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Journal of Youth and Adolescence Mar 2022Adolescents' aggressive behavior has been often linked to biases in morality. However, limited knowledge is available regarding the relative strength of different moral...
Adolescents' aggressive behavior has been often linked to biases in morality. However, limited knowledge is available regarding the relative strength of different moral correlates, both at the individual and class-level, in predicting different types of aggressive behavior over time. To address this gap, the present study tested the prospective associations of moral identity and moral disengagement with reactive and proactive aggression in a short-term longitudinal study. The sample consisted of 1158 Italian adolescents (48.7% females; M = 13.6 years, SD = 1.1). Participants completed self-report measures of moral identity, moral disengagement, perceived collective moral disengagement in the fall, and reactive and proactive aggression in the fall and in the spring. Multivariate multilevel analysis indicated that, at the individual level, after controlling for the stability of aggressive behavior, T2 (Time 2) reactive aggression was higher for students who reported lower moral identity and higher moral disengagement at T1 (Time 1). For proactive aggression, a significant interaction effect indicated that the negative association between T1 moral identity and T2 aggression was apparent only at high levels of T1 moral disengagement. Moreover, proactive aggression was significantly predicted by higher perceived collective moral disengagement. At the class-level, T1 collective moral disengagement helped explain between-class variability of T2 reactive and proactive aggressive behavior. How these results expand previous research on morality and aggressive behavior and their potential implications for prevention and intervention programs is discussed.
Topics: Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior; Aggression; Female; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Morals; Peer Group
PubMed: 34661788
DOI: 10.1007/s10964-021-01518-9 -
Journal of Medical Ethics Jun 1991In this paper we argue that the human form should be seen to exist, in a longitudinal way, throughout the continuum of human growth and development. This entails that...
In this paper we argue that the human form should be seen to exist, in a longitudinal way, throughout the continuum of human growth and development. This entails that the moral value of that form, which we link analytically to the adult, interacting, social and rational being, attaches to all phases of human life to some extent. Having established this we discuss the consequences it has for the moral status of the human embryo. We then apply this argument, and the resulting moral status, to the area of reproductive technology. In doing this we show that there are certain regulations and controls which ought to apply to the use of these infertility treatments.
Topics: Abortion, Induced; Attitude to Death; Attitude to Health; Beginning of Human Life; Embryo, Mammalian; Ethical Theory; Ethics, Medical; Female; Human Rights; Humans; Insemination, Artificial; Life; Moral Obligations; Morals; Personhood; Pregnancy; Pregnancy, Multiple; Pregnant Women; Social Values; Value of Life
PubMed: 1870084
DOI: 10.1136/jme.17.2.62 -
Patient Education and Counseling Nov 2021Most writing about uncertainty in healthcare has addressed empirical uncertainty - that is, resulting from insufficient or conflicting facts.
BACKGROUND
Most writing about uncertainty in healthcare has addressed empirical uncertainty - that is, resulting from insufficient or conflicting facts.
OBJECTIVE
To consider moral uncertainty by exploring how different theories apply to a single clinical case.
METHOD
In this philosophical reflection, I briefly acknowledge empirical uncertainty before introducing and exploring the topic of moral uncertainty - defined as the question of what to do when we do not know what (morally) to do-using a case study of my own mother's deterioration and death from Covid-19.
RESULTS
I identify and apply a number of philosophical theories relevant to managing moral uncertainty, including utilitarianism, deontology, practical rationality and feminist philosophy.
CONCLUSION
Different moral theories lead to different conclusions about the best course of action in situations of moral uncertainty.
PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS
Detailed analysis and close reading of a single case can provide insights into how to act in morally complex situations, but learning is in the form of enriched understanding, not formulaic rules.
Topics: COVID-19; Ethical Theory; Humans; Morals; SARS-CoV-2; Uncertainty
PubMed: 34294493
DOI: 10.1016/j.pec.2021.07.022 -
Current Opinion in Psychology Dec 2022We locate our review of recent social scientific literature on non-Western migrants in Western liberal democracies within two opposing master narratives: a subtractive... (Review)
Review
We locate our review of recent social scientific literature on non-Western migrants in Western liberal democracies within two opposing master narratives: a subtractive and an additive view of migration. Within this framework, we bring to light the contemporary conceptualizations of non-Western migrants in psychology by focusing on trauma. We then examine the cultural and moral clashes that sometimes arise from trans-global migration and the psychology of integration. We end by highlighting the importance of further research on cultural pluralism and omniculturalism to help foster more peaceful and diverse societies.
