaviors constructs with those coded with one or
two examples of past or personal application of valuesbased behaviors revealed three differences.
Papers coded with three or more past or personal application of values-based behaviors were much higher in recognizing the role that religion (n D 52) played in their
values formulation when compared with papers coded with
one or two examples of past or personal application of values-based behaviors (n D 21). In contrast, papers coded one
or two examples of past or personal application of valuesbased behaviors (n D 8) identified the role of family (n D
44) as being much more influential than those coded with
three or more examples of past or personal application of
values-based behaviors (n D 28). Additionally, those coded
with one or two examples of past or personal application of
values-based behaviors who identified that they would take
action to give back showed more of a self-orientation (n D
11) while those coded with three or more examples of past
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T. LAIRD-MAGEE ET AL.
or personal application of values-based behaviors identified
an others orientation (n D 24).
Examining the papers coded with three or more examples
of past or personal application of values-based behaviors
qualitatively, suggested that at the core there were personal
or family related major events that crystallized all five
students’ thinking. Their thinking reveals a framework
where each student related additional constructs or life
events from which they built their viewpoint. These life
changing events included: being adopted, being the big sister
to a retarded older brother, a church service trip to New
Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, a grandfather’s unsuccessful two-year fight with cancer, and being dyslexic.
Additionally, demographics of the students whose
papers were coded with three or more examples of past or
personal application of values-based behaviors (n D 5)
were mostly women (n D 4) and Caucasian (n D 4). Students whose papers were coded with one or two examples
of past or personal application of values-based behaviors
(n D 8) were men (n D 4), women (n D 4), and mostly
Caucasian (n D 7).
DISCUSSION
This pilot study illustrated a live ethics pedagogical
approach through a reflective paper can offer a useful first
step for undergraduates to explore their personal values system before embarking on a learn ethics approach. All students in this study identified this reflective paper as their first
time to purposefully write their personal values on paper
that is consistent with the business and ethics studies
reviewed. As only 25% of this study’s business students
could articulate a firm understanding of their own personal
values, it would be a difficult to assume these students could
engage in ethical decision-making activities or navigate case
studies successfully, although researchers utilize this ethics
instruction method (Agarwal & Malloy, 2002; Allan &
Wood, 2009; Laditka & Houck, 2006; Warnell, 2010).
As Schmidt et al. (2013) suggested most of the students
in this study were more aware of their values after purposely thinking about their personal characteristics in the
assignment and what they actually valued. Their responses
indicated that the majority of students when exploring those
values focused on fundamentals such as their parents’ value
system or the way their parents, the church, or some community organization had instilled strength of moral character. Yet their descriptions did not yet illustrate a deep
cognitive moral development or the ethical sensitivity that
Hunt and Vitell (2006) suggested were necessary components for ethical decision making.
Several students reported that the assignment had challenged them to clarify their personal values as Searight and
Searight (2011) and Schmidt et al. (2013) argued was a first
step in creating the sensibilities to engage in ethical
decision-making. However, these students had not yet formulated how their personal values would be related to the
decisions they would be facing during their careers as Lan
et al. (2008),Gao and Bradley (2007) and Nonis and Swift
(2001) articulated was a necessary first step in ethical decision making. The 5% of students whose response illustrated
that their values were fully formed and clarified before
coming to college discussed how their values were fundamental to who they were as a person (Johnson, 2009; Posner, 2010), how these values had influenced their behavior
(Rokeach, 1979) and shaped their character (Argandona,
2003). These students suggested as Schein (1996) claimed
that these core values shaped their behaviors so that they
lived those values.
Another lived ethics experience surfaced from student
responses as a formative, experiential learning experience
for students who had fully formed values and could articulate them. All five students in this category consciously
linked their stated values as playing a crucial role in connecting with personal accountability via community service—part of their personal mission—in past or future
planned behaviors. Community service was seen as enhancing undergraduates’ moral development and is supported by
other research (Boss, 1994; Brown-Liburd & Porco, 2011).
Sleeper et al. (2006) also found community service skewed
more heavily toward women but only three of the eight
women identified community service behaviors as a personal value in this study.
Additionally all five students with fully formed values
prior to college reported that their religious training played
a tremendous role in their values formation. As Wilkes,
Burnett, and Howell’s (1986) work illustrated the students’
personal religious values play a strong role in their valuesbased decisions in this study. Additionally, the students’
responses illustrate as Hunt and Vitell (2006) argued the
degree of religion’s importance in an individual’s everyday
life.
