Showing papers on "Situational ethics published in 2002"

An Attitudinal Model of Technology-Based Self-Service: Moderating Effects of Consumer Traits and Situational Factors

Abstract: The accelerating growth in technology-based self-service today is giving rise to questions about the acceptance of such forms of service delivery by all kinds of consumers and under different situational contexts. This study investigates the moderating effects of consumer traits and situational factors on the relationships within a core attitudinal model for technology-based self-service. An experimental design is used with perceived waiting time and social anxiety (through perceived crowding) as the situational treatments. Relevant consumer traits for technology-based self-service are examined and include inherent novelty seeking, self-efficacy with respect to technology self-consciousness, and the need for interaction with an employee. The results lend support to the hypothesized moderating effects. Implications for service practitioners as well as directions for future research are discussed.

Helping Crisis Managers Protect Reputational Assets: Initial Tests of the Situational Crisis Communication Theory.

Abstract: A situational crisis communication theory (SCCT), which articulates the variables, assumptions, and relationships that should be considered in selecting crisis response strategies to protect an organization’s reputation, is advanced. Although various studies taking a situational approach have touched on certain of the theory’s variables and relationships, this study represents the first attempt to articulate and begin to test a situational theory of crisis communication. SCCT is premised on matching the crisis response to the level of crisis responsibility attributed to a crisis. The study explores one of the basic assumptions of SCCT by assessing whether the predicted correlational relationship between crisis responsibility and organizational reputation occurs across a range of crisis types. Results support the theory’s predictions and suggest ways to refine the theory.

A study of individual and situational antecedents of violent victimization

Abstract: Researchers traditionally rely on routine activities and lifestyle theories to explain the differential risk of victimization; few studies have also explored nonsituational alternative explanations. We present a conceptual framework that links individual trait and situational antecedents of violent victimization. Individual risk factors include low self-control and weak social ties with the family and school. Situational risk factors include having delinquent peers and spending time in unstructured and unsupervised socializing activities with peers. We investigate the empirical claims proposed in this model on a sample of high school students, using LISREL to create a structural equation model. The results generally support our assertions that individual traits and situational variables each significantly and meaningfully contribute to victimization.

Cultural Similarities and Differences in Social Inference: Evidence from Behavioral Predictions and Lay Theories of Behavior

Abstract: The authors investigated social inference practices of Koreans and Americans in two novel domains: behavioral predictions and folk theories of behavior. When dispositional and situational inferences were disentangled, Koreans showed dispositional thinking to the same extent as Americans. This was the case for behavioral predictions based on individual difference information (Study 1) and for endorsements of a dispositionist theory of behavior (Studies 1 and 3). Consistent with previous research in the causal attribution and attitude attribution paradigms, Koreans made greater situational inferences in behavioral prediction as long as situational information was salient (Study 2) and endorsed a situationist theory of behavior more (Studies 1 and 3). Koreans also differed from Americans in believing personality to be more malleable (Study 3).

Situational Judgment and Job Performance

Abstract: Data from 160 civil service employees demonstrate the validity of a situational judgment test in predicting overall job performance as well as three performance dimensions: task performance (core technical proficiency), motivational contextual performance (job dedication), and interpersonal contextual performance (interpersonal facilitation). Situational judgment also provided incremental validity over the prediction provided jointly by cognitive ability, the Big Five personality traits, and job experience. These findings extended the work of Clevenger, Pereira, Wiechmann, Schmitt, and Harvey (2001) on the incremental validity of situational judgment tests as well as the meta-analytic results reported by McDaniel, Morgeson, Finnegan, Campion, and Braverman (2001). Implications are discussed in terms of research on the prediction and understanding of job performance.

