The Influence of Crucibles of Experience in Moral Development & Psychology of Public Relations Exemplars

ABSTRACT

This study conducted life story interviews with 40 members of the PRSA College of Fellows to examine the influence of crucibles (i.e. trials, challenges or growth opportunities) in the moral development and psychology of public relations exemplars. The outcomes were the development of an illustration of their moral and leader development journey drawing on Rest’s four-component model of ethical decision making, and a moral psychology profile of the key characteristics of public relations exemplars. The profile that emerged is that of leaders who exemplify moral courage, resilience, generosity, genuine care about others and are willing to listen and learn. When they faced trials, they emerged stronger and stayed true to their values and character.

Acknowledgments

The work was supported by the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication and the Baylor University Institute for Oral History. Thank you for Katie R. Place for her contributions to the interview phase of the project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

¹ https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.northwestern.edu/dist/4/3901/files/2020/11/The-Life-Story-Interview-II-2007.pdf

² https://www.summary.com/magazine/profiles-in-failure/

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication [2022OH001]; Baylor University Institute for Oral History.