Integrity Defined: Exploring Its Essential Components
In a world that often prioritizes quick wins and fleeting fame, there's one quality that remains timeless and invaluable: integrity.
As a freelancer, I most often work alone with only myself to ensure that I meet client deadlines and deliver high-quality work. Some days, I struggle with motivation and feel pulled toward low priority tasks like rearranging things around my house or baking a dessert. But I know that to maintain lasting career success, and continue working, I must always approach my job with integrity.
I was curious to know if I really have integrity, so I researched the topic and found that integrity is much more than following through on my commitments.
In this article I explore:
The Meaning of Integrity
The Difference Between Morals, Values, and Ethics
Examples of Integrity
Seven Traits Associated with Integrity
An Integrity Self-Assessment
What Does Integrity Mean?
While integrity is widely accepted as a virtuous quality, definitions vary slightly. For example,
Integrity, as defined by The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is:
Incorruptibility - having strong moral values,
Soundness - unimpaired or free from defects, and
Completeness - being whole or undivided.
Integrity, as defined by the Cambridge Dictionary, is "the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles that you refuse to change."
The McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas in Austin adds that integrity is about knowing your values and consistently acting in ways that reflect them.
What's the Difference Between Morals, Values, and Ethics?
The variations in the definition of integrity made me wonder: what's the difference between moral principles, values, and ethics? In an article for MentalHealth.com, Dr. Brindusa Vanta, Ph.D explains that morals are societal rules that define what is right and wrong, values are an individual's personal beliefs that guide their behavior and decisions, and ethics are formalized rules that govern conduct like in a professional setting.
To add another layer of complexity, moral principles and the prioritization of these principles can vary between cultures. Anthropologists at the University of Oxford's Institute of Cognitive & Evolutionary Anthropology conducted a study of 60 societies across the world, and they believe there are seven moral "rules" that are universally accepted.
The universally accepted moral rules identified by the team at the University of Oxford are:
Take care of your loved ones.
Contribute to your community.
Reciprocate kindness.
Act with courage.
Respect authority.
Share resources equitably.
Treat other people's belongings with respect.
Personal values tend to vary more widely than moral principles. Valuegraphics Research Company analyzed data from half a million surveys in 152 languages and identified 56 core values that drive human behavior.
The top 25 out of the 56 core values identified are:
Family
Relationships
Financial Security
Belonging
Community
Personal Growth
Loyalty
Religion/Spirituality
Employment Security
Personal Responsibility
Basic Needs
Harmony
Health/Well-being
Experiences
Respect
Compassion
Social Standing
Creativity & Imagination
Trustworthiness/Honesty
Security
Education
Tradition
Balance
Love
Material Possessions
3 Examples of Integrity in Action
Whistleblowing
Situation: You discover your employer is engaging in illegal or unethical practices like fraud or safety violations. This goes against your personal values like honesty, responsibility, and fairness.
Choice 1: Remain silent and go about your work like normal. Likely, this choice has minimal risk to your personal livelihood.
Choice 2: Blow the whistle and risk being fired, sued, or ostracized.
Decision: If you decide to act with integrity, and align your actions with your values, you choose to blow the whistle despite the potential consequences.
Gossip
Situation: You're having a conversation with a friend, and they begin gossiping about another mutual friend. This goes against your personal values like kindness, loyalty, and relationships.
Choice 1: Join in the gossip and risk making hurtful comments about your mutual friend.
Choice 2: Politely tell the person you're talking with that you don't want to talk about your mutual friend or simply change the topic to avoid gossiping. If you choose this route, you risk upsetting the friend you're conversing with.
Decision: If you decide to act with integrity, and align your actions with your values, you choose to avoid gossiping despite the potential consequences.
Plagiarism
Situation: You're a journalist on a tight deadline, and you're covering a well-known topic. You're experiencing a creative block and struggling to produce original content to complete the article by the deadline. While researching the article, you find phrases, sentences, or quotes from a published article that perfectly express your thoughts.
Choice 1: To hit your deadline, it's easy to copy and paste the text into your article. There is an abundance of information about the topic floating around the internet, and it's possible you won't get caught. This is plagiarism, though, and goes against your personal values like honesty, integrity, and respect. If you're caught, you risk your professional reputation as an honest reporter.
Choice 2: You conduct original reporting to produce original work. This is more time-consuming, and you risk missing the deadline and disappointing your editor.
Decision: If you decide to act with integrity, and align your actions with your values, you choose to produce original work despite the potential consequences. Alternatively, you can incorporate some of the information that's already published if you properly cite the source using quotation marks around the copied text, identify the author, and show the source of information.
As Amy Rees Anderson put it in an article for Forbes:
"If I could teach only one value to live by it would be this: Success will come and go, but integrity is forever. Integrity means doing the right thing at all times and in all circumstances, whether or not anyone is watching. It takes having the courage to do the right thing, no matter what the consequences will be. Building a reputation of integrity takes years, but it takes only a second to lose, so never allow yourself to ever do anything that would damage your integrity." - Amy Rees Anderson, Forbes Contributor
Seven Traits Associated with Integrity
Integrity is multifaceted and interconnected with other traits. The team at BetterUp identified seven key traits associated with integrity:
Gratitude
Honesty
Responsibility
Respect
Trustworthiness
Helpfulness
Flexibility
Let's explore these traits in more detail...
