A Thematic Analysis of the Ethical Behavior of Public Agents Based on the Second Chapter of Sa'di's Golestan

Ethical behavior is of particular importance to public agents and it can be seen both as a framework for improving political and administrative actions and a criterion for assessing the amount of commitment of public agents so as to achieve the public benefit. The purpose of this study is to identify the ethical behavior of public agents based on Sa'di's Golestan.

The present study is exploratory in nature, conducted through inductive approach, and located on the framework of the interpretive paradigm. The second chapter of Sa'di's Golestan serves the data source of the study and theme analysis was used to analyze the data. Validity of the results was assessed and confirmed using census method done by an assessor and their reliability was assessed and confirmed Using Holsty method.

The findings of the present study indicated that the ethical behavior of public agents, based on the second chapter of Sa'di's Golestan, has 48 basic themes, 16 organizing themes, and four comprehensive themes. Comprehensive themes include slavery ethics, individual ethics, social ethics, and political ethics.

The explained model can be used as a guide to improve ethical behavior of public agents so as to pay more attention to public benefits, motivate staffs, increase the legitimacy of public agents, and develop political and administrative actions.