Global Integrity—15

Integrity Needs External Referents
Moral wholeness for a whole world

"Please don't go, please don't leave me alone.
A mirror is so much harder to hold." Jon Foreman (click here for song and lyrics)

Integrity is moral wholeness—living consistently in moral wholeness. Its opposite is corruption, the distortion, perversion, and deterioration of moral goodness, resulting in the exploitation of people. Global integrity is moral wholeness at all levels in our world—from the individual to the institutional to the international. Global integrity is requisite for “building the future we want—being the people we need.” It is not easy, it is not always black and white, and it can be risky. These entries explore the many facets of integrity with a view towards the global efforts to promote sustainable development and wellbeing.

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Integrity needs external referents. Why? Because of the human propensity to self-justify and self-deceive. Integrity cannot just be based on only an inner sense of congruence—the sense of having aligned one’s values with one’s actions. Why? Because one’s values may not be entirely moral, and one’s perception of inner congruence may not be entirely accurate. So, trust yourself but do not completely trust yourself. We need external moral and accountability referents to hold up the mirror, to help us appraise our levels of integrity. See also the entry from 25 February 2016, Facing Ourselves.

We define integrity as living consistently in moral wholeness (an ideal). Practically, though,  it involves endeavoring to live consistently in moral wholeness (the day in and day out reality). Here are three additional areas to further strengthen living consistently in integrity.

Self-awareness

--I am aware that I am not always aware how I distort and bias my moral self-appraisals

--I do my best to admit mistakes and wrongdoing

External Morals

--I can clearly clarify the main external referents that guide my moral values and ethical principles

--I am committed to internalize and follow these moral values and ethical principles

External Accountability

--I entrust myself to specific people and processes for scrutiny and accountability

--I use resources to help me grow in integrity

Applications

--Which of the three areas above are you strongest in or weakest?

--How would you adjust or add to the items above? 

JC et al.--Living in Truth 6

Self-Justification

It's just amazing how other people get stuck...
 

"Most people, when directly confronted by evidence that they are wrong, do not change their point of view or course of action but justify it even more tenaciously. Even irrefutable evidence is rarely enough to pierce the mental armor of self-justification…."

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"That is why self-justification is more powerful and more dangerous than the explicit lie. It allows people to convince themselves that what they did was the best thing they could have done. In fact, come to think of it, it was the right thing. “There was nothing else I could have done.” “Actually, it was a brilliant solution to the problem.” “It was doing the best for the nation.”…."

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"Now between the conscious lie to fool others and unconscious self-justification to fool ourselves lies a fascinating gray area, patrolled by that unreliable, self-serving historian—memory. Memories are often pruned and shaped by an ego-enhancing bias that blurs the edges of past events, softens culpability, and distorts what really happened…Over time, as the self-serving distortions of memory kick in and we forget or distort past events, we may come to believe our own lies, little by little….Before long, we have persuaded ourselves, believing privately what we originally said publically…."

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"Yet mindless self-justification, like quicksand, can draw us deeper into disaster. It blocks our ability to even see our errors, let alone correct them. It distorts reality, keeping us from getting all the information we need and assessing issues clearly. It prolongs and widens rifts between lovers, friends, and nations. It keeps us from letting go of unhealthy habits. It permits the guilty to avoid taking responsibility for their deeds. And it keeps many professionals from changing outdated attitudes and procedures that can be harmful to the public. "

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Mistakes Were Made (but not by me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts,  Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson, 2007; excerpts from pages 4-10

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You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men,
but God knows your hearts;

for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.

(Luke 16:15)

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Note: Matthew 23 goes into far more detail about the hypocrisy and consequences of our self-justifications—especially for people with leadership positions and personas.