Moral impressions and presumed moral choices: Perceptions of how moral exemplars resolve moral dilemmas

Fear Deciding Fate: How Fear Influences Moral Decision-Making

10.26686/wgtn.17144318 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Sophia Strojny

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Moral Dilemmas ◽

Thinking Styles ◽

Moral Decision ◽

Moral Decision Making ◽

Moral Choice ◽

Moral Decisions ◽

Moral Choices ◽

The Impact

Moral dilemmas require individuals to make a life-altering choice. Due to the severity of the choice, we argue that there is a degree of fear in moral decision-making. We aimed to see how prevailing fears in each individual predicts moral decision-making habits. We looked into the emotional and physical divisions of fear to deem which dimension of fear is more dominant in each participant. Then analysed these results against reported deontological or utilitarian moral inclinations to see if higher reports of fear impact moral decision-making. Additionally, we included two secondary variables that are most prevalent in fear research (gender and thinking styles) as well as the impact of burden on moral choice. We found that our research was supported; fear tendencies are linked to individual behaviours and burden of moral decisions was influenced by what we fear and affected moral choices.

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Moral Choices in Foreign Affairs

Worldview ◽

10.1017/s0084255900000784 ◽

1958 ◽

Vol 1 (9) ◽

pp. 4-7

Author(s):

Kenneth W. Thompson

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

Foreign Relations ◽

American Foreign Policy ◽

Vice President ◽

Moral Dilemmas ◽

The United States ◽

George Washington ◽

Woodrow Wilson ◽

American President ◽

Moral Choices

Three contemporary problems in American foreign policy illustrate in graphic terms the moral dilemmas that confront any state in the conduct of foreign relations. Every American President since George Washington has proclaimed the Republic's devotion to democracy both here and abroad. One of our greatest Presidents, Woodrow Wilson, led the country in a crusade to “make the world safe for democracy.” The Eisenhower administration in 1952 rededicated itself to the liberation of subject peoples in eastern Europe from tyranny and oppression. By April 29, 1958, however, Vice President Nixon in replying to a question why the United States supported dictatorships in Latin America observed: “If we openly discriminate between one government and another in Latin America, what would we be charged with? We would be charged with interfering in the internal affairs of other countries and with trying to impose our system of government on them.”

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MORAL DECISION-MAKING DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Moscow University Psychology Bulletin ◽

10.11621/vsp.2020.04.02 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 22-43

Author(s):

Sergey N. Enikolopov ◽

Tatina I. Medvedeva ◽

Olga M. Boyko ◽

Oksana Yu. Vorontsova ◽

Olga Yu. Kazmina

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Common Good ◽

Online Survey ◽

Moral Dilemmas ◽

Moral Decision ◽

Moral Decision Making ◽

Psychopathological Symptoms ◽

Moral Decisions ◽

Moral Choices ◽

High Level

Relevance. The COVID-19 pandemic reveals the problem of moral choices for a large number of people: who should be treated first; who can be considered as a subject for urgent vaccines and drugs testing; choice between personal convenience and observation of restrictions for the sake of the “common good.” The objective of the study was to evaluate whether the stress experienced by people during the COVID-19 pandemic can change moral decision making. Materials and methods. The data of an online survey conducted from March 30 to May 31 (311 people) were analyzed. The survey included sociodemographic questions, questions about assessing one’s current condition, the Simptom Check List-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), and the Moral Dilemmas Test, consisting of 30 dilemmas. The relationship of a number of utilitarian choices in personal moral dilemmas with sociodemographic characteristics, respondents’ assessments of their state and psychopathological characteristics was analyzed. Solving personal moral dilemmas was considered within subgroups of respondents with a high level of somatization and a high level of psychopathological symptoms and it was reviewed separately. Results. The results showed a high level of distress throughout the survey and an increase of utilitarian choices in personal moral dilemmas by the end of the survey. The number of choices in personal dilemmas was lower among older respondents, higher among men, and positively correlated with psychopathological symptoms. In the subgroup with a high level of somatization, personal choices slightly decreased by the end of the survey. On the contrary, in the subgroup with high levels of psychopathological symptoms, the number of personal choices significantly increased. Conclusions. Against the background of quarantine, assessments of moral standards change. The level of stress ambiguously affects moral decisions. A high level of somatization leads to a decrease in utilitarian personal choices, and a higher level of psychopathological symptoms leads to an increase in utilitarianш choices. Utilitarian personal choices are more often made by men and younger people

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Social odors (even when masked) make you more emotional: behavioral and neural insights

