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Annual Review of Psychology Jan 2024Moral psychology was shaped around three categories of agents and patients: humans, other animals, and supernatural beings. Rapid progress in artificial intelligence has... (Review)
Review
Moral psychology was shaped around three categories of agents and patients: humans, other animals, and supernatural beings. Rapid progress in artificial intelligence has introduced a fourth category for our moral psychology to deal with: intelligent machines. Machines can perform as moral agents, making decisions that affect the outcomes of human patients or solving moral dilemmas without human supervision. Machines can be perceived as moral patients, whose outcomes can be affected by human decisions, with important consequences for human-machine cooperation. Machines can be moral proxies that human agents and patients send as their delegates to moral interactions or use as a disguise in these interactions. Here we review the experimental literature on machines as moral agents, moral patients, and moral proxies, with a focus on recent findings and the open questions that they suggest.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Artificial Intelligence; Morals; Intelligence
PubMed: 37722750
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-030123-113559 -
Integrative Psychological & Behavioral... Sep 2023The dispute of Mencius' moral ideas in the English world mainly focuses on three aspects: do moral feelings and cognition come from the root of consanguineous affection...
The dispute of Mencius' moral ideas in the English world mainly focuses on three aspects: do moral feelings and cognition come from the root of consanguineous affection or the "heart-mind" /xin/ of universal love? What causes moral motivations: feelings, or reasoning? What actions are moral? This dispute arises due to the analysis of Mencius in a dichotomous frame. This paper reveals that there is no paradox between the root of consanguineous affection and universal love. Because the mind of "four sprouts" is unified, moral feelings and cognition interweave with each other to stimulate moral motivations. According to Mencius, there are three processes of moral development: the first is the natural process mainly with moral feelings; the second is the process of probing the root or cultivating, and the third is the process of expanding moral feelings with reasoning. Moral actions occur in the first and third processes.
Topics: Humans; Morals; Cognition; Emotions
PubMed: 36725767
DOI: 10.1007/s12124-022-09746-9 -
European Heart Journal Dec 2023
Topics: Humans; Consanguinity; Ethnicity; Morals; Genomics; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic
PubMed: 37377076
DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehad365 -
Perfusion Mar 2024Early in 2022 the first pig to human cardiac xenotransplant was performed. The graft initially performed well, and rejection was well controlled. However, the graft... (Review)
Review
Early in 2022 the first pig to human cardiac xenotransplant was performed. The graft initially performed well, and rejection was well controlled. However, the graft failed, and the patient died 60 days after the procedure. The ethical issues relating to xenotransplantation include the risk/benefit to the individual, the risk of porcine-derived infectious agents crossing into humans, animal welfare and rights, issues of human and animal identity and concerns relating to fair allocation of organs and appropriate use of resources.These ethical issues are often addressed using emotional arguments, or through consequentialist or deontological lens. An alternative is to use approaches based on virtue ethics to understand the moral purpose () of the research and the virtues (character traits) needed to be a good research clinician. In this review we will consider the virtues of justice, courage, temperance and practical wisdom, as well as the role of clinical curiosity, and their application to xenotransplantation. This provides an alternative approach for the clinical academic and others involved in the research to reflect on their practice.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Swine; Virtues; Transplantation, Heterologous; Morals; Ethical Theory; Social Justice
PubMed: 36382884
DOI: 10.1177/02676591221140767 -
Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology Jul 2023Advances in the field of human stem cells are often a source of public and ethical controversy. Researchers must frequently balance diverse societal perspectives on... (Review)
Review
Advances in the field of human stem cells are often a source of public and ethical controversy. Researchers must frequently balance diverse societal perspectives on questions of morality with the pursuit of medical therapeutics and innovation. Recent developments in brain organoids make this challenge even more acute. Brain organoids are a new class of brain surrogate generated from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). They have gained traction as a model for studying the intricacies of the human brain by using advancements in stem cell biology to recapitulate aspects of the developing human brain in vitro. However, recent observation of neural oscillations spontaneously emerging from these organoids raises the question of whether brain organoids are or could become conscious. At the same time, brain organoids offer a potentially unique opportunity to scientifically understand consciousness. To address these issues, experimental biologists, philosophers, and ethicists united to discuss the possibility of consciousness in human brain organoids and the consequent ethical and moral implications.
Topics: Humans; Consciousness; Moral Status; Brain; Pluripotent Stem Cells; Organoids
PubMed: 35339359
DOI: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2022.03.020 -
Psychological Trauma : Theory,... Sep 2023Human rights advocates investigate, document, and combat abuses of individuals and groups around the world and are routinely exposed to events that can be seen as...
OBJECTIVE
Human rights advocates investigate, document, and combat abuses of individuals and groups around the world and are routinely exposed to events that can be seen as potentially morally injurious. However, few studies have examined the unique risk factors for poor mental health outcomes among this population, and none has explored the impact of moral injury, which is particularly germane given the relevance of this concept arising from the occupational exposure to morally injurious events inherent to human rights work.
METHOD
To address this deficit, we first conducted an exploratory factor analysis on a set of questions about moral injury that had previously been administered to a sample of human rights advocates. Based on this analysis, we modified and reduced these items and identified two constituent subscales. Next, we collected data on a new sample to replicate the factor structure of the reduced scale and to validate the subscales. Finally, we examined the relationship between the two subscales of the reduced moral injury scale and related concepts including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), self-efficacy, and perfectionism in the original sample of human rights advocates.
RESULTS
As predicted, moral injury was associated with PTSD symptom severity and, independently, with self-efficacy and perfectionism.