Topics: Humans; Transients and Migrants; Morals; Cultural Diversity
PubMed: 36099678
DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101454 -
PloS One 2022Recent years have not only seen growing public distrust in science, but also in the people conducting science. Yet, attitudes toward scientists remain largely...
Recent years have not only seen growing public distrust in science, but also in the people conducting science. Yet, attitudes toward scientists remain largely unexplored, and the limited body of literature that exists points to an interesting ambivalence. While survey data suggest scientists to be positively evaluated (e.g., respected and trusted), research has found scientists to be perceived as capable of immoral behavior. We report two experiments aimed at identifying what contributes to this ambivalence through systematic investigations of stereotypical perceptions of scientists. In these studies, we particularly focus on two potential sources of inconsistencies in previous work: divergent operationalizations of morality (measurement effects), and different specifications of the broad group of scientists (framing effects). Results show that scientists are generally perceived as more likely to violate binding as opposed to individualizing moral foundations, and that they deviate from control groups more strongly on the latter. The extent to which different morality measures reflect the differentiation between binding and individualizing moral foundations at least partially accounts for previous contradictory findings. Moreover, the results indicate large variation in perceptions of different types of scientists: people hold more positive attitudes toward university-affiliated scientists as compared to industry-affiliated scientists, with perceptions of the 'typical scientist' more closely resembling the latter. Taken together, the findings have important academic ramifications for science skepticism, morality, and stereotyping research as well as valuable practical implications for successful science communication.
Topics: Attitude; Humans; Morals; Physicians; Stereotyping; Universities
PubMed: 36190951
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274379 -
BMC Medical Ethics Jun 2018Making particular use of Shale's analysis, this paper discusses the notion of leadership in the context of palliative medicine. Whilst offering a critical perspective, I...
BACKGROUND
Making particular use of Shale's analysis, this paper discusses the notion of leadership in the context of palliative medicine. Whilst offering a critical perspective, I build on the philosophy of palliative care offered by Randall and Downie and suggest that the normative structure of this medical speciality has certain distinctive features, particularly when compared to that of medicine more generally. I discuss this in terms of palliative medicine's distinctive morality or ethos, albeit one that should still be seen in terms of medical morality or the ethos of medicine.
MAIN TEXT
I argue that, in the context of multi-disciplinary teamwork, the particular ethos of palliative medicine means that healthcare professionals who work within this speciality are presented with distinct opportunities for leadership and the dissemination of the moral and ethical norms that guide their practice. I expand on the nature of this opportunity by further engaging with Shale's work on leadership in medicine, and by more fully articulating the notion of moral ethos in medicine and its relation to the more formal notion of medical ethics. Finally, and with reference to the idea of medical education as both on going and as an apprenticeship, I suggest that moral and ethical leadership in palliative medicine may have an inherently educational quality and a distinctively pedagogical dimension.
CONCLUSIONS
The nature of palliative medicine is such that it often involves caring for patients who are still receiving treatment from other specialists. Whilst this can create tension, it also provides an opportunity for palliative care professionals to disseminate the philosophy that underpins their practice, and to offer leadership with regard to the moral and ethical challenges that arise in the context of End of Life Care.
Topics: Ethics, Medical; Humans; Inservice Training; Interdisciplinary Communication; Leadership; Morals; Palliative Care; Palliative Medicine; Patient Care Team; Philosophy; Philosophy, Medical; Specialization; Terminal Care
PubMed: 29871680
DOI: 10.1186/s12910-018-0296-z -
Current Opinion in Psychology Aug 2019Mindfulness meditation has been primarily studied within the context of individual's psychological well being and/or in relation to it's potential to enhance cognitive... (Review)
Review
Mindfulness meditation has been primarily studied within the context of individual's psychological well being and/or in relation to it's potential to enhance cognitive skills such as attention and working memory. However, in Buddhism, mindfulness is used as a tool to cultivate wholesome actions, and as a means to promote virtuous, prosocial qualities. In this article, we postulate that heightened awareness of physiological and mental phenomena following mindfulness training may contribute to altered processing of morally relevant information and promote moral action. We will first briefly summarize neuroscientific investigations into moral cognition, and then provide a theoretical and an experimental framework for the investigation of the relationship between mindfulness and ethical behavior.
