Moral dilemma in adolescence: The role of values, prosocial moral reasoning and moral disengagement in helping decision making

The autonomous vehicle (AV) is one of the first commercialized AI-embedded robots to make autonomous decisions. Despite technological advancements, unavoidable AV accidents that result in life-and-death consequences cannot be completely eliminated. The emerging social concern of how an AV should make ethical decisions during unavoidable accidents is referred to as the moral dilemma of AV, which has promoted heated discussions among various stakeholders. However, there are research gaps in explainable AV ethical decision-making processes that predict how AVs’ moral behaviors are made that are acceptable from the AV users’ perspectives. This study addresses the key question: What factors affect ethical behavioral intentions in the AV moral dilemma? To answer this question, this study draws theories from multidisciplinary research fields to propose the “Integrative ethical decision-making framework for the AV moral dilemma.” The framework includes four interdependent ethical decision-making stages: AV moral dilemma issue framing, intuitive moral reasoning, rational moral reasoning, and ethical behavioral intention making. Further, the framework includes variables (e.g., perceived moral intensity, individual factors, and personal moral philosophies) that influence the ethical decision-making process. For instance, the framework explains that AV users from Eastern cultures will tend to endorse a situationist ethics position (high idealism and high relativism), which views that ethical decisions are relative to context, compared to AV users from Western cultures. This proposition is derived from the link between individual factors and personal moral philosophy. Moreover, the framework proposes a dual-process theory, which explains that both intuitive and rational moral reasoning are integral processes of ethical decision-making during the AV moral dilemma. Further, this framework describes that ethical behavioral intentions that lead to decisions in the AV moral dilemma are not fixed, but are based on how an individual perceives the seriousness of the situation, which is shaped by their personal moral philosophy. This framework provides a step-by-step explanation of how pluralistic ethical decision-making occurs, reducing the abstractness of AV moral reasoning processes.

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Moral Disengagement and Ethical Decision-Making

Journal of Personnel Psychology ◽

10.1027/1866-5888/a000166 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 184-189 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

James F. Johnson ◽

Shane Connelly

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Personnel Selection ◽

Moral Disengagement ◽

Ethical Decision ◽

Ethical Decision Making ◽

Negative Relationship ◽

Trait Affect ◽

The Relationship ◽

Moderating Role

Abstract. Process-focused models of ethical decision-making (EDM) have focused on individual and situational constraints influencing EDM processes and outcomes. Trait affect and propensity to morally disengage are two individual factors that influence EDM. The current study examines the moderating role of dispositional guilt and shame on the relationship between moral disengagement and EDM. Results indicate that moderate and high levels of dispositional guilt attenuate the negative relationship between moral disengagement and EDM, while low guilt does not. Dispositional shame does not moderate the relationship between moral disengagement and EDM. Implications for personnel selection are discussed.

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Stand up to action: The postural effect of moral dilemma decision‐making and the moderating role of dual processes

PsyCh Journal ◽

10.1002/pchj.449 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Chuanjun Liu ◽

Jiangqun Liao

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Moral Dilemma ◽

Dual Processes ◽

Postural Effect ◽

Moderating Role

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Facades of morality: the role of moral disengagement in green buying behaviour

Qualitative Market Research An International Journal ◽

10.1108/qmr-03-2019-0030 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 217-239 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nitika Sharma ◽

Madan Lal

Keyword(s):

Grounded Theory ◽

Moral Disengagement ◽

Moral Dilemma ◽

Research Work ◽

Constructivist Grounded Theory ◽

Consumption Pattern ◽

Content Type ◽

Green Consumption ◽

Buying Behaviour

Purpose This study aims to presents the article regarding the influential role of moral inefficacy and moral disengagement to address green intention and behaviour gap among consumers, and how they attain self-exoneration because of the moral dilemma if any exist. Design/methodology/approach The present study is based on semi-structured interviews, using constructivist grounded theory, which offers a platform to investigate, explore and discover psychosocial mechanism that operates among the consumers regarding the dimension of morality and green practices. In-depth exhaustive dialogues with Indian green consumers are set up to stimulate dialogue on the study. Findings Findings of the study shed light on the moral dilemma arising from internal and external inefficacy of consumers and disengagement of morality to save consumers from self-condemnation. Also, the study proffers the potential conceptual framework of moral inefficacy, moral disengagement and green buying behaviour of consumers. Eventually, the study mapped the morality matrix to explore the consequents of moral inefficacy and moral disengagement. Research limitations/implications The idiographic nature of qualitative research, particularly grounded theory may be considered as a research limitation as it follows limited generalizability. Moreover, the present research work is exploratory in nature and depends on the candour of researchers’ reactivity and understanding. Practical implications The study subjectively concludes the green behaviour of consumers and discusses the rationality behind green intentions and behaviour gap. Marketers can strategize consumer morality as an approach to enhance green buying behaviour of consumers by removing moral inefficacies and disengagements. Social implications It is crucial for marketers and society to understand the reasons behind non-green consumerism and accordingly cope up with the situation. Originality/value The study has been designed in a way to discuss the philosophy of morality and psychology of consumers on green consumption. To elicit the crux and conceptualization of morality and green purchasing framework using constructivist grounded theory is the exclusivity of this study. This paper explores green consumption pattern using moral orientation and processes in detail.

