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Integrity is a choice.

Integrity cannot be purchased, sold, or inherited.

Integrity, when applied, also enhances and elevates agency.

Integrity is a conscious decision and a behavior that is intentional, ethical and moral.

Integrity cannot be purchased, sold, traded, negotiated, or acquired through any means. Integrity is a decision and choice that is—in absolute terms—intentional and founded in the principles, practice, and application of ethical and moral behaviors. As such, and irrefutably, integrity is always a choice, regardless of circumstances (Magalhães, 2024).

Declaring that integrity is a choice recognizes that integrity holistically involves the brain, consciousness, the mind, behavior, free will, and the self‑initiated intellectual application of choice. Integrity is not inherited, nor is it granted by circumstance; it is—and it has always been—a self‑determined action of free will (i.e., a choice; Bode et al., 2014; Georgiev, 2021; Magalhães, 2024).

In terms of choice, perhaps the absolute pinnacle of this insight is powerfully expressed by Viktor Frankl. Frankl lived for a time (or perhaps existed for a time) in unimaginable circumstances.

These circumstances led Frankl to write the book Man’s Search for Meaning. As part of this work, Frankl presented the following understanding: “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom” (Frankl, 1946/2006).

From a psychological perspective, research suggests that integrity functions as an internal self‑directed ethical and moral guide. Individuals who maintain........

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