An old adage suggests that peoples' true characters are revealed when they are forced to make a moral decision when no one is watching them, and when the results of their actions will never be discovered. For example, if someone finds a wallet in a trash can with thousands of dollars in cash in it and the wallet still has the person's identification in it, should that person try to return the wallet or is it morally acceptable to keep the money? In these morally nebulous circumstances, people may do things that surprise themselves, either for the good or bad, but what they do under these circumstances is always dictated by their powerful inner morality compass that is comprised of two very specific components that are required for it to work properly. To better understand what processes take place during these moral encounters, this paper will provide an analysis of the literature to determine what motivation can be provided to persons to be moral when self-interest seems to incline them in the contrary direction, followed by a discussion of whether morality always provides a "pay off" in the end or whether it requires genuine personal sacrifice. A summary of the research and salient findings will be presented in the conclusion.

             Review and Discussion.

             Background and Overview.

             According to Mitchell (1980), "Nothing is more striking than our present confusion and perplexity about morality" (p. 1). In reality, this confusion can be addressed to some extent through a careful examination of what is meant by the term. The state of being moral requires two fundamental components: knowledge and will. According to Black's Law Dictionary (1990), moral means "pertaining to character, conduct, intention, social relations, etc."; likewise, "moral actions" are those defined as, "Those only in which men have knowledge to guide them, and a will to choose for themselves" (p. 1008). Clearly, it would not benefit anyone to have the knowledge that one's actions would be moral if they were acted upon, nor would possessing the will to act morally in isolation of the requisite knowledge to guide one's action.