Clearly, this pilot study had a number of limitations: (a)
the study was fielded at only one university, and as a Catholic university this could have skewed the number of students who may have more personal values awareness due
to religion than others; (b) only traditionally aged undergraduate students were examined and while necessary to
establish an individual’s values, this population is still in
the formative stages of moral development; and (c) the size
of the population pool was very small and did not provide
statistical significance.
This study’s results suggest using personal values identification and integration—regardless of business course
taught—as a foundation to build from can enhance other
ethics-based learning activities within a business curriculum. As such, this study supports and provides an additional
moral growth activity, which can be embedded within the
proposed DPE approach for business curriculum design
(Schmidt et al., 2013). As we noted, to satisfy inclusion of
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PERSONAL VALUES AND MISSION STATEMENT: REFLECTIVE ACTIVITY
“purposeful reflective activities” (Schmidt et al., 2003,
p. 132) this assignment can be added to the reflective journals suggested throughout the semester and coupled with
instructor-assisted guidance. Alternatively, this two-part
reflective paper could serve as the first assignment within a
student’s first DPE course and as a last assignment during
the capstone course, thereby giving business students a
chance to reflect on what or if any changes have occurred
during college. Certainly assessment of these pre- and postcollege experiences would provide additional insights into
what external values influencers have purposefully or accidentally been integrated into students’ college experiences.
As a pilot study, the results from this initial research can
be expanded to a larger, more statistically reliable and valid
sample beyond the student population of one Catholic university to other private or public universities and compare
and contrast student population findings. This would provide a broader view into different student populations and
what or if any differences exist in how students identify
their personal values and what personal characteristics are
more influential in how they articulate their personal mission statements.
Integration of this assignment would also increase individual students’ opportunities to consider how their personal characteristics—religion, value system, belief
system, strength of moral character, cognitive moral development, and ethical sensitivity (Hunt & Vitell, 2006)—can
be impacted, just as they could be in real marketing or business ethical dilemmas. Certainly one could test two groups:
one with this integration and one without to determine to
what degree students, through a reflective instrument, were
better able or felt more qualified to make ethical-based
decisions that were congruent with their personal values.
It can be concluded, based on candid and very personal
papers written by these 50 undergraduate students, it is possible for business professors—regardless of discipline—to
provide the platform for individual values reflection by
requiring the development of each student’s initial mission
statement via a two-part homework assignment. Students
saw this as an opportunity they would not have done without being required to do so for this marketing course. This
approach aligns with Swanson and Fisher (2008) who
admonished that the key to learning ethics is to discover
ways for students to first reflect inwardly as it serves as a
basis for understanding others.
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APPENDIX A: SECOND RUBRIC—SCORING “5” CODED PAPERS (n D 5)
Values influencers
Family
Spirituality/religion
Physical challenge
Ethnic culture
Secular reference
School
Inputs
Mom/dad
16
Jesus/God
12
Self
3
Self ethnicity
3
Quote
9
Teacher: Any
Social responsibility
Outputs
Give back: General
Own culture
Give back: Specific
Environment
Others orientation
Self-oriented
Total
Grandparents
5
Scripture verse
18
Mom/dad/sibling
1
Parents’ ethnicity
1
Book
Sibling
7
Catholic
6
Grandparents
Non-Catholic
4
Other family
Other family
Ancestors
Other
Event
Other
Current university
3
Marketing class
2
Sports
4
Group project
Any culture
7
Poor
Family oriented
10
Other family
Other
28
“My faith”
2
Other
10
Other
52
4
4
13
Other
2
7
Other
7
World: General
4
Others oriented
10
Religious
Other
Friends
4
Other
4
24
PERSONAL VALUES AND MISSION STATEMENT: REFLECTIVE ACTIVITY
163
APPENDIX B: SECOND RUBRIC—SCORING “4” CODED PAPERS (n D 8)
Values influencers
Family
Spirituality/religion
Physical challenge
Ethnic culture
Secular reference
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School
Inputs
Mom/dad
39
Jesus/God
13
Self
12
Self ethnicity
2
Quote
10
Teacher: Any
Social responsibility
Outputs
Give back: General
Own culture
Give back: Specific
Environment
Others orientation
Self-oriented
11
Total
Grandparents
3
Scripture verse
2
Mom/dad/sibling
Sibling
1
Catholic
3
Grandparents
Other family
1
Non-Catholic
Other
Other family
Other
Parents’ ethnicity
3
Book
Other family
1
Event
3
Marketing class
Ancestors
Other
Sports
1
Group project
Other
44
“My faith”
3
Other
21
12
Current university
2
Any culture
9
Poor
6
14
Other
2
Other
9
World: General
Religious
Other
Others oriented
5
Friends
Other
0
Family oriented
16
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Personal Values and Mission Statement: A
Reflective Activity to Aid Moral Development
Tyler Laird-Magee, Barbra Mae Gayle & Raymond Preiss
To cite this article: Tyler Laird-Magee, Barbra Mae Gayle & Raymond Preiss (2015) Personal
Values and Mission Statement: A Reflective Activity to Aid Moral Development, Journal of
Education for Business, 90:3, 156-163, DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2015.1007907
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08832323.2015.1007907
Published online: 23 Feb 2015.
