scholarly journals Switching Tracks? Towards a Multidimensional Model of Utilitarian Psychology

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Albert Charlton Everett ◽  
Guy Kahane
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Multidimensional Model ◽  
Utilitarian Approach ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Common Sense Morality ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Key Questions

Sacrificial moral dilemmas are widely used to investigate when, how, and why people make judgments that are consistent with utilitarianism. But to what extent can responses to sacrificial dilemmas shed light on utilitarian decision making? We consider two key questions: First, how meaningful is the relationship between responses to sacrificial dilemmas and what is distinctive of a utilitarian approach to morality? Second, to what extent do findings about sacrificial dilemmas generalise to other moral contexts where there is tension between utilitarianism and common-sense intuitions? We argue that sacrificial dilemmas only capture one point of conflict between utilitarianism and common-sense morality, and new paradigms are needed to investigate other key aspects of utilitarianism, such as its radical impartiality

Common-Sense Epidemiology in the Age of Electronic Patient Records (EPR)

2020 ◽  
pp. 343-364
Author(s):  
Shirly Bar-Lev ◽  
Dizza Beimel
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Clinical Information ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Patient Records ◽  
Electronic Patient Records ◽  
Professional Help ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Recommendations

Encouraging patients to play a more active role in their health care is crucial for healthcare planning and for the design of services. This chapter shifts the scholarly focus from practitioners' decision making to that of laypersons' trying to make sense of the lab results available on their EPRs. The authors developed a methodology to capture the relationship between information formats (graph, numeric, or verbal), laypersons' assessment of the conditions' gravity, and their preferred course of action. Focusing on the effect of “not knowing” on laypersons' preferred courses of action, our findings show that formats that left respondents less able to understand the results—namely, the numeric and verbal formats—produced a lower sense of urgency, and correspondingly, less inclination to actively seek professional help. The chapter takes a step toward deriving practical recommendations as to how personal clinical information should be communicated, to improve laypersons' interpretation of the information's significance.

scholarly journals As requested: brief, frank, and informal

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (01) ◽  
pp. C01
Author(s):  
Bruna De Marchi
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Unlimited Growth ◽  
Scientific Journalism ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shed Light

Scientific journalism ought to pay attention not only to the “products” of science, but also to the ways in which it operates in any given historical and political   context. A critical analysis of the presently dominant rhetoric of innovation and unlimited growth is necessary to shed light on the relationship between science  and democracy. Equally profitable would be a thorough investigation of past and present controversies on the role of scientists in decision-making.

scholarly journals Consumer Behaviours Towards ECO-Cars: A Case of Mauritius

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu Barry ◽  
Adjnu Damar-Ladkoo
Keyword(s):  
Response Rate ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
International Markets ◽  
Hybrid Vehicles ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Lack Of Information ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Key Questions

AbstractMankind has always relied on transportation to move from one place to the other; be it by horse carriage or modernized vehicles. With rising environmental issues such as global warming, the transport industry had to evolve so as to provide greener means of transportation and satisfy demands for eco-friendly technologies. This study has shed light on consumer behaviours towards eco-cars, known as hybrid vehicles. This research was in the context of Mauritius and respondents who already drive a vehicle were targeted so as to prevent lack of information about key questions such as habits on fuel expenses and vehicle features. The survey method used, had 100% response rate and permitted the researcher to get fruitful insights about: the extent of introduction and penetration of hybrid vehicles, the factors influencing the purchase of eco-cars, the perceived benefits of owning a hybrid vehicle and the relationship between age and hybrid vehicles’ characteristics. One revelation of this study is that hybrid vehicles do not have the expected impacts on Mauritian consumers like they have on the international markets; though the younger generation- the leaders of tomorrow- are interested with eco-friendly automobiles.

scholarly journals Manufacturing Obedience: Coercion and Authority in Border Controls

2021 ◽  
pp. 146247452110513
Author(s):  
Ana Aliverti
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Frontline Staff ◽  
The Social ◽  
State Authority ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Border Controls ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shed Light

