scholarly journals The Moral Psychology of Raceless, Genderless Strangers

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Hester ◽  
Kurt Gray
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Police Officer ◽  
Moral Psychology ◽  
Real World ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Structural Elements ◽  
Social Judgments ◽  
Group Affiliation

Moral psychology uses tightly controlled scenarios in which the identities of the characters are either unspecified or vague. Studies with raceless, genderless strangers help to highlight the important structural elements of moral acts (e.g., intention, causation, harm) but may not generalize to real-world judgments. As researchers have long shown, social judgments hinge on the identities (e.g., race, gender, age, religion, group affiliation) of both target and perceiver. Asking whether people generally condemn “shooting someone” is very different from asking whether liberals as opposed to conservatives condemn “a White police officer shooting a Black suspect.” We argue for the importance of incorporating identity into moral psychology. We briefly outline the central role of identity in social judgments before reviewing current theories in moral psychology. We then advocate an expanded person-centered morality—synthesizing moral psychology with social cognition—to better capture everyday moral judgments.

scholarly journals Experimental philosophical bioethics and normative inference

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian D. Earp ◽  
Jonathan Lewis ◽  
Vilius Dranseika ◽  
Ivar R. Hannikainen
Keyword(s):  
Moral Psychology ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Real World ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Experimental Philosophy ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Case Study Approach ◽  
Study Approach

AbstractThis paper explores an emerging sub-field of both empirical bioethics and experimental philosophy, which has been called “experimental philosophical bioethics” (bioxphi). As an empirical discipline, bioxphi adopts the methods of experimental moral psychology and cognitive science; it does so to make sense of the eliciting factors and underlying cognitive processes that shape people’s moral judgments, particularly about real-world matters of bioethical concern. Yet, as a normative discipline situated within the broader field of bioethics, it also aims to contribute to substantive ethical questions about what should be done in a given context. What are some of the ways in which this aim has been pursued? In this paper, we employ a case study approach to examine and critically evaluate four strategies from the recent literature by which scholars in bioxphi have leveraged empirical data in the service of normative arguments.

scholarly journals Good Robots, Bad Robots: Morally Valenced Behavior Effects on Perceived Mind, Morality, and Trust

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Banks
Keyword(s):  
Moral Psychology ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Moral Behavior ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Moral Foundations ◽  
Social Judgments ◽  
Moral Foundation ◽  
Physical Presence ◽  
Study Participants

Abstract Both robots and humans can behave in ways that engender positive and negative evaluations of their behaviors and associated responsibility. However, extant scholarship on the link between agent evaluations and valenced behavior has generally treated moral behavior as a monolithic phenomenon and largely focused on moral deviations. In contrast, contemporary moral psychology increasingly considers moral judgments to unfold in relation to a number of moral foundations (care, fairness, authority, loyalty, purity, liberty) subject to both upholding and deviation. The present investigation seeks to discover whether social judgments of humans and robots emerge differently as a function of moral foundation-specific behaviors. This work is conducted in two studies: (1) an online survey in which agents deliver observed/mediated responses to moral dilemmas and (2) a smaller laboratory-based replication with agents delivering interactive/live responses. In each study, participants evaluate the goodness of and blame for six foundation-specific behaviors, and evaluate the agent for perceived mind, morality, and trust. Across these studies, results suggest that (a) moral judgments of behavior may be agent-agnostic, (b) all moral foundations may contribute to social evaluations of agents, and (c) physical presence and agent class contribute to the assignment of responsibility for behaviors. Findings are interpreted to suggest that bad behaviors denote bad actors, broadly, but machines bear a greater burden to behave morally, regardless of their credit- or blame-worthiness in a situation.

Youth Cognition Surrounding Bullying of Peers With Disabilities: Inclusion, Intervention, and the Role of the Group

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Lynn Mulvey ◽  
Lauren McMillian ◽  
Matthew J. Irvin ◽  
Ryan G. Carlson
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Youth With Disabilities ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Outcomes For Children ◽  
Children’S Expectations ◽  
Peer Responses

Children with disabilities often experience high rates of bullying, teasing, and social exclusion and these experiences are related to a host of negative outcomes for children who are victimized by these forms of bias-based bullying. Little is known, however, about children’s cognition regarding bullying and exclusion of youth with disabilities. The current study measured children’s (9- to 10- and 11- to 12-year-olds; N = 90) social cognition regarding bullying and exclusion of peers with different types of disabilities. Results revealed that children’s expectations of how inclusive their peers would be toward youth with disabilities were related to participants’ own inclusion expectations and that male participants and those who reported greater levels of frustration were less likely to expect that they would include peers with disabilities. Furthermore, participants’ moral judgments about the harmful nature of bullying and their own rates of aggressive behavior were associated with their likelihood of intervening if they observed youth with disabilities being victimized. Finally, results indicated variation in types of intervention behaviors children expected to employ. The findings indicate that youth recognize the importance of challenging bullying and exclusion of youth with disabilities, but that they are also influenced by their perceptions of peer responses.

Refining our understanding of the “elephant in the room”

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Whiten
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Critical Factors ◽  
Technological Culture

Abstract The authors do the field of cultural evolution a service by exploring the role of non-social cognition in human cumulative technological culture, truly neglected in comparison with socio-cognitive abilities frequently assumed to be the primary drivers. Some specifics of their delineation of the critical factors are problematic, however. I highlight recent chimpanzee–human comparative findings that should help refine such analyses.