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Date: 11 January 2016, At: 19:14
JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR BUSINESS, 90: 156–163, 2015
Copyright Ó Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 0883-2323 print / 1940-3356 online
DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2015.1007907
Personal Values and Mission Statement: A
Reflective Activity to Aid Moral Development
Tyler Laird-Magee
Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon, USA
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 19:14 11 January 2016
Barbra Mae Gayle
University of Maryland University College-Europe, Adelphi, Maryland, USA
Raymond Preiss
Viterbo University, La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
Personal values guide ethical decision-making behaviors. Business professors have
traditionally addressed undergraduate ethics-based learning through a learn ethics approach
using case studies, simulations, presentations, and other activities. Few offer a live ethics
orientation requiring completion of a personal values self-assessment and creation of a
personal values and mission statement through a reflective paper. Utilizing content analysis,
the authors’ findings suggest that undergraduates’ narratives can serve as a cognitive
developmental tool to actively engage ethical reasoning awareness and encourage moral
formation and development within the learning environment.
Keywords: business ethics, ethics framework, marketing ethics, personal mission statement,
personal values
To produce future business leaders with both personal and
professional decision-making integrity, higher education
must provide undergraduates with an opportunity to live
ethics not just learn ethics (Solberg, Strong, & McGuire,
1995). Ethical reasoning—identifying right and wrong in
personal and business contexts—requires understanding
one’s personal values, ethical roles, and how to utilize this
knowledge when facing workplace ethical dilemmas
(Baker, Ya Ni, & VanWart, 2012). Knowing an individual’s
personal values is fundamental as they guide moral judgments (Posner, Kouzes, & Schmidt, 1985). Students do not
arrive at college without personal values, having been
shaped by familial, cultural, and societal norms (Wadell &
Davis, 2007). However, most students are not cognizant of
their personal values, not having been forced to consider,
reflect, and purposefully articulate them (Searight & Searight, 2011).
Correspondence should be addressed to Tyler Laird-Magee, Linfield
College, Department of Business, 900 SE Baker Street, McMinnville, OR
97138, USA. E-mail: tlairdm@linfield.edu
This study’s focus was to determine whether a specifically designed assignment can enhance an undergraduate’s
self-awareness of his or her personal values and sense of personal mission. To provide a platform for this study, the following literature review identifies pedagogical approaches
to teaching ethics in business, specifically marketing.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Marketing professors have approached teaching ethics similarly as those in other business disciplines (Loe & Ferrell,
2001). Reviewing 500C ethics-related marketing articles
appearing over 50 years in 58 journals, Schlegelmilch and
Oberseder (2010) observed researchers focused on the
“description of managerial actions when facing ethical situations, but do not clarify how moral standards should be” (p. 14).
Ferrell and Keig (2013) conducted an exploratory case
study of business schools requiring a stand-alone marketing
ethics course (n D 28) and found five conceptual
approaches: managerial, philosophical, cross-cultural,
stakeholder focused, and society–social issues. Regardless
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PERSONAL VALUES AND MISSION STATEMENT: REFLECTIVE ACTIVITY
of approach, the researchers noted that most courses used
significant classroom discussion, some type of individual
paper, a group paper or presentation, and one or more case
analysis assignments to learn ethics.
Moving beyond what might be called a learn ethics pedagogy through the case study analysis approach, Solberg
et al. (1995) proposed six recommendations for a live ethics
pedagogy including: a student created class code of ethics
and engaging in community service. Marketing professors
who have personalized an ethical framework suggested by
Solberg et al. (1995) for students by developing ethical
codes of conduct have taken two paths. Either they have
required students to create a code of conduct for an entire
class to abide by (Buff & Yonkers, 2005; Kidwell, 2001) or
they have required student groups in the forming stage to
create a code of conduct to ensure work is done within
agreed on standards (Buff & Yonkers, 2005; Solberg et al.
