Moral Distress Trajectories of Physicians 1 Year after the COVID-19 Outbreak: A Grounded Theory Study

The COVID-19 pandemic has confronted emergency and critical care physicians with unprecedented ethically challenging situations. The aim of this paper was to explore physicians’ experience of moral distress during the pandemic. A qualitative multicenter study was conducted using grounded theory. We recruited 15 emergency and critical care physicians who worked in six hospitals from the Lombardy region of Italy. Semi-structured interviews about their professional experience of moral distress were conducted from November 2020–February 2021 (1 year after the pandemic outbreak). The transcripts were qualitatively analyzed following open, axial, and selective coding. A model of moral distress was generated around the core category of Being a Good Doctor. Several Pandemic Stressors threatened the sense of Being a Good Doctor, causing moral distress. Pandemic Stressors included limited healthcare resources, intensified patient triage, changeable selection criteria, limited therapeutic/clinical knowledge, and patient isolation. Emotions of Moral Distress included powerlessness, frustration/anger, and sadness. Physicians presented different Individual Responses to cope with moral distress, such as avoidance, acquiescence, reinterpretation, and resistance. These Individual Responses generated different Moral Outcomes, such as moral residue, disengagement, or moral integrity. The Working Environment, especially the team and organizational culture, was instrumental in restoring or disrupting moral integrity. In order for physicians to manage moral distress successfully, it was important to use reinterpretation, that is, to find new ways of enacting their own values by reframing morally distressing situations, and to perceive a cooperative and supportive Working Environment.

The Role of Authentic Leadership on Athlete Outcomes

Authentic leadership is a form of leadership which has received a relatively limited amount of research in sport despite the suggestion that it may be related to numerous positive outcomes in athletes. We conducted a study in sport in order to investigate proposed relationships between authentic leadership and athlete outcomes. Specifically, we investigated whether coaches’ authentic leadership is related to athletes’ achievement and moral outcomes via trust and the culture of the team. Data were collected via questionnaires. The design was a cross-sectional study with 366 (240 females, Mage = 21.07) team sport athletes. Authentic leadership was positively related to athletes’ trust and team culture. Authentic leadership was also positively related to athletes’ commitment, positive affect and perceptions of their teammates’ prosocial behaviours, via trust and team culture. Our findings enhance our understanding of authentic leadership in sport and highlight its importance in predicting crucial positive athlete outcomes.

The Role of Authentic Leadership on Athletes’ Achievement and Moral Outcomes

Introduction Authentic leadership is a form of leadership which could result in positive outcomes in athletes, yet, it has received limited research attention in sport. We conducted two studies, in which we investigated: (a) whether authentic leadership is related to athletes’ achievement and moral outcomes via trust and the culture of the team (Study 1); and (b) whether authentic leadership is related to changes in athlete outcomes directly and indirectly through changes in trust and cohesion over time (Study 2). MethodIn both studies data were collected via questionnaires. In Study 1, participants were 366 (240 females, Mage = 21.07) team sport athletes. In Study 2, they were 421 (227 females, Mage = 20.32) team sport athletes at time 1 and 247 athletes at time 2 (5 months later). ResultsIn Study 1, authentic leadership was positively related to athletes’ trust and team culture which in turn were related to athletes’ commitment, positive affect and perceptions of their teammates’ prosocial behaviours. In Study 2, changes over time in authentic leadership were related to athletes’ perceptions of their teammates’ prosocial behaviours and enjoyment, both directly and indirectly via changes in trust and cohesion.ConclusionsOur findings enhance our understanding of authentic leadership in sport and highlight its importance in predicting crucial positive athlete outcomes.

The Effects of Authentic Leadership on Athletes’ Trust, Achievement, and Moral Variables

Objectives Authentic leadership is a style of leadership which could be promising in sport. However, to date, very little research has examined this leadership style in coaches. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of an authentic leadership manipulation on athletes’ trust, achievement, and moral outcomes. Design Experiment using a 3 x 2 between-participant design.Methods 129 university athletes (Mage = 19.36; 76 females) were randomly assigned to either a high, low or neutral authentic leadership condition. Results A multivariate analysis of variance indicated that participants in the high authentic leadership condition reported higher trust, commitment, enjoyment, and anticipated guilt for aggression, and lower aggression compared to participants in the low authentic leadership and neutral conditions. Conclusions The findings suggest that high authentic leadership could be key to creating more positive environments in sport.