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Integrity as a Core Value in Organizations

Handbook of Research on Teaching Ethics in Business and Management Education ◽

10.4018/978-1-61350-510-6.ch019 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 327-340 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Gillian Griffin

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Moral Reasoning ◽

Personal Development ◽

Practical Reasoning ◽

Ethical Decision Making ◽

Professional Role ◽

Ethical Theories ◽

The Public ◽

Definition Of

In recent years, the teaching of ethics in business schools has become more common. However, despite positive interest and the quantity of literature, there remain serious shortcomings and incidents of unethical behavior by corporations. Unfortunately, rules, principles, values and virtues are usually presented in a fragmented fashion, often confusing ethical theories. Rarely is the role of character and virtue in moral reasoning considered and little has been written to illustrate moral judgment as integral to practical reasoning in ethical decision making. This chapter defines the strengths and weaknesses of duty and organizational values and illustrates the interconnectedness of rules, values and virtues. Unless the crucial element that character plays in organizational ethics is considered, it becomes a simple philosophical comparison of ethical theories. An integrated component of duty, values and virtue provides a clearer definition of virtues and their relationship to personal development, the professional role and the public good.

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Constituency Norms Facilitate Unethical Negotiation Behavior Through Moral Disengagement

Group Decision and Negotiation ◽

10.1007/s10726-020-09691-1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 29 (5) ◽

pp. 969-991

Author(s):

Hillie Aaldering ◽

Alfred Zerres ◽

Wolfgang Steinel

Keyword(s):

Unethical Behavior ◽

Moral Disengagement ◽

Moral Dilemma ◽

Organizational Practice ◽

Competitive Strategies ◽

Unethical Conduct ◽

Negotiation Tactics ◽

Actual Use ◽

Mere Presence

Abstract While organizations strive for ethical conduct, the activity of negotiating offers strong temptations to employ unethical tactics and secure benefits for one’s own party. In four experiments, we examined the role of constituency communication in terms of their attitudes towards (un)ethical and competitive conduct on negotiators’ willingness and actual use of unethical tactics. We find that the mere presence of a constituency already increased representatives’ willingness to engage in unethical behavior (Experiment 1). More specifically, a constituency communicating liberal (vs. strict) attitudes toward unethical conduct helps negotiators to justify transgressions and morally disengage from their behavior, resulting in an increased use of unethical negotiation tactics (Experiment 2–3). Moreover, constituents’ endorsement of competitive strategies sufficed to increase moral disengagement and unethical behavior of representative negotiators in a similar fashion (Experiment 4ab). Our results caution organizational practice against advocating explicit unethical and even competitive tactics by constituents: it eases negotiators’ moral dilemma towards unethical conduct.

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Values to be Caught and Taught: The Response of the Church to the Teenage Moral Dilemma

Journal of Youth and Theology ◽

10.1163/24055093-90000100 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 23-35

Author(s):

Rian Prins

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Moral Development ◽

Moral Dilemma ◽

Great Opportunity ◽

Community Of Faith ◽

Number Of Factors ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Church

This paper discusses a number of factors that hamper moral development and which indicates that purposeful and well-planned attention must be paid to the moral development of the youth. The church, especially, has an important responsibility and a great opportunity in this respect. The role of the church is, primarily, not what it does for the youth, but what it should be for the youth, namely a true community of faith. Through identification with the congregation, identification with the congregation's values and norms takes place. Moral consultation and decision-making should function within such a context. Moral development takes place within the dialectic relationship of initiation and communication of values and norms.

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The Role of Temperature in Moral Decision-Making: Limited Reproducibility

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.681527 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Ryunosuke Sudo ◽

Satoshi F. Nakashima ◽

Masatoshi Ukezono ◽

Yuji Takano ◽

Johan Lauwereyns

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Social Cognition ◽

Temperature Effect ◽

Moral Dilemma ◽

Strong Support ◽

Judgment Task ◽

Cool Temperature ◽

Moral Decision ◽

Moral Decision Making

Temperature is one of the major environmental factors that people are exposed to on a daily basis, often in conditions that do not afford control. It is known that heat and cold can influence a person’s productivity and performance in simple tasks. With respect to social cognition, it has also been suggested that temperature impacts on relatively high-level forms of decision-making. For instance, previous research demonstrated that cold temperature promotes utilitarian judgment in a moral dilemma task. This effect could be due to psychological processing, when a cool temperature primes a set of internal representations (associated with “coldness”). Alternatively, the promotion of utilitarian judgment in cold conditions could be due to physiological interference from temperature, impeding on social cognition. Refuting both explanations of psychological or physiological processing, however, it has been suggested that there may be problems of reproducibility in the literature on temperature modulating complex or abstract information processing. To examine the role of temperature in moral decision-making, we conducted a series of experiments using ambient and haptic temperature with careful manipulation checks and modified task methodology. Experiment 1 manipulated room temperature with cool (21°C), control (24°C) and hot (27°C) conditions and found only a cool temperature effect, promoting utilitarian judgment as in the previous study. Experiment 2 manipulated the intensity of haptic temperature but failed to obtain the cool temperature effect. Experiments 3 and 4 examined the generalizability of the cool ambient temperature effect with another moral judgment task and with manipulation of exposure duration. However, again there were no cool temperature effects, suggesting a lack of reproducibility. Despite successful manipulations of temperature in all four experiments, as measured in body temperature and the participants’ self-reported perception, we found no systematic influence of temperature on moral decision-making. A Bayesian meta-analysis of the four experiments showed that the overall data tended to provide strong support in favor of the null hypothesis. We propose that, at least in the range of temperatures from 21 to 27°C, the cool temperature effect in moral decision-making is not a robust phenomenon.

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Elaborating the role of reflection and individual differences in the study of folk-economic beliefs

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x18000274 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 41 ◽

Author(s):

Kevin Arceneaux

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Cognitive Processes ◽

Evolutionary History ◽

Behavioral Responses ◽

History Of ◽

Economic Beliefs

AbstractIntuitions guide decision-making, and looking to the evolutionary history of humans illuminates why some behavioral responses are more intuitive than others. Yet a place remains for cognitive processes to second-guess intuitive responses – that is, to be reflective – and individual differences abound in automatic, intuitive processing as well.

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