“Eternal Bodies”: images of archangels in the upper parts of Nubian buildings

2020 ◽  
pp. 713-736
Author(s):  
Magdalena Łaptaś
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
Structural Elements ◽  
Christian Art ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Cosmic Space

Images of archangels and angels, which were painted on the walls, in the upper parts of the buildings and, on their structural elements, were very popular in Christian Nubian painting as attested by the discoveries from Church SWN.BV on the citadel in Old Dongola. These images, which derive from pre-Christian art, depict the eternal nature of the archangels and angels. Presenting this group of representations, the author traces the origins of these images to highlight the role of these spiritual beings as intermediaries between God and humankind. As such, they move freely between the Heavens and the Earth, so the air and cosmic space are their natural surroundings. Moreover, archangels govern the forces of nature, the planets, and the seven skies. Therefore, their sanctuaries were located on hill summits, in the upper chapels, on structural elements of ecclesiastical buildings, etc. The Nubian tradition is therefore part of a broader Mediterranean tradition, the roots of which should be sought in the Near East.

Is Empathy Required for Making Moral Judgments?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Deigh
Keyword(s):  
Moral Judgment ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Psychopathic Personality ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Psychological Profile ◽  
Main Thesis ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Additional Support

This essay is a study of the nature of moral judgment. Its main thesis is that moral judgment is a type of judgment defined by its content and not its psychological profile. The essay arrives at this thesis through a critical examination of Hume’s sentimentalism and the role of empathy in its account of moral judgment. The main objection to Hume’s account is its exclusion of people whom one can describe as making moral judgments though they have no motivation to act on them. Consideration of such people, particularly those with a psychopathic personality, argues for a distinction between different types of moral judgment in keeping with the essay’s main thesis. Additional support for the main thesis is then drawn from Piaget’s theory of moral judgment in children.

Intertheatricality and Propaganda

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence Publicover
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Real World ◽  
The Political ◽  
Merchant Of Venice ◽  
The Merchant Of Venice ◽  
Political Background ◽  
Controversial Nature

This chapter analyses the ways in which the collaborative drama The Travels of the Three English Brothers defends the Sherley brothers’ real-world political endeavours across Europe and Persia through its intertheatrical negotiations. Explaining the political background of those endeavours and their controversial nature, it illustrates how the playwrights liken the Sherleys to the heroes of dramas that had been popular on the early modern stage over the preceding twenty years, in particular Tamburlaine and The Merchant of Venice. It also examines the significance of Francis Beaumont’s specific parody, in The Knight of the Burning Pestle, of an episode in Travels in which the Persian Sophy acts as godfather to the child of Robert Sherley. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the role of playing companies in shaping dramatic output.

scholarly journals Assessing social preferences in reimbursement negotiations for new Pharmaceuticals in Oncology: an experimental design to analyse willingness to pay and willingness to accept

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik J. Wettstein ◽  
Stefan Boes
Keyword(s):  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Real World ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Social Preferences ◽  
Standard Of Care ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Amazon Mechanical Turk ◽  
Patient Organisation ◽  
Patient Benefit

Abstract Background Price negotiations for specialty pharmaceuticals take place in a complex market setting. The determination of the added value of new treatments and the related societal willingness to pay are of increasing importance in policy reform debates. From a behavioural economics perspective, potential cognitive biases and other-regarding concerns affecting outcomes of reimbursement negotiations are of interest. An experimental setting to investigate social preferences in reimbursement negotiations for novel, oncology pharmaceuticals was used. Of interest were differences in social preferences caused by incremental changes of the patient outcome. Methods An online experiment was conducted in two separate runs (n = 202, n = 404) on the Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) platform. Populations were split into two (run one) and four (run two) equally sized treatment groups for hypothetical reimbursement decisions. Participants were randomly assigned to the role of a public price regulator for pharmaceuticals (buyer) or a representative of a pharmaceutical company (seller). In run two, role groups were further split into two different price magnitude framings (“real world” vs unconverted “real payoff” prices). Decisions had real monetary effects on other participants (in the role of premium payers or investors) and via charitable donations to a patient organisation (patient benefit). Results 56 (run one) and 59 (run two) percent of participants stated strictly monotone preferences for incremental patient benefit. The mean incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) against standard of care (SoC) was higher than the initial ICER of the SoC against no care. Regulators stated lower reservation prices in the “real world” prices group compared to their colleagues in the unconverted payoff group. No price group showed any reluctance to trade. Overall, regulators rated the relevance of the patient for their decision higher and the relevance of their own role lower compared to sellers. Conclusions The price magnitude of current oncology treatments affects stated preferences for incremental survival, and assigned responsibilities lead to different opinions on the relevance of affected stakeholders. The design is useful to further assess effects of reimbursement negotiations on societal outcomes like affordability (cost) or availability (access) of new pharmaceuticals and test behavioural policy interventions.

scholarly journals COVID-19, Social Media, and the Role of the Public Physician

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Joel M. Topf ◽  
Paul N. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Real World ◽  
The Public ◽  
Large Segment ◽  
Core Part ◽  
Audience Size

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an avalanche of information, much of it false or misleading. Social media posts with misleading or dangerous opinions and analyses are often amplified by celebrities and social media influencers; these posts have contributed substantially to this avalanche of information. An emerging force in this information infodemic is public physicians, doctors who view a public presence as a large segment of their mission. These physicians bring authority and real-world experience to the COVID-19 discussion. To investigate the role of public physicians, we interviewed a convenience cohort of physicians who have played a role in the infodemic. We asked the physicians about how their roles have changed, how their audience has changed, what role politics plays, and how they address misinformation. The physicians noted increased audience size with an increased focus on the pandemic. Most avoided confronting politics, but others found it unavoidable or that even if they tried to avoide it, it would be brought up by their audience. The physicians felt that confronting and correcting misinformation was a core part of their mission. Public physicians on social media are a new occurrence and are an important part of fighting online misinformation.

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