Relationship among achievement goal orientations and multidimensional situational motivation in physical education

Abstract: Background. Contemporary research suggests that task and ego achievement goal orientations affect students' intrinsic motivation in physical education. This research has assessed intrinsic motivation as a unidimensional contruct, however, which is inconsistent with the more contemporary postulates of self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 1991) which states that intrinsic motivation is only one type of motivation. To date, research has not addressed whether different types of motivation at the situational level are influenced by the proneness to adopt task or ego involvement. Aims. To examine the relationship between achievement goal orientations and multidimensional situational motivation in PE. Sample. Middle school children (182 male, 136 female; M age = 13.2 years). Method. Responded to questionnaires assessing their dispositional goal orientation (POSQ; Roberts, Treasure, & Balague, 1998) and situational motivation (SIMS; Guay, Vallerand, & Blanchard, 2000) in PE. Results. Task orientation was found to be positively associated with more self-determined types of situational motivation. Ego orientation was weakly related to less self-determined motivation. An extreme group split was conducted to create four goal groups and goal profile analyses conducted. A significant MANOVA was followed by univariate analyses, post hoc comparisons, and calculated effect sizes, which revealed that groups high in task orientation reported more motivationally adaptive responses than groups low in task orientation. Conclusions. The results suggest that a high level of task orientation singularly or in combination with ego orientation fosters self-determined situational motivation in the context of PE.

The Climate for Creativity and Change in Teams

Abstract: This article reports the results of a study conducted to examine the ability of the Situational Outlook Questionnaire (SOQTM) to effectively discern climates that either encourage or discourage creativity and the ability to initiate change in a team setting. The purpose of the study is to examine the concurrent criterion–related validity of the SOQ. The article explores the characteristics in an organisational climate that promote teamwork and some of the tripwires one needs to be aware of in the formation and management of teams. Nine dimensions of the climate for creativity and change as measured by the Situational Outlook Questionnaire are put forward and defined in relation to teams. The methodology and results of the study are reported. The results show that when subjects (N7equals;154) complete the SOQ based on their recollection of a best– and worst–case team experience, the measure is able to consistently and significantly discriminate between the two types of experiences. Conclusions, implications, and areas for future research to further examine the validity of the SOQ are explored.

Asking applicants what they would do versus what they did do: A meta‐analytic comparison of situational and past behaviour employment interview questions

Abstract: Criterion-related validities and inter-rater reliabilities for structured employment interview studies using situational questions (e.g. “Assume that you were faced with the following situation … what would you do?”) were compared meta-analytically with studies using past behaviour questions (e.g. “Can you think of a time when … what did you do?”). Validities and reliabilities were further analysed in terms of whether descriptively-anchored rating scales were used to judge interviewees' answers, and validities for each question type were also assessed across three levels of job complexity. While both question formats yielded high validity estimates, studies using past behaviour questions, when used with discriptively anchored answer rating scales, yielded a substantially higher mean validity estimate than studies using the situational question format with descriptively-anchored answer rating scales (.63 versus .47). Question type (situational versus past behaviour) was found to moderate interview validity, after controlling for whether studies used answer rating scales. No support was found for the hypothesis that situational questions are less valid for predicting job performance in high-complexity jobs. Sample-weighted mean inter-rater reliabilities were similar for both situational and past behaviour questions, provided that descriptively-anchored rating scales were used (.79 and .77, respectively), although they were slightly lower (.73) for past behaviour question studies lacking such rating scales.

Gender differences in ethical decision making

Abstract: Most of the research on fostering ethical climates by making ethical decision choices in organisations has taken place in the last 20 years. Research has moved from specific studies evaluating either individual or situational variables as factors in ethical decision behaviour to more complex models that encompass the interaction of individual and situational factors. This study revisits the influence of the individual variable of gender on ethical decision making. Using a laboratory format and decision exercises that attempted to create realistic business conflict situations through decision scenarios, the influence of demographic factors, specifically gender, and the moral intensity of the conflict situation on ethical decision making are examined in the light of workplace values.

