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Abstract
The concepts ethics and morality date back millennia yet, despite their longstanding existence as both philosophical concepts, public relations scholars and practitioners do not consistently define the terms. At times, ethics, morality, and values are used interchangeably and without references to ethical approaches (e.g., virtues). Because of these tendencies, research is needed to understand how public relations practitioners define, describe, and apply both ethics and morality. Further, the contingency theory of strategic conflict management, a communications theory built to understand how practitioners make communication stance decisions, originally cited both ethics and morality as reasons practitioners should practice advocacy. Given the role of ethics and morality in the contingency theory, scholars need to understand how ethics and morality can provide continued explication of a practitioners’ willingness to advocate. A review of moral psychology literature provided insights into morality in the workplace and how concepts like moral courage can help scholars understand workplace behaviors. Following a review of public relations ethics, the contingency theory, and moral psychology literature, a mixed-methods, multi-phase, exploratory sequential approach was used to achieve deeper understandings of ethics, morality, and advocacy. The first phase included two methods: a qualitative analysis of public relations trade publication articles (from 2009-2021) and in-depth interviews with in-house public relations executives (more than 10+ years of experience). Insights from phase one informed phase two, which was a survey of United States practitioners (n=223). The analysis resulted in thematic and statistical insights into ethics, morality, and advocacy. Insights suggested that ethics and morality were interrelated topics that informed communication decision-making, like advocacy, moral courage, and a willingness to stand up against internal pressures.