10.31234/osf.io/h6f23 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Cinzia Cecchetto ◽

Elisa Lancini ◽

Domenica Bueti ◽

Raffaella I Rumiati ◽

Valentina Parma

Keyword(s):

Emotional Experience ◽

Moral Dilemmas ◽

Relevant Information ◽

Social Contexts ◽

Angular Gyrus ◽

The Social ◽

Neural Underpinnings ◽

Moral Choices ◽

Social Odor ◽

Social Odors

Moral rules evolved within specific social contexts that are argued to shape moral choices. In turn, moral choices are hypothesized to be affected by social odors as they powerfully convey socially-relevant information. We thus investigated the neural underpinnings of the effects that social odors operate on the participants’ decisions. In an fMRI study we presented to healthy individuals 64 moral dilemmas divided in incongruent (real) and congruent (fake) moral dilemmas, using different types of harm (intentional: instrumental dilemmas, or inadvertent: accidental dilemmas). Participants were required to choose between deontological or utilitarian actions under the exposure to a neutral fragrance (masker) or social odors concealed by the same masker. Smelling the masked social odor while processing incongruent (but not congruent) dilemmas activates the supramarginal gyrus, consistent with an increase in prosocial attitude. When processing accidental (but not instrumental) dilemmas, smelling the social odor activates the angular gyrus, an area associated with the processing of people’s presence, supporting the hypothesis that social odors enhance the saliency of the social context in moral scenarios. These results suggest that social odors can influence moral choices by increasing the emotional experience during the decision process, and further explain how sensory unconscious biases influence human behavior.

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從儒家倫理學到“儒家生命倫理學”的距離

International Journal of Chinese & Comparative Philosophy of Medicine ◽

10.24112/ijccpm.91504 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 27-42

Author(s):

Shuai WANG

Keyword(s):

Moral Philosophy ◽

Human Dignity ◽

Moral Dilemmas ◽

Confucian Ethics ◽

Individual Autonomy ◽

Moral Principles ◽

Moral Standards ◽

Digital Commons ◽

Moral Choices ◽

Confucian Moral

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.生命倫理學由於強調平等和尊重的價值而使個體在道德困境中的抉擇顯得尤為重要，同時道德困境本身也要求個體具有一定的道德抉擇能力。就此而言，構建“儒家生命倫理”可能面臨兩個挑戰：從生命倫理學科性質而言，儒家面臨的是關於西方式“個體”概念缺失的問題；另外從個體抉擇方面而言，儒家似乎又面臨著缺乏道德抉擇能力的困境。前者是生命倫理學科的本質要求，後者則似乎是儒學內部的理論困境。二者似乎表明，儒家與生命倫理學科不能相容。面對當下中國令人憂慮的道德現狀，澄清上述問題就顯得必要。本文將通過分析儒家倫理思想來澄清上述兩個挑戰。由於儒家理解世界的方式不同於西方，我們就不能以西方流行的生命倫理學科標準來衡量儒家倫理學說。文章指出，儒家將一般人與儒者區別開來，也並不以要求君子的道德標準來要求一般人。儒家將承擔道義的責任更多的賦予了代表“天命”的儒者，以道在倫常日用之中的實用理性精神為本質特徵，開創了儒家理解道德和解決道德困境的獨特維度。然而，鑒於當代儒家的遭遇，構建“儒家生命倫理”依舊任重道遠。Contemporary bioethics and moral principles often emphasize values such as human dignity, equality, and individual autonomy, particularly in the case of moral dilemmas. Given that traditional Confucian ethics does not speak of these values, the effort to construct “Confucian bioethics” today may face challenges from two aspects: (1) the notion of individualism, and (2) individual autonomy that makes moral choices possible. The paper contends that there is an ethical incommensurability between traditional Confucian moral philosophy and contemporary bioethics. This leads to the argument that one cannot simply apply the moral principles of bioethics to assess and judge Confucian ethics. It also contends that the Confucian ethical viewpoint represents a kind of elitism that sets up moral standards for a minority, rather than for everyone in society. Therefore, Confucianism by default will not be able to answer many of the questions raised by bioethics, which has been highly influenced by a modern democratic system.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 673 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.

