Showing papers on "Situational ethics published in 1984"

Police Control of Interpersonal Disputes

Abstract: This paper examines factors which influence police arrest decisions in interpersonal disputes. We analyze data from direct observation of police-citizen encounters and find that decisions are influenced by situational exigencies of these encounters and that the effects of certain situational variables depend upon the type of neighborhood in which disputes occur. For example, disputes involving cohabiting individuals are more likely to result in arrest in poor neighborhoods. Arrest decisions are also influenced by organizational characteristics of police agencies, such as bureaucratization and professionalism. We discuss the implications of our findings for a general theory of police dispute settlement.

Police arrests in domestic disturbances: a further look

Abstract: This study is a reexamination of the effect of situational characteristics on police arrests in domestic disturbances. Using observational data, we replicate recent research based upon official police reports. We also consider the implications of variables not available in the earlier study, especially the role orientation of the intervening officer. The results support the previous finding that the arrest decision turns on situational cues, but it suggests that the salience of such factors differs for officers whose role orientations differ.

The psychology of educational measurement

Abstract: Since school learning entails not just accretion of knowledge but the structuring and restructuring of knowledge and cognitive skills, the conception and construction of educational achievement measures must be cast in developmental terms Since student characteristics as well as social and educational experiences influence current performance, the interpretation and implications of educational achievement measures must be relative to intrapersonal and situational contexts These points imply a strategy of comprehensive assessment in context that focusses on the processes and structures involved in subject-matter competence as moderated in performance by personal and environmental influences This article addresses in detail both the nature of developing competence and its measurement in terms of context-dependent task performance Construct-irrelevant task difficulty that might jeopardize the meaning of test scores as well as construct-irrelevant influences that might jeopardize implications for action are taken into account via the comprehensive measurement of relevant contextual factors Comprehensive assessment in context thus facilitates valid interpretations of the meaning and implications of ability and achievement scores in particular instances, thereby lightening the interpretive and ethical burdens on test users and enhancing the validity of test use

Good and Evil

Abstract: The discussion of good and evil must not be confined to the sterile lecture halls of academics but related instead to ordinary human feelings, needs, and desires, says noted philosopher Richard Taylor. Efforts to understand morality by exploring human reason will always fail because we are creatures of desire as well. All morality arises from our intense and inescapable longing. The distinction between good and evil is always clouded by rationalists who convert the real problems of ethics into complex philosophical puzzles. In the first part of Good and Evil, Taylor looks for a more meaningful conception by reexamining and rejecting the whole rationalistic tradition that dominates philosophical ethics. The second part provides an empirical explanation of good and evil, noting that one does not have to look too far to find prime examples of the failure of fixed moral rules. Including important commentary on Joseph Fletcher's groundbreaking situation ethics, and Aristotle's virtues (e.g., magnanimity and pride), Taylor rounds out the book by developing a philosophy of aspiration--personal worth as an ethical ideal--to replace the morality of duty. He offers a modified form of situation ethics to fit the contemporary problems we face.

Premillennial apocalyptic as a rhetorical genre

Abstract: This essay develops a rationale for treating apocalyptic discourse as a rhetorical genre. Situational and substantive‐stylistic characteristics are shown to recur in traditional, religious apocalyptic discourse throughout history as well as in recent discourse concerning religious and civic issues.

Situational constraints on the evaluative significance of speech accommodation: some Australian data

Abstract: As mentioned in a number of papers in this special issue, speech-accommodation theory was formulated in order to take account of the social psychological parameters of interpersonal speech diversity. The theory is concerned with providing an understanding of the underlying motives and intentions behind various modifications in speech as well as the social consequences of their usage. Prime among these speech strategies are upward and downward convergences and upward and downward divergences, with the former and latter involving linguistic shifts toward and away from an interlocutor respectively. The qualifiers 'upward' and 'downward' refer to whether the shift implies a move in a societally valued direction or a more stigmatized one. Hence, an accent shift toward a more prestigious-sounding other would be labeled 'upward convergence', whereas an accentuation of one's broader accent in his or her presence would constitute 'downward divergence'. Speech-accommodation theory has two basic tenets, one concerned with production and the other with reception (see Thakerar et al. 1982; Street and Giles 1982; Beebe and Giles, this issue). First, speakers will shift their speech styles to where they believe others are if they desire their social approval and/or wish to make their messages more intelligible. Second, listeners will react favorably to converging speakers if the act is construed as integration but react unfavorably to diverging speakers if the act is construed as dissociation. The theory emerged in the early 1970s not only because scant empirical and theoretical attention had been afforded the social evaluation of speech shifts, but more importantly, perhaps, because it developed as a reaction against the overly normative framework provided by most studies of speech diversity. In other words, norms and rules were invoked as prevalent explanations (although by no means the exclusive ones; see for example Blom and Gumperz 1972; Fishman 1972; Scotton and Ury 1977) for understanding these linguistic phenomena. While speech-accommodation theory has ob-

The effect of situational variables on the subjective leisure experience

Abstract: This study assesses the impact of three situational variable types, social situation, task definition, and antecedent conditions, on the leisure experience. The effect of each of these variables on leisure behavior is well‐documented. However, researchers have recently begun to develop more subjective leisure measures, as well as assessing leisure behavior. Situational effects on perceived leisure have yet to be determined. In this study, student respondents judged 60 leisure scenarios which contained manipulations of the three situational variables under study. Subjects rated each scenario on a subjective leisure scale. Results from the repeated measures ANOVA design rejected the null hypothesis that individual perceptions of leisure do not vary with the situational variables.