1995). Both approaches have proven effective student
learning ethics models (Buff & Yonkers, 2005; Kidwell
2001) and have illustrated a viable alternative to the case
study approach.
Other researchers have addressed the live ethics pedagogy through community service engagement (Solberg
et al., 1995). Sleeper, Schneider, Weber, and Weber (2006)
explored if engaging in community service activities
increase students’ ethical awareness by constructing the
Business Education’s Role in Addressing Social Issues
(BERSI) Likert-type scale. They determined of the undergraduate business students studied (n D 851) female
students’ social issue attitudes were positively correlated
with students’ past activities via donation, volunteerism,
and non-profit organization work. Brown-Liburd and Porco
(2011) studied undergraduate accounting students and
showed three extra-curricular activities—internships, volunteer activities, and membership in Beta Alpha Psi—
enhanced students’ levels of cognitive moral development.
Unless marketing students consider personal ethical situations and ascribe meaning to their careers they are prone
to intellectualize ethics instruction rather than apply ethics
to a specific situation (Smith & VanDoren, 1989). This
personalization process, Searight and Searight (2011)
argued, should begin with students identifying their personal values, rather than “uncritically taking on values and
aspirations of others—typically an individual’s parents—
and automatically using these as a personal guide for career
and relationship issues” (p. 313).
Personal values are desires, beliefs, and choices (Argandona, 2003) are core to who an individual is (Posner,
2010), as they serve as a compass (Johnson, 2009) and
shape individual behaviors (Rokeach, 1979) and character
(Argandona, 2003). Personal values are related to moral
reasoning (Lan, Gowing, McMahon, Rieger, & King,
2008), and are fundamental in facing ethical dilemmas, as
they are used to assess and make ethical decisions (Gao &
Bradley, 2007; Nonis & Swift, 2001). Thus, as Schein
157
(1978, 1987, 1992) argued each individual has a set of core
values that have shaped his or her internal self-concept.
These deeper values are taken for granted and result in
behaviors that reflect the lived reality of those underlying
values. If an individual can express her or his values
those values can be inspected and debated, but most often
these values are so deeply embedded that they remain nonnegotiable and unrecognized even though they guide an
individual’s actions.
Challenging students to understand their personal values
is a fundamental step that aids in the development of an
individual’s professional ethics. Kramer (1988) proposed a
six-step experiential learning approach to address this issue.
The second step, identifying and understanding an individual’s personal values, students are asked to pick five of
Rokeach’s (1969) 18 instrumental values, those that give
meaning to an individual’s life, and five of 18 terminal values, a preferred state of existence or meaning (Rokeach,
1969). The five values students select from in each category
are generally their greatest strengths (Kramer, 1988).
Hunt and Vitell (1986) explored the link between personal ethics and developing professional ethics by proposing an early ethics decision-making model, the H-V theory
of ethics. In subsequent research they validated five major
gap categories between marketers and society: cultural
environment, professional environment, industrial environment, organizational environment, and personal characteristics (Hunt & Vitell, 2006). Focusing on the personal
characteristics component they included six interactive variables: religion, value system, belief system, strength of
moral character, cognitive moral development, and ethical
sensitivity (Hunt & Vitell, 2006). Each of these personal
characteristic components offer complex dimensions for
consideration as students walk through various steps to
address an ethical dilemma until they arrive at a stage
where they are “required to make choices and [are] encouraged to examine their own personal moral codes, including
their values systems” (Hunt & Vitell, 2006, p. 146). Schein
(2001) suggested that organizations have established their
cultural norms based on assumptions that are derived from
individual values but those underlying values are rarely
inspected or questioned until encountered in a variety of
experiences in a new culture such as an organization.
Having examined or reflected on personal values
through journaling gave business students a chance to set
their ethical compass Gill (2012) argued. Integrating a
reflective journal activity into an organizational psychology
course, Searight and Searight (2011) challenged undergraduates to create a personal mission statement based on their
identified values. Students reported this activity helpful,
aiding them to clarify their personal values and time usage.