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Islamic Feminism: The Challenges and Choices of Reinterpreting Sexual Ethics in Islamic Tradition

Society and Culture in South Asia ◽

10.1177/2393861720923048 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 214-237

Author(s):

Talha Rehman

Keyword(s):

Religious Tradition ◽

Moral Dilemmas ◽

Legal Tradition ◽

Islamic Feminism ◽

Discursive Space ◽

Islamic Tradition ◽

And Gender ◽

Moral Choices ◽

Feminist Movements

Despite what the furore over Uniform Civil Code and more recently Triple Talaq might suggest, Muslim women have very little discursive space to voice their concerns in Indian political arena. Dominant discourses on Islam and gender, including those propagated by Muslim male organisations pose Islam as a monolithic entity completely alien to the modern gender-egalitarian ideals. Feminist movements, on the other hand, hold Islam to be irrelevant at best and an obstacle at worst in promotion of gender-egalitarian norms within the community. There are concerns about the extent to which Islamic feminism can go in its demands for egalitarianism while staying within an Islamic paradigm. This paper contests those assumptions about Islam and women that foreclose any dialogue for change by exploring the role of human interpretative choices in formation and development of the Islamic religious tradition. As demonstrated by feminist exegetes, how religious texts are read is shaped deeply by human contingencies and choices. In Indian scenario, such changes are visible in formation of Muslim personal law as well. Post-independence, political contingencies within the subcontinent made it difficult to revisit the laws resulting in the loss of fluidity in the tradition. As formative scholars’ choices became enshrined in the tradition as authentic and canonical, the human element in the canonical became forgotten. The inertia to review the moral choices made by earlier authors became the hallmark of authenticity and therefore authority within the tradition. This paper argues that appreciating the role of human choices and hermeneutical flexibility involved in the formation of gender norms in Muslim societies throughout the history of Islamic legal tradition might prove effective in resolving moral dilemmas faced by modern Muslims while maintaining continuity with the tradition.

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Fear Deciding Fate: How Fear Influences Moral Decision-Making

10.26686/wgtn.17144318.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Sophia Strojny

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Moral Dilemmas ◽

Thinking Styles ◽

Moral Decision ◽

Moral Decision Making ◽

Moral Choice ◽

Moral Decisions ◽

Moral Choices ◽

The Impact

Moral dilemmas require individuals to make a life-altering choice. Due to the severity of the choice, we argue that there is a degree of fear in moral decision-making. We aimed to see how prevailing fears in each individual predicts moral decision-making habits. We looked into the emotional and physical divisions of fear to deem which dimension of fear is more dominant in each participant. Then analysed these results against reported deontological or utilitarian moral inclinations to see if higher reports of fear impact moral decision-making. Additionally, we included two secondary variables that are most prevalent in fear research (gender and thinking styles) as well as the impact of burden on moral choice. We found that our research was supported; fear tendencies are linked to individual behaviours and burden of moral decisions was influenced by what we fear and affected moral choices.

Download Full-text

Teaching Moral Education in Secondary Schools Using Real-Life Dilemmas

10.26686/wgtn.16967287 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Vishalache Balakrishnan

Keyword(s):

Secondary Schools ◽

Moral Education ◽

Secondary Students ◽

Participant Observation ◽

Real Life ◽

Moral Dilemmas ◽

Moral Pluralism ◽

Proximal Development ◽

Cultural Backgrounds ◽

Moral Choices

The purpose of this study is to contribute to contemporary debates about alternative ways of teaching Moral Education (ME) in Malaysia by including the voice of students. ME in the Malaysian setting is both complex and compulsory. This study explores alternatives to the current somewhat dated approach. It seeks to discover what young adolescents describe as moral dilemmas, how they approach them and what they find useful in resolving these moral problems. The research is founded on a modified version of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), extended to suit the multicultural, multiethnic Malaysian setting, and here called the Zone of Collaborative Development (ZCD). This study uses qualitative research methodology consisting of a modified framework of participatory action research (PAR) as the methodological framework. Data was gathered for textual analysis through a modified form of participant observation, focus group transcripts, interviews, and student journals. The research trials a process of resolving reallife moral dilemmas in the ME classroom. It critically analyses the types of reallife moral dilemmas that a selected group of secondary students face. It also indicates the moral choices they make and the moral orientations they use. Participants in this study were 22 16-17 year old adolescents from three different types of secondary schools in a Form Four ME classroom in Malaysia. They were from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, but within a nonMuslim community of students. ME in Malaysia (MEM) is designed to cater for this group while Muslim students study Islamic Studies. Findings show that students were concerned about moral issues and values not covered in the current ME curriculum. The moral dilemmas that they identified were relational and context dependent. Multiple factors contributed to the problems they described. These factors included national legislation, Malaysian culture, ethnicity, and religion as well as the effects of history, in particular the Japanese occupation. Students named autonomy, self and mutual respect, trust, freedom, and tolerance as main conflicting themes in their reallife moral dilemmas. They found their peers helpful in providing support, advice, and direction. Students also appear to find the process trialled in the research interesting, interactive/collaborative, meaningful, and reflective. The analysis also shows that the respondents' moral choices were influenced by parents, culture, religion, utilitarianism, collaboration, and friendship, within a strong carebased approach. However, moral pluralism was also evident in the findings in cases where participants made decisions based on care and justice interchangeably. The study suggests that including students' voices in MEM in this way might better engage students' interest, whilst at the same time contributing to intercultural tolerance and understanding.

