The Value of Character-Based Judgement in the Professional Domain

Abstract

Dimensions of character are often overlooked in professional practice at the expense of the development of technical competence and operational efficiency. Drawing on philosophical accounts of virtue ethics and positive psychology, the present work attempts to elevate the role of 'good' character in the professional domain. A 'good' professional is ideally one that exemplifies dimensions of character informed by sound judgement. A total of 2340 professionals, from five discrete professions, were profiled based on their valuation of qualities pertaining to character and judgement. Profile differences were subsequently examined in the self-reported experience of professional purpose towards a wider societal 'good'. Analysis of covariance, controlling for stage of career, revealed that professionals valuing character reported higher professional purpose than those overweighting the importance of judgement or valuing neither character nor judgement, F(3, 2054) = 7.92, p < .001. No differences were found between the two groups valuing character, irrespective of whether judgement was valued simultaneously. This profiling analysis of entry-level and in-service professionals, based on their holistic character composition, paves the way for fresh philosophical discussion regarding what constitutes a 'good' professional and the interplay between character and judgement. The empirical findings may be of substantive value in helping to recognise how the dimensions of character and judgement may impact upon practitioners' professional purpose.

The Effects of Character on the Perceived Stressfulness of Life Events and Subjective Well-Being of Undergraduate Business Students

“…For example, an excess of determination and confidence in students may be interpreted as arrogance or insensitivity in the absence of empathy and compassion. This operationalization of character is consistent with the idea that every virtue may become a vice if not correctly applied in a specific situation (e.g., Arthur et al, 2019;Crossan et al, 2017;Gillham et al, 2011).…”

“…Many character scholars anchor their discussion of character in virtuous character (e.g., Arthur et al, 2019;Crossan et al, 2017;Hannah & Avolio, 2011;Newstead et al, 2019). Foundational to this stream of research is the cross-national and cross-cultural work of Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman.…”

“…We place our work in the study of virtuous character, henceforth character, which reflects the habits of cognition, emotion, volition, and behavior that represent human excellence and produce personal and social betterment (e.g., Arthur et al, 2019;Bright et al, 2006;Fowers, 2008;Newstead et al, 2019). In particular, our study is aligned with Crossan et al (2017) who conceptualized character as an amalgam of virtues, traits, and values that enable excellence.…”

Good Character at College: The Combined Role of Second-Order Character Strength Factors and Phronesis Motivation in Undergraduate Academic Outcomes

“…In particular, they revealed that moral motivational aspects of character-the desire of being a moral person and empathicconcern emotions-appear to be connected to career-related engagement and the absence of career indecision. This key contribution is in line with the latest research bridging social science with moral philosophy in the domain of professional development [99][100][101]. Our findings corroborate the importance of moral motivation for academic and career success.…”

Analysis of Scales and Measures of Moral Virtues: A Systematic Review

“…Further evidence of the role of moral virtues was observed in topics such as the relationships between buyer-seller (Donada, Mothe, Nogatchewsky, & Ribeiro, 2019); leader-led (Qin et al, 2019); managers-salespeople (Shanahan & Hopkins, 2019); the professionals' character (Arthur et al, 2021); and responsible consumption (Song & Kim, 2018).…”