The journaling approach supports the Deliberate Psychological Education (DPE) model, a cognitive developmental
theory which aids individuals in creating and interpreting
meaning based on a purposeful and deliberate cognitive
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T. LAIRD-MAGEE ET AL.
process (Schmidt, Davidson, & Adkins, 2013). DPE and
application of its five core conditions that must be met
within a learning environment—role-taking experience,
support and challenge, reflection, balance of reflection and
role-taking, and continuity—have been successfully applied
to assess moral reasoning development in a variety of contexts and student groups (Mosher & Sprinthall, 1971). The
first undergraduate business student study to apply DPE to
promote moral reasoning showed significant, positive
results in a one-unit business ethics course (Schmidt, McAdams, & Foster, 2009), providing a platform and recommended methodology to integrate this model into business
curricula (Schmidt et al., 2013).
In summary, prior researchers have established opportunities for undergraduates to analyze ethical dilemmas with
a learn ethics approach. A few studies exist with a live
ethics orientation or are anchored in observed reality as
Schein (1987) argued. Because research shows personal
values are vital as they serve as a compass (Johnson, 2009)
to effectively engage in ethical decision making, this pilot
study examines if students early in their business program—an intro to marketing course—are cognizant and
can explicitly identify their values and sense of personal
mission, thereby equipping them with a personal foundation
to more effectively engage in learn ethics activities embedded within a business curriculum.
METHODOLOGY
This pilot study linked the core business concept of a mission statement by challenging students to create their own
personal mission statement based on a clear articulation of
their personal values. The two-part assignment: (a) the
completion of an online values/strengths exercise which
facilitated identifying personal values and a personal mission statement and (b) a 1,500-word reflection paper that
expanded on the first assignment as undergraduates discussed their personal values and initial personal mission
statement and how both form the platform to operationalize
their personal ethics served as the data set.
The study was conducted at a Catholic university (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accredited) and reflection papers from two sections of an intro to
marketing course (n D 50) were analyzed. To address this
study’s goal of determining if a specifically designed
assignment could enhance an undergraduate’s self-awareness of his or her personal values and sense of personal mission, a content analysis was conducted using cognitive
complexity as the theoretical lens.
Content analysis is used to systematically and objectively measure and analyze large amounts of written and
oral communication (Berelson, 1952). The method relies
on and incorporates: (a) objectivity–intersubjectivity,
describe findings without bias; (b) an a priori design,
researchers must agree on units measured and coding procedures before coding; (c) reliability, consistent results on
repeated trials with two or more coders; (d) validity, measuring against well-defined parameters; (e) generalizability,
application to other defined populations; (f) replicability,
repeating study with similar outcomes (Neuendorf, 2002).
Cognitive complexity is a psychological construct, often
integrated within the DPE model to assess cognitive and
moral development (Brendel, Kolbert, & Foster, 2002).
Assessed by the number of “perceptual constructs” used that
are both “abstract” and “interconnected” (Infante, Rancer, &
Womack, 1993, p. 149), cognitive complexity measures two
dimensions: (a) differentiation, the number of interpersonal
constructs a person uses; and (b) hierarchic integration,
which determines the relationships between these constructs
within a person’s cognitive system (Crockett, 1965).
To begin analysis, one author (T. L-M.) conducted a
sampling of every fifth paper using a coding schema that
analyzed the units (message component), as Neuendorf
(2002) recommended. Through the process of isolating thematic units of measurement content categories evolved.
Based on initial content analysis, a two-step research methodology emerged. For Step 1 all papers were coded based
on a 5-point Likert-type scale using a cognitive complexity-based interpretation of each paper overall (Table 1).
After agreement of the units measured and method, two
coders, one author and another colleague, read the 50, 3–5page reflection papers and determined in which of the five
cognitive-complexity based categories each paper belonged.
Both coders compared their coding assessments, producing
90% agreement. For the 10% where there was no agreement,
a dialogue followed until both coders agreed on the appropriate ranking for each paper in question, which is in keeping
with content analysis standards (Neuendorf, 2002).
RESULTS
All students (n D 50) were 19–20 years old and were either
first semester sophomores or juniors. Fifty-four percent
(n D 27) were women and 80% (n D 40) of the students
were Caucasian. Nine were Asian or Pacific Islander; one
was Hispanic.
TABLE 1
Cognitive Complexity: Likert-Type Scale Definitions
5 D Fully formed prior college: personal application with 3C examples
past or present; explicit social responsibility outcome stated.
4 D Fully formed prior college: personal application with 1–2 example(s)
past or present; have general social responsibility outcome stated.