This article reassesses the relationship between state authority and violence in the context of border controls. Drawing on empirical research conducted with immigration and police officers in the UK, I show that the use of force in this context give rise to distinctively complex ethical questions which shape institutional and individual practices, and is entangled with the legally and politically fragile authority wielded by frontline staff. Faced with a morally, socially and politically controversial mandate, these officers devise a range of strategies to either minimize or conceal the use of violence. In doing so, they sometimes fall into oxymorons and euphemisms that at once evidence the shady line between coercion and consent, and shed light on the some of the profound moral dilemmas they encounter in doing border work. These dilemmas, I conclude, speak of broader challenges to the exercise of state coercive power, and the negotiated, contingent and provisional nature of state authority in a globalized, postcolonial and profoundly unequal world. I also argue for the social and intellectual urge to integrate the study of immigration enforcement in contemporary debates of state penality.

scholarly journals The Education Rights of Street-Involved Children

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja Grover
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Educational Policy ◽  
International Law ◽  
Child Labor ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Educational Service ◽  
Legal Situation ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

This paper provides an overview of certain key aspects of the practical and legal situation of street-involved children globally. The inadequate protection of these children under both domestic and international law is addressed. The diversity of the population of street-involved children is considered as is the fact that this group is composed of both legally stateless and de facto stateless children. The relationship of street involvement to child labor, various health risks and victimization is discussed. The educational needs of older street-involved children are addressed including their right to participate in decision-making regarding aspects of educational service design and delivery. The overall objective of this paper is to encourage those who are involved in, or could impact upon educational policy to include street-involved children in their educational planning implementation and advocacy efforts.

Utilitarian and common-sense morality discussions in intercultural nursing practice

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Hanssen ◽  
Lise-Merete Alpers
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Nursing Practice ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Ethical Conflict ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Common Sense Morality ◽  
Patients Wishes ◽  
Better Than

Two areas of ethical conflict in intercultural nursing — who needs single rooms more, and how far should nurses go to comply with ethnic minority patients’ wishes? — are discussed from a utilitarian and common-sense morality point of view. These theories may mirror nurses’ way of thinking better than principled ethics, and both philosophies play a significant role in shaping nurses’ decision making. Questions concerning room allocation, noisy behaviour, and demands that nurses are unprepared or unequipped for may be hard to cope with owing to physical restrictions and other patients’ needs. Unsolvable problems may cause stress and a bad conscience as no solution is ‘right’ for all the patients concerned. Nurses experience a moral state of disequilibrium, which occurs when they feel responsible for the outcomes of their actions in situations that have no clear-cut solution.

Social Distance Reduces the Biases of Overweighting Small Probabilities and Underweighting Large Probabilities

2020 ◽  
pp. 014616722096905
Author(s):  
Qingzhou Sun ◽  
Jingyi Lu ◽  
Huanren Zhang ◽  
Yongfang Liu
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Cognitive Process ◽  
Probability Weighting ◽  
Emotional Intensity ◽  
The Social ◽  
Choice Tasks ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Small Probabilities

People often exhibit biases in probability weighting such as overweighting small probabilities and underweighting large probabilities. Our research examines whether increased social distance would reduce such biases. Participants completed valuation and choice tasks of probabilistic lotteries under conditions with different social distances. The results showed that increased social distance reduced these biases in both hypothetical (Studies 1 and 2) and incentivized (Study 3) settings. This reduction was accompanied by a decrease in emotional intensity and an increase in the attention to probability in the decision-making process (Study 4). Moreover, the bias-buffering effect of social distance was stronger in the gain domain than in the loss domain (Studies 1–4). These results suggest that increasing the social distance from the beneficiaries of the decisions can reduce biases in probability weighting and shed light on the relationship between social distance and the emotional-cognitive process in decision-making.

scholarly journals Somatic Marker Production Deficits Do Not Explain the Relationship between Psychopathic Traits and Utilitarian Moral Decision Making

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 303
Author(s):  
Shawn E. Fagan ◽  
Liat Kofler ◽  
Sarah Riccio ◽  
Yu Gao
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Moral Dilemma ◽  
Skin Conductance Level ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Psychopathic Traits ◽  
Moral Decision ◽  
Moral Decision Making ◽  
Somatic Marker ◽  
College Population ◽  
The Relationship

