Ethical issues and perceptions of importance and frequency by adult educators in the Cooperative Extension Service

This study examines 27 ethical value dilemmas utilizing a self-report questionnaire to identify (1) the perceived importance of ethical issues in selected dilemmas, and (2) the frequency with which the ethical issues have been experienced. Rest's Four Component Model (1981) posits four psychological processes are necessary conditions for moral behavior. This study is limited to Component I concerning the ability to recognize moral problems as they arise. The faculty of the Minnesota Extension Service including 4-H agents, administrators and specialists comprised the subjects (N=526) for the study. Procedures for data analysis used descriptive statistics and univariate tests for analysis of variance (ANOVA).