3 D Fundamental concepts established and refined before assignment:
general reflection but no past or present application.
2 D One/more concepts established prior: first time for reflection.
1 D Embryonic/new concept: first time to consciously consider; assignment
pushed his or her initial exploration.
PERSONAL VALUES AND MISSION STATEMENT: REFLECTIVE ACTIVITY
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Step 1: Cognitive Complexity Assessment
A content analysis of 50 values–mission statement
reflective papers revealed that 76% (n D 38) of the students (papers coded as having a general reflection but
no past or present application or less awareness) were
placed in the embryonic to fundamental stages of articulating their individual values. Two examples of the
responses that illustrated that for some students (n D 6)
this was the first time to consciously consider their values included: “There are many ways to be dishonest.
Stealing is one way. Although I find myself doing so
[stealing] every once in a while, I cannot stop myself.”
A second student example: “My parents gave me an
amazing look at who I am not striving to be.”
Thirty-eight percent of the students (n D 19) used one or
more values-based concepts, but appeared to be doing so for
the first time. One student reported that: “I have two perspectives in my life: to be happy and be responsible . . . being
responsible makes me happy, so that’s basically why I do
it.” A second student offered: “I do think it’s time to address
these questions [values and beliefs] because ultimately they
shape who you are and how you act as a person.”
Additionally, 26% (n D 13) of the students identified
values-based concepts that had been established and refined
before the assignment but had no past/present application.
One student said: “Learning to trust is something I have
worked very hard on in the last year. . . . I can’t judge everyone based on a few bad experiences with people who I
thought were my friends.” A second offered: “I examined
two organizations I have been involved in, Boy Scouts and
Air Force ROTC, and one thing I was taught [through
them] was in making the wrong decision now can better my
making of the right one later.”
Two categories of papers identified students as having
formed their personal values prior to entering the university
and connected these values with either past or present decisions to explicitly engage in social responsibility behaviors.
The sole difference between the two categories was the
number of examples students provided. Fifteen percent
(n D 8) of the students provided one or two examples of
past or personal application of values-based behaviors. One
example was the following:
My parents have instilled their values in me . . . hard work,
determination, and perseverance; they have shown me that
anything is possible. As immigrants to the U.S. at a young
age, they had little money and barely spoke English . . . their
goal was to work hard to give my brothers and me everything they didn’t have . . . they have inspired me to use my
skills and resources to help others who are less fortunate.
Nearly 10% (n D 5) were fully formed and explicitly
connected this self-knowledge outcome with three or more
specific, social responsibility behaviors tied to current or
159
future actions. One student’s response captured the essence
of this category:
Above all else, an individual possesses his/her own values
and beliefs. I feel that everyone governs their decisions
through the implementation of these principles. Professing
and identifying such mindsets reveal a great deal about a
person’s personality. From an ethical perspective, I feel that
my Catholic religion plays a very prevalent role in my daily
life. However, the traits that I attempt to embody the most
focus on three main elements: my family, hard work and a
sense of gratefulness. These three qualities serve as pillars
for how I live my life and approach each day.
Step 2: Values Influencers Precollege
A second level of content analysis followed to determine
what specifically influenced the 25% of the students whose
papers showed that they were fully aware of their personal
values before entering college and had articulated a personal decision to give back to others. In this new coding
schema, sentences were the units measured and descriptive
words or constructs (n D 267) which related to each of the
identified recurring categories in 13 papers were recorded
as either values influencers (what externally influenced student thinking) or social responsibility influencers (what was
the result of the types of service-related activities; see
Appendixes A and B).
The values influencer categories (n D 207; i.e., what
externally influenced students) included: family, 27%, religion 27%, physical challenge, 6%, ethnic culture, 6%, secular reference, 7%, and school, 3%. The social responsibility
categories (n D 60; i.e., specific identification of past or
future behaviors) included: give-back, general, 6%; giveback, specific, 2%; and others orientation, 15%. It is interesting to note when comparing papers coded with three or
more examples of past or personal application of valuesbased behaviors constructs with those coded with one or
two examples of past or personal application of valuesbased behaviors revealed three differences.
