-
Perspectives on Psychological Science :... Jan 2022Observed variability and complexity of judgments of "right" and "wrong" cannot be readily accounted for within extant approaches to understanding moral judgment. In...
Observed variability and complexity of judgments of "right" and "wrong" cannot be readily accounted for within extant approaches to understanding moral judgment. In response to this challenge, we present a novel perspective on categorization in moral judgment. Moral judgment as categorization (MJAC) incorporates principles of category formation research while addressing key challenges of existing approaches to moral judgment. People develop skills in making context-relevant categorizations. They learn that various objects (events, behaviors, people, etc.) can be categorized as morally right or wrong. Repetition and rehearsal result in reliable, habitualized categorizations. According to this skill-formation account of moral categorization, the learning and the habitualization of the forming of moral categories occur within goal-directed activity that is sensitive to various contextual influences. By allowing for the complexity of moral judgments, MJAC offers greater explanatory power than existing approaches while also providing opportunities for a diverse range of new research questions.
Topics: Humans; Judgment; Learning; Morals
PubMed: 34264152
DOI: 10.1177/1745691621990636 -
International Journal of Environmental... Aug 2021The present study investigated predictors of psychological coping with adversity responses during the COVID-19 pandemic and an armed conflict. Two paired samples that...
The present study investigated predictors of psychological coping with adversity responses during the COVID-19 pandemic and an armed conflict. Two paired samples that represented the Israeli population that was exposed to both adversities were compared. Respondents rated five different psychological coping responses associated with the two adversities, such as anxiety or individual resilience. Perceived security, pandemic, economic, and political risks, as well as level of morale, were rated. Two major findings were disclosed by two path analyses. Morale improved the predictions of the varied coping responses in both the pandemic and conflict and was the best predictor of four out of five responses and the second-best predictor of the fifth response. Contrary to previous studies, our findings revealed that the concept of a single major predictor of coping responses under distress is an overgeneralization. In both cases, the coping responses were better explained by other perceived risks rather than by the risk of the investigated adversity. Rather than assume that a perceived security threat accounts for low levels of public moods, it is vital to study the antecedents of coping responses and to empirically examine additional potential predictors.
Topics: Adaptation, Psychological; Armed Conflicts; COVID-19; Humans; Morale; Pandemics; SARS-CoV-2; Stress, Psychological
PubMed: 34444505
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18168759 -
Clinical Medicine (London, England) Jul 2019Significant uncertainty surrounds the sustainability of healthcare services in which junior doctors work. It is essential that student and foundation doctors (SFDs) are... (Review)
Review
Significant uncertainty surrounds the sustainability of healthcare services in which junior doctors work. It is essential that student and foundation doctors (SFDs) are actively engaged if workforce morale is rebuilt. This narrative review explores the evidence driving the individual work-streams of the Royal College of Physicians' newly formed Student and Foundation Doctor Network. Undergraduate and postgraduate training reform has coincided with concerning feedback from newly qualified doctors. System-level efforts to address this include a focus on extra-contractual matters, where small, sustainable changes could address training and work issues.Fewer foundation year-2 doctors are entering specialty training immediately after the foundation programme. Providing dedicated careers guidance and highlighting opportunities within traditional placements and other career paths can support doctors who undertake non-traditional career routes, including those who take time out of programme.Disseminating these resources through an effective peer-to-peer framework and a well-established mentoring scheme could be the most appropriate way to spread good practice.
Topics: Attitude of Health Personnel; Education, Medical; Humans; Mentoring; Morale; Physicians
PubMed: 31308104
DOI: 10.7861/clinmedicine.19-4-282 -
Psychiatria Danubina 2021In this paper we see the personality of man through his comprehension as a moral entity. An entity that emerges, thinks morally and/or behaves morally, inseparable from...
In this paper we see the personality of man through his comprehension as a moral entity. An entity that emerges, thinks morally and/or behaves morally, inseparable from the society in which he lives as a moral being, and by its moral thinking and/or behaviour further defines the morals of the whole society. Accordingly, we present (post)modern society as a society of tolerance of value ambiguity. In that kind of society we perceive medical situation as moral situation and define the role of medical ethics in the field of biomedicine. In that kind of society politics is perceived as one of the social spheres where different varieties of systems of values of individuals or groups are publicly embraced, touched, or terribly unhappily pursued... all in the name of understanding man and his world. In order to prevent the victory of Thanatos, who prevails in the contemporary concept of politics and in postmodern global society, we suggest implementing applied bioethics as a form of metapolitics as an answer. We explain the idea of bioethics and suggest bioethical education as the operationalisation of metapolitics through bioethics as orientation knowledge, in both medicine and politics.
Topics: Bioethics; Ethics; Ethics, Medical; Humans; Morals; Politics; Psychiatry
PubMed: 35026832
DOI: No ID Found -
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 -
Journal of Medical Ethics Apr 1996The author agrees with the critiques of moral theory offered by such writers as Bernard Williams and Alasdair MacIntyre, and uses ideas from Heidegger and Levinas to...