Situational Prison Control: Crime Prevention in Correctional Institutions

Abstract: Part I Theoretical Foundations: 1 Introduction: why situational prison control? 2 Situational theories of prison behaviour 3 Situational methods of prison control 4 A model of situational prison control Part II Specific Behaviours: 5 Prisoner-prisoner violence 6 Sexual assaults 7 Prisoner-staff violence 8 Self harm 9 Drug use 10 Escapes 11 Collective disorder Part III Conclusions: 12 Hard and soft situational prison control

Ethical and social perspectives on situational crime prevention

Abstract: Situational crime prevention has drawn increasing interest in recent years,yet the debate has looked mainly at whether it 'works' to prevent crime. This volume addresses the ethics of situational crime prevention and also examines the place of situational crime prevention within criminology. The contributors are twelve distinguished criminologists who together advance our understanding of the ethical and societal questions underlying crime prevention. Contributors: Ron Clarke, Adam Crawford, Antony Duff, David Garland, Tim Hope, Richard Jones, John Kleinig, Clifford Shearing, David J. Smith, Richard Sparks, Andrew von Hirsch and Alison Wakefield. "..presents several unique questions regarding the use of crime prevention strategies." Robert Hanser writing in The Literature of Criminal Justice January 2001.

Work tasks and socio-cognitive relevance: A specific example

Abstract: This article presents a concrete example of a work task: a doctor treating a patient suffering from schizophrenia. It is outlined how work task, work situation, perceived work situation, task complexity, information need, information seeking and topicality, situational relevance, relevance assessment (including a discussion of system relevance end algorithmic relevance) and work task fulfillment may be understood. Relevance is defined as something serving as a tool to a goal. "Tool" understood in the widest possible sense, including ideas, meanings, theories and documents as tools.

Living in it, living with it, and moving on: dimensions of meaning during chemotherapy.

Abstract: PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE To explore the meanings assigned to the experience of receiving chemotherapy. DESIGN Descriptive exploratory. SETTING An oncology outpatient clinic in a university hospital in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. SAMPLE Ten women with breast cancer who experienced chemotherapy for the first time. METHODS Semistructured interview using a grounded theory approach. FINDINGS Women described three dimensions of their experience with breast cancer and chemotherapy: "living in it," "living with it," and "moving on." Existential and situational meanings were an integral part of their experience. The existential meaning seemed to be present in varying degrees of intensity throughout the treatment, whereas the situational meanings were predominant at the beginning of the treatment phase and became less important as the treatment progressed. CONCLUSIONS The intrapersonal and interpersonal dimensions of the chemotherapy experience as well as the capacity to move on evolve within a context of both situational and existential meanings. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE The study results suggest the potential value of exploring each woman's inner world of meanings in relation to her sense of self, relationships with others, resources, and coping strategies during treatment for breast cancer. Because existential and situational meanings are an integral part of women's experience, the nurse's role is to create an environment that permits and facilitates dialogue about these dimensions of meaning.

Situational ethics across borders: A multicultural examination

Abstract: Managers throughout the world regularly face ethical dilemmas that have important, and perhaps complex, professional and personal implications. Further, societal consequences of decisions made can be far-reaching. In this study, 210 financial services managers from Australia, Chile, Ecuador and the United States were queried about their ethical beliefs when faced with four diverse dilemmas. In addition, the situational context was altered so the respondent viewed each dilemma from a top management position and from a position of economic hardship. Results suggest a complex interaction of situation, culture and issue when individuals make ethical judgments. Specifically, Chileans were found to have different beliefs about sex discrimination and child labor dilemmas when compared to their colleagues from the other three nations. Chileans and Australians also disagreed on the bribery dilemma. Anglo managers were more likely than Latin American managers to change their ethical responses when the situation was altered. For multinational firms interested in maintaining healthy ethical climates, the findings suggest that culturally contingent ethical guidelines, or policies adapted to the local customs, must be considered. Further, managers must remain aware of issues related to specific situations, both internal and external, that would cause subordinates to alter their moral judgment.