Papers coded with three or more past or personal application of values-based behaviors were much higher in recognizing the role that religion (n D 52) played in their
values formulation when compared with papers coded with
one or two examples of past or personal application of values-based behaviors (n D 21). In contrast, papers coded one
or two examples of past or personal application of valuesbased behaviors (n D 8) identified the role of family (n D
44) as being much more influential than those coded with
three or more examples of past or personal application of
values-based behaviors (n D 28). Additionally, those coded
with one or two examples of past or personal application of
values-based behaviors who identified that they would take
action to give back showed more of a self-orientation (n D
11) while those coded with three or more examples of past
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T. LAIRD-MAGEE ET AL.
or personal application of values-based behaviors identified
an others orientation (n D 24).
Examining the papers coded with three or more examples
of past or personal application of values-based behaviors
qualitatively, suggested that at the core there were personal
or family related major events that crystallized all five
students’ thinking. Their thinking reveals a framework
where each student related additional constructs or life
events from which they built their viewpoint. These life
changing events included: being adopted, being the big sister
to a retarded older brother, a church service trip to New
Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, a grandfather’s unsuccessful two-year fight with cancer, and being dyslexic.
Additionally, demographics of the students whose
papers were coded with three or more examples of past or
personal application of values-based behaviors (n D 5)
were mostly women (n D 4) and Caucasian (n D 4). Students whose papers were coded with one or two examples
of past or personal application of values-based behaviors
(n D 8) were men (n D 4), women (n D 4), and mostly
Caucasian (n D 7).
DISCUSSION
This pilot study illustrated a live ethics pedagogical
approach through a reflective paper can offer a useful first
step for undergraduates to explore their personal values system before embarking on a learn ethics approach. All students in this study identified this reflective paper as their first
time to purposefully write their personal values on paper
that is consistent with the business and ethics studies
reviewed. As only 25% of this study’s business students
could articulate a firm understanding of their own personal
values, it would be a difficult to assume these students could
engage in ethical decision-making activities or navigate case
studies successfully, although researchers utilize this ethics
instruction method (Agarwal & Malloy, 2002; Allan &
Wood, 2009; Laditka & Houck, 2006; Warnell, 2010).
As Schmidt et al. (2013) suggested most of the students
in this study were more aware of their values after purposely thinking about their personal characteristics in the
assignment and what they actually valued. Their responses
indicated that the majority of students when exploring those
values focused on fundamentals such as their parents’ value
system or the way their parents, the church, or some community organization had instilled strength of moral character. Yet their descriptions did not yet illustrate a deep
cognitive moral development or the ethical sensitivity that
Hunt and Vitell (2006) suggested were necessary components for ethical decision making.
Several students reported that the assignment had challenged them to clarify their personal values as Searight and
Searight (2011) and Schmidt et al. (2013) argued was a first
step in creating the sensibilities to engage in ethical
decision-making. However, these students had not yet formulated how their personal values would be related to the
decisions they would be facing during their careers as Lan
et al. (2008),Gao and Bradley (2007) and Nonis and Swift
(2001) articulated was a necessary first step in ethical decision making. The 5% of students whose response illustrated
that their values were fully formed and clarified before
coming to college discussed how their values were fundamental to who they were as a person (Johnson, 2009; Posner, 2010), how these values had influenced their behavior
(Rokeach, 1979) and shaped their character (Argandona,
2003). These students suggested as Schein (1996) claimed
that these core values shaped their behaviors so that they
lived those values.
Another lived ethics experience surfaced from student
responses as a formative, experiential learning experience
for students who had fully formed values and could articulate them. All five students in this category consciously
linked their stated values as playing a crucial role in connecting with personal accountability via community service—part of their personal mission—in past or future
planned behaviors. Community service was seen as enhancing undergraduates’ moral development and is supported by
other research (Boss, 1994; Brown-Liburd & Porco, 2011).
Sleeper et al. (2006) also found community service skewed
more heavily toward women but only three of the eight
women identified community service behaviors as a personal value in this study.
Additionally all five students with fully formed values
prior to college reported that their religious training played
a tremendous role in their values formation. As Wilkes,
Burnett, and Howell’s (1986) work illustrated the students’
personal religious values play a strong role in their valuesbased decisions in this study. Additionally, the students’
responses illustrate as Hunt and Vitell (2006) argued the
degree of religion’s importance in an individual’s everyday
life.
Clearly, this pilot study had a number of limitations: (a)
the study was fielded at only one university, and as a Catholic university this could have skewed the number of students who may have more personal values awareness due
to religion than others; (b) only traditionally aged undergraduate students were examined and while necessary to
establish an individual’s values, this population is still in
the formative stages of moral development; and (c) the size
of the population pool was very small and did not provide
statistical significance.
