High-Minded Utilitarian Public Relations Students Dance to Two Drummers

Many critics view deontology(focusing largely on the merits of an action itself) and utilitarianism(evaluation of an action based on its projected consequences) as rival approaches to ethical decision making. This survey of public relations students at three universities in the United States and one each in Hong Kong and mainland China suggest that, as various theorists propose, many people adhere to both schools of thought, with utilitarianism being the dominant view overall. Furthermore, belief in both schools appears to correlate with high-minded ethical thinking as measured by assessments of several hypothetical ethical decisions. Implications for teaching are suggested.