In moral dilemma tasks, high levels of psychopathic traits often predict increased utilitarian responding—specifically, endorsing sacrificing one person to save many. Research suggests that increased arousal (i.e., somatic marker production) underlies lower rates of utilitarian responding during moral dilemmas. Though deficient somatic marker production is characteristic of psychopathy, how this deficit affects the psychopathy–utilitarian connection remains unknown. We assessed psychopathic traits in undergraduates, as well as behavioral performance and skin conductance level reactivity (SCL-R; a measure of somatic marker production) during a moral dilemma task. High psychopathic traits and low SCL-R were associated with increased utilitarian decisions in dilemmas involving direct personal harm. Psychopathic traits were unrelated to SCL-R, nor did SCL-R mediate the relationship between psychopathy and utilitarianism. The present study did not find evidence that somatic marker production explains the connection between utilitarianism and psychopathy in a college population. Further research is necessary to identify the neural mechanisms relating psychopathy and moral decision-making in nonclinical samples.

scholarly journals THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PSYCHOTHERAPIST’S MORAL DECISIONS AND EMOTIONS, PERSONALITY FEATURES

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (60) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Psychology Students ◽  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Moral Code ◽  
Process Dissociation ◽  
Ethical Decisions ◽  
Moral Decisions ◽  
Personality Features ◽  
The Relationship

In clinical psychology literature, the topic of ethical decisions is limited to a couple of descriptive studies, with an exception of a single local study, exploring the conflicting issues that arise despite the existence of a professional moral code. Moreover, these studies investigated only demographic factors such as age, gender, experience etc., as possible correlates of these ethical decisions, but failed to propose consistent and meaningful results. The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between psychotherapists’ ethical decisions – emotions and personal tendencies. The deontological/utilitarian decision-making tendencies of psychotherapists in psychotherapist moral dilemmas were compared with those of undergraduate psychology students. The relationship between deontological/utilitarian decision-making tendencies and frequently used personality features in international moral psychology studies such as empathic concern, psychopathy, analytical thinking and altruistic utilitarianism was explored as well as the correlation between negative mood of the participants and deontological decision-making tendencies. Regarding both conventional and process dissociation analyses, research results revealed that there wasn’t a significant relationship between mood of the participants in both groups and their deontological/utilitarian decision- making tendencies. Psychotherapists’ deontological decision-making tendency was found to be higher than that of the students. Two groups were not differentiated on the basis of empathic concern but psychology students’ both Machiavellist and antisocial tendencies were higher those the psychotherapists. Furthermore, the results indicated that investigated personality variables were not correlated with utilitarian/deontological decision-making tendencies in general independent of the calculation method used. These results seemed to indicate that the personality features related to moral decisions in these scenarios would be different than those of the classical moral dilemmas and further research is needed to explore these personality features. Key Words: Psychotherapist moral dilemmas, deontology, utilitarianism, process dissociation analysis

Self-Saboteurs and Ethical Relationships

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-285
Author(s):  
Alycia W. LaGuardia-LoBianco ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Common Sense ◽  
The Self ◽  
Alternative Route ◽  
Common Sense Morality ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Ethical Relationships

Common-sense morality tells us we should help our loved ones who suffer. Self-saboteurs complicate this intuition: ought we help someone who wants to suffer? In this paper, I discuss mechanisms of and motivations for self-sabotaging behavior. I then turn to the ethical complications of these cases: the risk of becoming complicit in another’s self-sabotage; the acceptable limits of caring for a self-saboteur; and the permissibility of paternalistic interference. I argue that while there is some permissible leeway involved in meeting another’s needs—including submitting to their low-stakes manipulation—doing so risks damaging the relationship. While paternalistic interference may seem justified, I argue that this approach is a morally problematic denial of the self-saboteur’s agency. Instead, I offer an alternative route between complicity and interference: carers ought to try to maintain a relationship built on the honest recognition of each other’s reasons, which may include the self-saboteur’s legitimate reasons to suffer.

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