Situational Tests in Student Selection: An Examination of Predictive Validity, Adverse Impact, and Construct Validity

Abstract: The Flemish Admission Exam ‘Medical and Dental Studies’ is comprised of four cognitive ability tests and four situational tests, namely two work samples (i.e., a lecture and a medical text) and two video-based situational judgement tests (i.e., a physician‐patient interaction and a medical expert discussion). On the basis of the Admission Exam scores of 941 candidates (359 men, 582 women) this study shows that situational tests significantly can predict better than cognitive ability tests, with lecture and text emerging as significant predictors. When situational tests are combined with cognitive ability tests, there are no mean gender differences. Situational tests also enable us to measure a broader range of constructs. For example, in this study, the personality factor Openness is related to better situational test performance. Overall, this study demonstrates that situational tests may be a useful complement to traditional student selection procedures.

Exploring the nature of control and its role in the appraisal of workplace stress

Abstract: The concept of control is a prominent component of theories of stress. From a transactional framework, appraisal of control is seen as important in influencing coping behaviour. However, little attention has been paid to the measurement of the appraisal of control in a work-related situation. In this paper it is argued that situational control should not be reduced to a simple assessment of whether or not an individual has control over a given situation. Instead it is believed that it is important to identify the factors that an individual strives to have control of, as well as the perceived degree of control over those factors. A major component of the present study was the use of a measure that viewed control in this way and that examined control as a multifaceted construct (task control, predictability, self-control and general control). This paper reports on an analysis that examines the multifaceted nature of perceived control with other situational appraisals in the process of coping with workplace ...

The Priority of Love: Christian Charity and Social Justice

Abstract: This book explores the relation between agape (or Christian charity) and social justice. Timothy Jackson defines agape as the central virtue in Christian ethical thought and action and applies his insights to three concrete issues: political violence, forgiveness, and abortion. Taking his primary cue from the New Testament while drawing extensively from contemporary theology and philosophy, Jackson identifies three features of Christian charity: unconditional commitment to the good of others, equal regard for others' well-being, and passionate service open to self-sacrifice for the sake of others.Charity, prescribed by Jesus for his disciples and named by Saint Paul as the "greatest" theological virtue, is contrasted with various accounts of justice. Jackson argues that agape is not trumped by justice or other goods. Rather, agape precedes justice: without the work of love, society would not produce persons capable of merit, demerit, and contract, the elements of most modern conceptions of justice. Jackson then considers the implications of his ideas for several questions: the nature of God, the relation between Christian love and political violence, the place of forgiveness, and the morality of abortion. Arguing that agapic love is to be construed as a gift of grace as well as a divine commandment, Jackson concludes that love is the "eternal life" that makes temporal existence possible and thus the "first" Christian virtue. Though foremost a contribution to Christian ethics, Jackson's arguments and the issues he takes up will find a broader readership.

Changing places: relatives and relativism in java

Abstract: This article examines the social context of conceptual and moral relativism; more specifically, it explores links between religious orientation and experience in an ideologically plural setting. I argue that cultural models of'changing places' serve to guide a number of Javanese practices: child-borrowing, gender-switching, language use, and even religious conversion. These models, formed in childhood experience, engender and express a relativism which is highly valued in rural Java. Java is well known for its cultural diversity and for the coexistence (not always peaceful) of its contrasting religious orientations. This coexistence is not a matter of different subcultures subsisting alongside each other in separate spheres; it is an immediate and intimate fact of daily life. In some areas, such as Banyuwangi on the eastern tip of the island, villagers with sharply different beliefs and practices co-operate directly in neighbourhood and kinship rituals. Orthodox-leaning Muslims, pantheistic mystics, and practitioners of a syncretism I shall loosely call 'nominal Islam' participate in each other's rites, often saying and doing the same as each other, but meaning different things. They are fully aware of this difference in perspectives, and of the need to cope with it on symbolic and interpersonal levels: agreeing to differ is the price of neighbourly harmony. We can see how this works in practice by looking at the organization of ritual and its situational interpretation (Beatty 1999; 2000), but how should we account for the peculiar flexibility and relativism, both moral and conceptual, which make such delicate but durable arrangements possible? How do villagers learn to position themselves among different perspectives - or even to shift perspectives - when the occasion demands? How do they learn to manage difference while maintaining the personal equilibrium and social consensus which they value so highly? These questions, far from being abstract conundrums, are matters of practical, daily concern; and it is in considering the characteristic experiences of growing up in a Javanese village that we will see both how they arise and how they are tackled. An account of the routines underlying relativism throws up some surprising links - between conversion, adoption, and gender, for example. Without claiming causal or developmental priority for one set of practices over another, these links nevertheless suggest the utility of a cautiously Durkheimian approach in which questions of kinship and cosmology are considered