Topics: Buddhism; Humans; Mindfulness; Morals; Social Behavior
PubMed: 30959379
DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.02.006 -
Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin Mar 2024Helping acts, however well intended and beneficial, sometimes involve immoral means or immoral helpers. Here, we explore whether help recipients consider moral...
Helping acts, however well intended and beneficial, sometimes involve immoral means or immoral helpers. Here, we explore whether help recipients consider moral evaluations in their appraisals of gratitude, a possibility that has been neglected by existing accounts of gratitude. Participants felt less grateful and more uneasy when offered immoral help (Study 1, = 150), and when offered morally neutral help by an immoral helper (Study 2, = 172). In response to immoral help or helpers, participants were less likely to accept the help and less willing to strengthen their relationship with the helper even when they accepted it. Study 3 ( = 276) showed that recipients who felt grateful when offered immoral help were perceived as less likable, less moral, and less suitable as close relationship partners than those who felt uneasy by observers. Our results demonstrate that gratitude is morally sensitive and suggest this might be socially adaptive.
Topics: Humans; Emotions; Morals
PubMed: 35532002
DOI: 10.1177/01461672221092273 -
Journal of Medical Ethics Oct 2001This paper argues that the central issue in the abortion debate has not changed since 1967 when the English parliament enacted the Abortion Act. That central issue... (Review)
Review
This paper argues that the central issue in the abortion debate has not changed since 1967 when the English parliament enacted the Abortion Act. That central issue concerns the moral status of the human fetus. The debate here is not, it is argued, primarily a moral debate, but rather a metaphysical debate and/or a theological debate--though one with massive moral implications. It concerns the nature and attributes that an entity requires to have "full moral standing" or "moral inviolability" including a "right to life". It concerns the question when, in its development from newly fertilised ovum to unequivocally mature, autonomous morally inviolable person does a human being acquire that nature and those attributes, and thus a "right to life". The paper briefly reviews standard answers to these questions, outlining some problems associated with each. Finally there is a brief discussion of one way in which the abortion debate has changed since 1967--notably in the increasingly vociferous claim, especially from disability rights sectors, that abortion on grounds of fetal abnormality implies contempt for and rejection of disabled people--a claim that is rebutted.
Topics: Abortion, Eugenic; Abortion, Induced; Abortion, Legal; Awareness; Beginning of Human Life; Brain; Ethical Analysis; Female; Fetus; Humans; Morals; Personhood; Pregnancy; United Kingdom; Value of Life
PubMed: 11574651
DOI: 10.1136/jme.27.suppl_2.ii5 -
Cognitive Science May 2018There is a vast literature that seeks to uncover features underlying moral judgment by eliciting reactions to hypothetical scenarios such as trolley problems. These...
There is a vast literature that seeks to uncover features underlying moral judgment by eliciting reactions to hypothetical scenarios such as trolley problems. These thought experiments assume that participants accept the outcomes stipulated in the scenarios. Across seven studies (N = 968), we demonstrate that intuition overrides stipulated outcomes even when participants are explicitly told that an action will result in a particular outcome. Participants instead substitute their own estimates of the probability of outcomes for stipulated outcomes, and these probability estimates in turn influence moral judgments. Our findings demonstrate that intuitive likelihoods are one critical factor in moral judgment, one that is not suspended even in moral dilemmas that explicitly stipulate outcomes. Features thought to underlie moral reasoning, such as intention, may operate, in part, by affecting the intuitive likelihood of outcomes, and, problematically, moral differences between scenarios may be confounded with non-moral intuitive probabilities.
Topics: Adult; Decision Making; Female; Humans; Imagination; Intuition; Judgment; Male; Morals; Probability
PubMed: 29451322
DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12598