CONCLUSIONS
The findings add to a growing body of research demonstrating the application of moral injury to civilian populations, particularly those systematically exposed to PMIEs who engage in work to address injustice and violence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Humans; Male; Adult; Female; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Human Rights; Morals; Middle Aged; Self Efficacy; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Human Rights Abuses
PubMed: 36455888
DOI: 10.1037/tra0001404 -
Academic Medicine : Journal of the... Aug 2023In a 2005 paper about the variety of ethical conflicts third-year medical students observed, and their responses to those conflicts, a reluctance to speak up for fear of...
In a 2005 paper about the variety of ethical conflicts third-year medical students observed, and their responses to those conflicts, a reluctance to speak up for fear of reprisal emerged as a salient finding. Based on that finding, the authors proposed that moral courage falls within the realm of professional expectations for medical students and that its cultivation is an appropriate formal objective for medical education. Since then, one of those authors has engaged in remediating trainees and practicing clinicians who have committed professional misdeeds, including failures in professionalism, ethics, and maintaining professional boundaries. The perspective gained from working with these individuals and hearing their stories, as well as concepts from behavioral science, have broadened that author's understanding of how poor professional judgments are made and misdeeds committed and expanded her appreciation for the role of moral courage. Most individuals arrive at their remedial course knowing on some level that what they did was wrong, but are incredulous at how they became capable of acting so improperly. They must learn that every student and practitioner, without exception, is at risk for committing a professional misdeed. Moral courage is required to participate in the kind of reflection and self-assessment necessary to examine one's own professional wrongdoing and practice safely and competently at all times, just as it is required to speak truth to power and risk negative consequences. The author concludes that medical educators can and should assist trainees to mitigate their risks through regularly-and courageously-assessing themselves and their circumstances with honesty and clarity to develop a mature professional identity, safeguard patients, and ultimately cherish the privilege of licensure.
Topics: Humans; Female; Courage; Morals; Learning; Educational Status; Education, Medical
PubMed: 37043766
DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000005239 -
Nursing Outlook 2023Nurse leaders face immense organizational pressures exacerbating their distress, which has not been prioritized as much as frontline nurses. This review synthesized the... (Review)
Review
Nurse leaders face immense organizational pressures exacerbating their distress, which has not been prioritized as much as frontline nurses. This review synthesized the literature to examine theoretical models, measures, contributing factors, outcomes, and coping strategies related to moral distress in nurse leaders. PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were searched, and 15 articles-2 quantitative and 13 qualitative studies were extracted. The scoping review identified one study using a theoretical model and two measures-the ethical dilemmas questionnaire and the Brazilian moral distress scale. Contributing factors of moral distress include internal and organizational constraints, increased workload, and lack of support impacting physical and emotional well-being and intention to quit. This review did not yield any intervention studies emphasizing the need for research to identify specific predictors of moral distress and examine their relationship to nurse leader retention, so organizations can explore targeted interventions to promote coping and mitigate distress.
Topics: Humans; Stress, Psychological; Morals; Adaptation, Psychological; Emotions; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 37579573
DOI: 10.1016/j.outlook.2023.102026 -
Behavioural Brain Research Aug 2023Differences in moral sentiments are widespread. Increasingly, their biological correlates are investigated to elucidate potential sources of divergent moral attitudes...
Differences in moral sentiments are widespread. Increasingly, their biological correlates are investigated to elucidate potential sources of divergent moral attitudes and choices. Serotonin is one such potential modulator. We investigated the effects of a functional serotonergic polymorphism, 5-HTTLPR, which was previously linked to moral choices albeit with inconsistent findings. N = 157 healthy young adults completed a set of congruent and incongruent moral dilemmas. In addition to the traditional moral response score, this set allows by using a process dissociation (PD) approach an estimation a deontological and a utilitarian parameter. While there was no main effect of 5-HTTLPR on any of the three moral judgement parameters, there was an interaction effect between 5-HTTLPR and endocrine status on PD parameters, which was mainly due to the deontological but not the utilitarian parameter. In men and free cycling women, LL homozygotes showed reduced deontological tendencies compared to S allele carriers. Contrariwise, in women using oral contraceptives, LL homozygotes had increased deontology parameter scores. Furthermore, LL genotypes in general reported less difficulty in making harmful choices, which were in addition associated with less negative emotions. The findings suggest that 5-HTTLPR might be involved in modulating cognitive and emotional processes contributing to moral decisions.
Topics: Male; Young Adult; Humans; Female; Judgment; Ethical Theory; Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; Morals
PubMed: 37269929
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114524 -
American Journal of Pharmaceutical... Dec 2023Pharmacists and other pharmacy personnel are experiencing job stress and burnout, and in some instances, suicidal ideation and death by suicide. However, the described...
Pharmacists and other pharmacy personnel are experiencing job stress and burnout, and in some instances, suicidal ideation and death by suicide. However, the described lived experiences of pharmacists and other pharmacy personnel are not defined by burnout. Thus, consideration of and research about whether pharmacy personnel are possibly experiencing moral distress or moral injury is necessary and urgent. The pharmacy academy is served by considering workplace conditions and lived experiences of pharmacists because of the potential, negative impact on prospective student recruitment, quality of experiential sites and preceptors, sites for clinical faculty placement, and the well-being of alumni. Understanding phenomena occurring for pharmacy personnel and determining how they impact the pharmacy academy can lend itself to the future development of solutions.
Topics: Humans; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Education, Pharmacy; Pharmacy; Pharmacies; Burnout, Professional; Morals
PubMed: 37865387
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpe.2023.100610