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The long and the short of it: 5-HTTLPR and moral judgement

10.31234/osf.io/9uzng ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Diana Armbruster ◽

Klaus-Peter Lesch ◽

Alexander Strobel

Keyword(s):

Moral Dilemmas ◽

Moral Judgement ◽

Emotional Processes ◽

Moral Decisions ◽

Potential Sources ◽

Endocrine Status ◽

S Allele ◽

Moral Choices ◽

Moral Attitudes ◽

Response Score

Differences in moral sentiments are widespread. Increasingly, their biological correlates are investigated to elucidate potential sources of divergent moral attitudes and choices. Seroto-nin 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 incon-sistent findings. N = 157 healthy young adults completed a set of congruent and incongruent moral dilemmas. The set allows in addition to (1) the traditional response score an estimation of underlying (2) deontological and (3) utilitarian inclinations. While there was no main ef-fect of 5-HTTLPR on any of the three moral judgement parameters, there was an interaction effect between 5-HTTLPR and endocrine status on deontology but not on utilitarianism or the traditional score. In men and free cycling women, LL homozygotes showed reduced de-ontological tendencies compared to S allele carriers. Contrariwise, in women using oral con-traceptives, LL homozygotes had increased deontology scores. Furthermore, LL genotypes in general reported less difficulty in making harmful choices, which were in addition associated with less negative emotions in this group. The findings suggest that 5-HTTLPR might be involved in modulating cognitive and emotional processes contributing to moral decisions.

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Teaching Moral Education in Secondary Schools Using Real-Life Dilemmas

10.26686/wgtn.16967287.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Vishalache Balakrishnan

Keyword(s):

Secondary Schools ◽

Moral Education ◽

Secondary Students ◽

Participant Observation ◽

Real Life ◽

Moral Dilemmas ◽

Moral Pluralism ◽

Proximal Development ◽

Cultural Backgrounds ◽

Moral Choices

The purpose of this study is to contribute to contemporary debates about alternative ways of teaching Moral Education (ME) in Malaysia by including the voice of students. ME in the Malaysian setting is both complex and compulsory. This study explores alternatives to the current somewhat dated approach. It seeks to discover what young adolescents describe as moral dilemmas, how they approach them and what they find useful in resolving these moral problems. The research is founded on a modified version of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), extended to suit the multicultural, multiethnic Malaysian setting, and here called the Zone of Collaborative Development (ZCD). This study uses qualitative research methodology consisting of a modified framework of participatory action research (PAR) as the methodological framework. Data was gathered for textual analysis through a modified form of participant observation, focus group transcripts, interviews, and student journals. The research trials a process of resolving reallife moral dilemmas in the ME classroom. It critically analyses the types of reallife moral dilemmas that a selected group of secondary students face. It also indicates the moral choices they make and the moral orientations they use. Participants in this study were 22 16-17 year old adolescents from three different types of secondary schools in a Form Four ME classroom in Malaysia. They were from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, but within a nonMuslim community of students. ME in Malaysia (MEM) is designed to cater for this group while Muslim students study Islamic Studies. Findings show that students were concerned about moral issues and values not covered in the current ME curriculum. The moral dilemmas that they identified were relational and context dependent. Multiple factors contributed to the problems they described. These factors included national legislation, Malaysian culture, ethnicity, and religion as well as the effects of history, in particular the Japanese occupation. Students named autonomy, self and mutual respect, trust, freedom, and tolerance as main conflicting themes in their reallife moral dilemmas. They found their peers helpful in providing support, advice, and direction. Students also appear to find the process trialled in the research interesting, interactive/collaborative, meaningful, and reflective. The analysis also shows that the respondents' moral choices were influenced by parents, culture, religion, utilitarianism, collaboration, and friendship, within a strong carebased approach. However, moral pluralism was also evident in the findings in cases where participants made decisions based on care and justice interchangeably. The study suggests that including students' voices in MEM in this way might better engage students' interest, whilst at the same time contributing to intercultural tolerance and understanding.

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