The author agrees with the critiques of moral theory offered by such writers as Bernard Williams and Alasdair MacIntyre, and uses ideas from Heidegger and Levinas to argue that caring is an ontological structure of human existence which takes two forms: caring about on self (which he calls our "self-project") and caring-about-others. This dual form of caring is expressed on four Aristotelian levels of human living which the author describes and illustrates with reference to the phenomenon of pain. It is concluded from this analysis that traditional notions of morality as imposing obligations should give way to an understanding of ethics as the social forms given to our caring for ourselves and for others. A number of implications for ethical theory are sketched out with the conclusion that virtue theory should be preferred and that the model could be worked out more fully to show that virtue theory can be internalist, particularist, pluralist, personalist and objectivist.
Topics: Cultural Diversity; Ethical Theory; Ethics, Medical; Human Characteristics; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Moral Obligations; Morals; Physician-Patient Relations; Social Values; Virtues
PubMed: 8731533
DOI: 10.1136/jme.22.2.83 -
Annual Review of Psychology Jan 2024There is always room for moral improvement. However, very few prior reviews have focused on the phenomenon of moral improvement of self, social relations, or society. We... (Review)
Review
There is always room for moral improvement. However, very few prior reviews have focused on the phenomenon of moral improvement of self, social relations, or society. We first consider prevailing notions of the self-concept by highlighting the niche of theory and research that identifies an improving self as a possible identity and basis of motivation to act better and to be better. Second, we discuss moral improvement in the context of social relations, especially the close interpersonal relations that should most facilitate moral improvement. Third, we examine the moral improvement of society, focusing on the factors that facilitate or inhibit caring about potential immorality despite the fact that issues such as inequality, discrimination, and the climate crisis seem to be morally distant and impersonal. Finally, we discuss future directions for theory, research, and application.
Topics: Humans; Morals; Interpersonal Relations; Motivation; Self Concept
PubMed: 37827197
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-032420-031614 -
American Journal of Infection Control Jul 2023Staff actions to prevent infection introduction and transmission in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) were key to reducing morbidity and mortality from COVID-19....
BACKGROUND
Staff actions to prevent infection introduction and transmission in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) were key to reducing morbidity and mortality from COVID-19. Implementing infection control measures (ICMs) requires training, adherence and complex decision making while trying to deliver high quality care. We surveyed LTCF staff in England about their preparedness and morale at 3 timepoints during the COVID-19 epidemic.
METHODS
Online structured survey targeted at LTCF workers (any role) administered at 3 timepoints (November 2020-January 2021; August-November 2021; March-May 2022). Narrative summary of answers, narrative and statistical summary (proportionality with Pearson's chi-square or Fisher's Exact Test) of possible differences in answers between waves.
RESULTS
Across all 3 survey waves, 387 responses were received. Morale, attitudes towards working environment and perception about colleague collaboration were mostly positive at all survey points. Infection control training was perceived as adequate. Staff felt mostly positive emotions at work. The working environment remained challenging. Masks were the single form of PPE most consistently used; eye protection the least used. Mask-wearing was linked to poorer communication and resident discomfort as well as mild negative health impacts on many staff, such as dehydration and adverse skin reactions. Hand sanitizer caused skin irritation.
CONCUSIONS
Staff morale and working practices were generally good even though the working environment provided many new challenges that did not exist pre-pandemic.
Topics: Humans; COVID-19; Pandemics; Infection Control; Health Facilities; Morale
PubMed: 36332725
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2022.10.009 -
Scientific Reports Dec 2022Due to diffusion of responsibility, majority voting may induce immoral and selfish behavior because voters are rarely solely responsible for the outcome. Across three... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
Due to diffusion of responsibility, majority voting may induce immoral and selfish behavior because voters are rarely solely responsible for the outcome. Across three behavioral experiments (two preregistered; n = 1983), we test this hypothesis in situations where there is a conflict between morality and material self-interest. Participants were randomly assigned to make decisions about extracting money from a charity either in an experimental referendum or individually. We find no evidence that voting induces immoral behavior. Neither do we find that people self-servingly distort their beliefs about their responsibility for the outcome when they vote. If anything, the results suggest that voting makes people less immoral.
Topics: Humans; Morals; Social Behavior; Politics
PubMed: 36587028
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-24360-w -
Personality and Social Psychology... 2019We review empirical research on (social) psychology of morality to identify which issues and relations are well documented by existing data and which areas of inquiry... (Review)
Review
We review empirical research on (social) psychology of morality to identify which issues and relations are well documented by existing data and which areas of inquiry are in need of further empirical evidence. An electronic literature search yielded a total of 1,278 relevant research articles published from 1940 through 2017. These were subjected to expert content analysis and standardized bibliometric analysis to classify research questions and relate these to (trends in) empirical approaches that characterize research on morality. We categorize the research questions addressed in this literature into five different themes and consider how empirical approaches within each of these themes have addressed psychological antecedents and implications of moral behavior. We conclude that some key features of theoretical questions relating to human morality are not systematically captured in empirical research and are in need of further investigation.
Topics: Bibliometrics; Emotions; Humans; Morals; Psychology, Social; Research; Self Concept
PubMed: 30658545
DOI: 10.1177/1088868318811759