This study’s results suggest using personal values identification and integration—regardless of business course
taught—as a foundation to build from can enhance other
ethics-based learning activities within a business curriculum. As such, this study supports and provides an additional
moral growth activity, which can be embedded within the
proposed DPE approach for business curriculum design
(Schmidt et al., 2013). As we noted, to satisfy inclusion of
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PERSONAL VALUES AND MISSION STATEMENT: REFLECTIVE ACTIVITY
“purposeful reflective activities” (Schmidt et al., 2003,
p. 132) this assignment can be added to the reflective journals suggested throughout the semester and coupled with
instructor-assisted guidance. Alternatively, this two-part
reflective paper could serve as the first assignment within a
student’s first DPE course and as a last assignment during
the capstone course, thereby giving business students a
chance to reflect on what or if any changes have occurred
during college. Certainly assessment of these pre- and postcollege experiences would provide additional insights into
what external values influencers have purposefully or accidentally been integrated into students’ college experiences.
As a pilot study, the results from this initial research can
be expanded to a larger, more statistically reliable and valid
sample beyond the student population of one Catholic university to other private or public universities and compare
and contrast student population findings. This would provide a broader view into different student populations and
what or if any differences exist in how students identify
their personal values and what personal characteristics are
more influential in how they articulate their personal mission statements.
Integration of this assignment would also increase individual students’ opportunities to consider how their personal characteristics—religion, value system, belief
system, strength of moral character, cognitive moral development, and ethical sensitivity (Hunt & Vitell, 2006)—can
be impacted, just as they could be in real marketing or business ethical dilemmas. Certainly one could test two groups:
one with this integration and one without to determine to
what degree students, through a reflective instrument, were
better able or felt more qualified to make ethical-based
decisions that were congruent with their personal values.
It can be concluded, based on candid and very personal
papers written by these 50 undergraduate students, it is possible for business professors—regardless of discipline—to
provide the platform for individual values reflection by
requiring the development of each student’s initial mission
statement via a two-part homework assignment. Students
saw this as an opportunity they would not have done without being required to do so for this marketing course. This
approach aligns with Swanson and Fisher (2008) who
admonished that the key to learning ethics is to discover
ways for students to first reflect inwardly as it serves as a
basis for understanding others.
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APPENDIX A: SECOND RUBRIC—SCORING “5” CODED PAPERS (n D 5)
Values influencers
Family
Spirituality/religion
Physical challenge
Ethnic culture
Secular reference
School
Inputs
Mom/dad
16
Jesus/God
12
Self
3
Self ethnicity
3
Quote
9
Teacher: Any
Social responsibility
Outputs
Give back: General
Own culture
Give back: Specific
Environment
Others orientation
Self-oriented
Total
Grandparents
5
Scripture verse
18
Mom/dad/sibling
1
Parents’ ethnicity
1
Book
Sibling
7
Catholic
6
Grandparents
Non-Catholic
4
Other family
Other family
Ancestors
Other
Event
Other
Current university
3
Marketing class
2
Sports
4
Group project
Any culture
7
Poor
Family oriented
10
Other family
Other
28
“My faith”
2
Other
10
Other
52
4
4
13
Other
2
7
Other
7
World: General
4
Others oriented
10
Religious
Other
Friends
4
Other
4
24
PERSONAL VALUES AND MISSION STATEMENT: REFLECTIVE ACTIVITY
163
APPENDIX B: SECOND RUBRIC—SCORING “4” CODED PAPERS (n D 8)
Values influencers
Family
Spirituality/religion
Physical challenge
Ethnic culture
Secular reference
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School
Inputs
Mom/dad
39
Jesus/God
13
Self
12
Self ethnicity
2
Quote
10
Teacher: Any
Social responsibility
Outputs
Give back: General
Own culture
Give back: Specific
Environment
Others orientation
Self-oriented
11
Total
Grandparents
3
Scripture verse
2
Mom/dad/sibling
Sibling
1
Catholic
3
Grandparents
Other family
1
Non-Catholic
Other
Other family
Other
Parents’ ethnicity
3
Book
Other family
1
Event
3
Marketing class
Ancestors
Other
Sports
1
Group project
Other
44
“My faith”
3
Other
21
12
Current university
2
Any culture
9
Poor
6
14
Other
2
Other
9
World: General
Religious
Other
Others oriented
5
Friends
Other
0
Family oriented
16