Motivation Theory of Aggression and Its Relation to Social Psychological Approaches

Abstract: While studying the recent situation of aggression theory and its development, we can observe a shift of approaches. At first, individual factors (like drive, instinct, or trait) were considered, then general processes (e.g., the frustration-aggression relationship or imitation), and, finally, situational factors and thereby more and more their subjective evaluation were stressed.

The “Fate of Idealism” Revisited

Abstract: This article, based on field research of a cohort of students enrolled in an innovative medical school, traces the transformation of idealism among student doctors. Our findings show that loss of idealism goes beyond a temporary diversion caused by situational demands of medical school. Rather it is inherent in the very demands of professionalization. We begin by describing students' changing perceptions of the importance of psychosocial issues in medicine. In their need to strive for competence, students turn off their emotional reactions to patients. Equally important is the students' perception of the medical profession's expectation of affective neutrality toward patients. We conclude that loss of idealism must be understood in the context of a symbolic-moral drama wherein professionalization is conceptualized as a process of differentiation and alienation from lay society and of elevation to a position of detachment and control.

Situational factors affecting Preschoolers' responses to advertising

Abstract: The effectiveness of advertising directed at preschool children was investigated. An experimental design, crossing program type, social condition of viewing, and frequency of exposure to commercials was utilized. Results indicate the possibility that young children's preferences are only affected under special circumstances.

Organizational Effectiveness as a Function of Managerial Style, Situational Environment, and Effectiveness Criterion

Abstract: Military and civilian personnel (N = 4786) were administered an attitudinal survey that measured managerial, situational, and organizational effectiveness factors. Three managerial styles in three situational environments, extracted from the survey data, were compared using three effectiveness criteria. Results indicated one managerial style was associated with higher scores on all three criteria.

The Impact of Ethical Ideology on Moral Behavior.

Abstract: The impact of ethical ideology (absolutism, situationism, subjectivism, exceptionism), the saliency of moral norms, and the situational consequences on moral behavior was examined by asking subjects to mislead a confederate. Although positive consequences for self and salient moral norms led to decreased lying, highly idealistic subjects unexpectedly behaved the most immorally. According to an ethical ideologies approach to moral judgment (e.g., Forsyth, 1980, 1981), people differ in moral outlook in two basic ways. First, individuals vary in their acceptance of universal moral rules; while some believe that moral absolutes should be used in making judgments, others relativistically assume that moral rules are of little use when formulating judgments. Second, while some individuals idealistically assume that desirable consequences will usually be obtainable, others with a more pragmatic outlook admit that negative consequences are often mixed with positive outcomes. These two dimensions--when dichotomized and crossed in a 2 x 2 typology -yield four distinct ethical perspectives that can be labelled situationism (high relativism and idealism), subjectivism (high relativism/low idealism), absolutism (low relativism/high idealism), and exceptionism (low relativism and idealism). Although evidence indicates that individuals who adopt divergent ethical ideologies divaricate when making moral judgments (Forsyth, 1981; Forsyth, in press Pope & Forsyth, in press) and in reactions after behaving immorally (Berger & Forsyth, 1982), predictions about the impact of ideology cn moral behavior cannot be made without taking into account the nature of the specific situation. According to the two-dimensional approach, a host of factors influence individuals' moral choices, but the conformity of actions to moral norms and the potential consequences of the action play particularly significant roles in determining behavior. As Schwartz has noted in examining the relevance of moral norms, "if a person construes a decision he faces to be a moral choice, relevant moral norms he holds are likely to be activated and affect his behavior" (1968, p. 355). In addition, the anticipated consequences of the action should also signficantly influence moral behavior, for behaviors are not judged solely on their conformity to moral principles, but also by the consequences they produce. U S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER IERICI elorwna nt h,i beto rotooducad tocpprod from tn. potion 01 otoandaton Thatdui A Minor fArni.$ hew towt mote to nnotow lod Ion do bly Ponds of opononssiated docul mot do not or c.s...AtAy totooseolothcolNIE PoPOon ot Paper Presented at the Annual Neeting of Eastern Psychological Association Baltioore, Naryland April 12-15, 2994

The Situational Factors Affecting Teaching.

Abstract: Once the new teachers were on the job, several situational factors either helped or created major problems for them. This chapter describes these factors and their effects on the performance and professional satisfaction of the new teachers.

Ethnic Minority Leadership: A Theoretical Perspective

Abstract: Although numerous approaches have been utilized to study leadership (focusing on traits, attributes, styles, roles, situations, performance, results, and so on), there is no agreement on the idal approach. The debate over this issue especially as related to the study of ethnic minority leadership continues. In this paper two major approaches the "Great Main or Trait" and the "Times or Situational" approaches are examined, and the latter is presented as a viable theoretical framework for studying the ethnic minority

Attribution of traits to self and others: Situationality vs. Uncertainty

Abstract: Although there is considerable support for the hypothesis that people attribute more dispositional traits to others than to themselves, the use of trait adjectives in this kind of research results in a number of methodological problems. The present study addresses the possible confounding of preference for a “situational” description with response uncertainty. Subjects were required to attribute traits to themselves, to a “typical smoker,” and to a “typical nonsmoker,” the response format being varied between conditions. Subjects attributed more traits to themselves than to others, and more to similar others than to dissimilar others. Further analysis indicated that a “situational attribution” in this type of trait-inference research is confounded with response uncertainty. It is concluded that one should be cautious in interpreting personality trait ratings as indicators of basic attributional processes.