How to Flourish Well: Moral Centrality as an Indicator of Low Egoistic Consequences of Living a Flourishing Life

Numerous studies suggest that flourishing leads to advantageous personal outcomes. We, however, argue that flourishing does not provide any moral guidance necessary to trigger socio-moral outcomes. The critical qualifier, we argue, is in the degree to which morality is central to an individual’s identity. Accordingly, across four studies, we tested the moderating role of moral centrality in the relation between flourishing and (im)moral social outcomes. Our findings generally support the association between flourishing and moral outcomes is significant for individuals with high levels of moral centrality, flourishing is not significantly associated with moral outcomes in individuals with low moral centrality. Thus, scholars may need to reinterpret previous studies that suggest a positive link between individuals’ flourishing and their worldly interactions.

Family and Moral Development

This chapter draws on a myriad of theoretical backgrounds and past research as a comprehensive foundation for discussion that focuses on how family members (e.g., parents, siblings, extended family) are important in the socialization of diverse aspects of moral development (e.g., emotions, cognitions, behaviors) and how these moral outcomes in turn influence family relationships. The majority of research focuses on how parents, especially mothers, influence the development of morality, whereas a paucity of research exists that analyzes the influence of siblings and extended family on moral development. Some areas of moral development are better developed (e.g., moral emotions and behaviors) and others remain relatively less explored (e.g., moral identity). At the conclusion of the chapter, avenues for future research are discussed.

Science and Faith in a Game of Strategy

In this article, Michael Polanyi engages a young audience in a confrontation of worldviews. He is resistant to a form of scientific belief that has defaulted to a naturalism that undermines the human experience of social cohesion. He proposes a return to Christian belief to provide a way toward a better future. But has he given us anything to trust in, other than switching parties with whom to affiliate? Does he actually direct us to consider the contents of “what to believe” or contend that we should believe in the Christian community for better moral outcomes? Is Polanyi’s final goal a deeper investigation of “what to believe” or to create a moral outcome he believes is missing? And is morality the final goal of belief?

Proactive Parenting and Moral Development

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the role of proactive parenting (i.e., parenting in anticipation of a child’s behavior) as it relates to the socialization of morality in children and adolescents. In an effort to synthesize across different fields of research, the chapter assesses parental communication and monitoring using three strategies of proactive parenting: cocooning, pre-arming, and deference. Specifically, proactive parent-child communication about ethnic discrimination and about sexuality is explored. Parental monitoring (or management of a child’s peer and media use) is also explored. Across these topics, we synthesized research exploring patterns of proactive parenting and their associations with various moral outcomes, such as prosocial behavior, civic engagement, and aggression. In addition, future directions for research are presented, including distinctions between proactive and reactive parenting, examination of proactive parenting in relation to other established parenting constructs, inclusion of diverse samples, and more nuanced approaches to studying moral development.

Parental Discipline Practices Associated With Preventing Children’s Aggressive and Immoral Behavior

This chapter examines the links between three forms of parental control (helicopter parenting, behavioral control, psychological control) and child moral development during emerging adulthood. It focuses on parental discipline, including inductive reasoning, as one way that parents accomplish the goals of preventing aggression and promoting prosocial behavior. First, a systematic review of the limited literature is provided to illustrate a negative link between these three related yet unique types of controlling parenting and child adjustment outcomes (e.g., psychological, behavioral, moral). Next, given the lack of research on the topic, results of a series of exploratory analyses are presented that reveal associations between parental control and various aspects of emerging adults’ moral development. The findings are generally consistent with previous research in that parental control during emerging adulthood was found to be negatively related with child moral outcomes, including moral cognitions, emotions, and behavior. Finally, future directions for research are discussed that point to the need for further examination of helicopter parenting and its measures, related aspects of parenting, and moral outcomes.

1979 and all that: a 40-year reassessment of Margaret Thatcher’s legacy on her own terms

Economics are the method: The object is to change the soul (Thatcher, 1981) There is a growing disaffection with mainstream politics in the world’s liberal democracies. In particular, the UK has become an increasingly divided nation; as evidenced by, for example, increasing inequality, an emphasis on individualism, the so-called North/South divide and the polarised debate about the UK’s leaving the European Union. Many leading UK politicians claim their inheritance of the “Thatcher legacy” to legitimate their proposed policies, yet it is not clear what is that legacy. Thatcher’s policies, instituted in the 1980s and broadly pursued by subsequent governments, changed the economic and social outlook of the UK. Criticism of her record is taken to indicate one is a left-wing ideologue. Our contribution in the following is that we judge Thatcher’s policies by no standards other than her own. Utilising a holistic approach, we consider whether neo-liberal policies facilitated or undermined the UK’s achieving Thatcher’s stated moral outcomes: the growth of democratic capitalism and the strengthening of the moral economy. We demonstrate, in contrast to contemporary narratives of her “saving the country”, the neo-liberal economic experiment has failed to deliver, even on Thatcher’s own terms. This analysis has contemporary domestic and global implications as generally Thatcherite policies continue to be applied in the UK and in other nations around the world.