1. Gratitude
Gratitude is taught as a moral virtue in many different religions that emphasize its importance in leading a moral and fulfilling life. By consistently recognizing the good in your life, you create a positive mental feedback loop that helps you develop a mindset that can motivate you to make ethical decisions and act with integrity.
Gratitude has also become a subject of modern research. Studies, such as one conducted by Northeastern University, have shown that grateful individuals are less likely to cheat, suggesting a strong link between gratitude and ethical behavior. A 2003 study, conducted by researchers Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough, found that study participants who documented what they were grateful for over a two-week period experienced a positive impact on their well-being compared to participants who wrote about their burdens. This study also showed that the grateful participants were more likely to exhibit other traits associated with integrity such as helpfulness.
2. Honesty
The words honesty and integrity are sometimes used interchangeably, but honesty is more a component of integrity rather than a synonym. Honesty is about truthfulness in a single instance; whereas integrity requires consistent honesty over time combined with other virtuous traits. For example, someone might be honest about a situation but still lack integrity if they treat others unfairly or don't take responsibility for their mistakes.
3. Responsibility
Taking responsibility means owning and acknowledging your actions, both positive and negative. When we take responsibility, we demonstrate that we value honesty, respect others, and are willing to learn and grow from our experiences. This level of accountability is essential for building trust and credibility.
4. Respect
Respect is about valuing the worth of others, treating others fairly, and honestly communicating with them. An example of respect is adhering to boundaries. Respecting boundaries demonstrates that we value others' autonomy and recognize their inherent dignity. This includes respecting others' time, opinions, and personal space. Disrespecting boundaries—whether by ignoring direct requests, overstepping professional limits, or allowing disrespectful behavior in our presence—erodes trust and undermines integrity. Respecting boundaries also helps prevent conflicts.
5. TrustworthinessÂ
Trustworthiness builds upon honesty and respect. It implies that a person will behave in a way that is consistent with their previous honest and respectful behavior. Trustworthiness involves being reliable, keeping promises, and acting with integrity even when no one is watching. By reliably doing what we say we're going to do, over time we demonstrate dependability which helps build trust and cultivate strong relationships.
6. Helpfulness
BetterUp says that people with integrity are helpful in a specific way. They help others "without sacrificing their own well-being", and their helpfulness comes from a place of genuine concern rather than insincere motivations, obligation, or guilt. By being genuinely helpful, you're demonstrating a willingness to support and uplift those around you, which aligns with ethical principles.
7. Flexibility
People with integrity are more likely to have a "growth mindset" which means they see mistakes or failures as a learning opportunity. People with a growth mindset tend to be more resilient which means they have a flexible mindset and can pivot or "adjust easily to misfortune or change". This resilience is critical for navigating life's challenges with integrity because it provides you with the strength to adhere to your values in challenging situations.
Do You Have Integrity | Self-Assessment
This assessment is designed to help you reflect on integrity and identify areas for personal growth. Answer each question honestly, using the following scale: Always, Sometimes, Rarely, or Never.
Do I treat everyone with fairness and respect?
Do I treat others with dignity and respect, even when I disagree with them?
Am I consistently truthful, even when it's difficult?
Do I avoid misrepresenting or exaggerating details?
Do I own my mistakes and actively seek to make amends?
Am I honest and transparent in my communication?
Do I consider the impact of my actions on others?
Do I consistently follow through on my commitments and promises?
Do I take credit for others' work or ideas?
Do I uphold high ethical standards for myself and those I associate with?
Am I willing to speak up for what is right, even when it's risky?
If my actions were to be made public, would I be comfortable with the scrutiny?
Review your answers, paying particular attention to any 'sometimes', 'rarely', or 'never' answers. These responses highlight opportunities for growth. For each of these responses, consider the following questions:
Why did I answer this way? What situations or behaviors contributed to this answer?
What values are relevant to this question, and how can I better align my actions with those values?
What specific steps can I take to improve in this area?
Remember, integrity is a journey of continuous personal and professional development. By engaging in this self-reflection activity and taking action to align your behavior with your values, you are strengthening your connection to your basic goodness and building a more fulfilling life.
What do you think about this article? I'd love to know your thoughts. Please share in the comments below.
References
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Seven moral rules found all around the world | University of Oxford. (2019, February 11). https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2019-02-11-seven-moral-rules-found-all-around-world
Vanta, B., PhD. (2024, September 9). Values And Morals Clarification. MentalHealth.com. https://www.mentalhealth.com/library/clarifying-values-and-morals
Neufeld, Dorothy. (2020, November 5). The World’s Most Influential Values, In One Graphic. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/most-influential-values/
Anderson, A. R. (2015, July 31). Success Will Come and Go, But Integrity Is Forever. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyanderson/2012/11/28/success-will-come-and-go-but-integrity-is-forever/
MindTools | Home. (n.d.). https://www.mindtools.com/ai9794o/how-to-preserve-your-integrity
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DeSteno, D., Duong, F., Lim, D., Kates, S., & Northeastern University. (2019). Gratitude as a Fount of Virtue. In D. DeSteno, Psychological Science. https://beyondstrength.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/a7b47-the-grateful-dont-cheat.pdf
Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377–389. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.2.377
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Silver, M. (2023, November 1). Is it integrity or perfectionism? - Mark Silver - Medium. Medium. https://medium.com/@Mark_Silver/is-it-integrity-or-perfectionism-328054132890#:~:text=Perfectionism%20is%20a%20well%2Dworn,with%20what%20you've%20promised.
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