“Not in My Back Yard”: The Situational and Personality Determinants of Oppositional Behavior1

Abstract: The present study considered situational and dispositional factors underlying behavioral opposition characteristic of a “not-in-my-back-yard” (NIMBY) response to a change having adverse personal consequences. Students considered the proposition of comprehensive exams required for graduation taking effect in the near or distant future (high and low vested interest, respectively). Although both groups had similarly negative attitudes toward the idea, the high vested interest group perceived greater personal consequence and expressed greater intention to oppose the plan. From a situational-dispositional interactionist perspective, it was the impact of the situation (perceived stake), rather than personality traits presumed to underlie a NIMBY response, that proved to be the primary determinant of oppositional behavior.

A Study of Teachers' Perceptions of Youth Problems

Abstract: This study examines cross-cultural differences in European-American teachers' explanations for the causes of school problems among African-American, European-American, and Hispanic-American 5-11 year olds. Responses to open-ended questions were analyzed using an attribution theory framework. For European-American children, teachers tended to use situational explanation of problems (57.1 per cent); in comparison, for African-American and Hispanic-American children, teachers tended to use personal explanation of youth problems (64.8 per cent). There was a wide variety of explanations within these broad categories. The most frequently occurring teacher explanations for European-American youth problems were statements such as 'child has problems at home' (52.5 per cent). For African-American and Hispanic-American youth problems, the most frequently occurring teacher explanations were statements such as 'child has become disrespectful, hostile and aggressive and is not taking responsibility' (76.7 per cent) an...

Lessons from Successful Leadership in Small Schools

Abstract: One of the most robust findings from leadership research is that context matters. Situational theories demonstrate that leaders’ actions are often contingent upon environmental and contextual factors. As (1999) say, ‘outstanding leadership is exquisitely sensitive to the context in which it is exercised’ (p. 4).

Athletic Training Clinical Instructors as Situational Leaders.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To present Situational Leadership as a model that can be implemented by clinical instructors during clinical education. Effective leadership occurs when the leadership style is matched with the observed followers' characteristics. Effective leaders anticipate and assess change and adapt quickly and grow with the change, all while leading followers to do the same. As athletic training students' levels of readiness change, clinical instructors also need to transform their leadership styles and strategies to match the students' ever-changing observed needs in different situations. DATA SOURCES: CINAHL (1982-2002), MEDLINE (1990-2001), SPORT Discus (1949-2002), ERIC (1966-2002), and Internet Web sites were searched. Search terms included leadership, situational leadership, clinical instructors and leadership, teachers as leaders, and clinical education. DATA SYNTHESIS: Situational Leadership is presented as a leadership model to be used by clinical instructors while teaching and supervising athletic training students in the clinical setting. This model can be implemented to improve the clinical-education process. Situational leaders, eg, clinical instructors, must have the flexibility and range of skills to vary their leadership styles to match the challenges that occur while teaching athletic training students. CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS: This leadership style causes the leader to carry a substantial responsibility to lead while giving power away. Communication is one of the most important leadership skills to develop to become an effective leader. It is imperative for the future of the profession that certified athletic trainers continue to develop effective leadership skills to address the changing times in education and expectations of the athletic training profession.

Self love and Christian ethics

Abstract: 1. The contemporary problem of self love 2. Self love in Christian ethics 3. A hermeneutical account of self-relation 4. Right self love 5. Self love and moral action 6. Self love, religion and morality.

Situational disease: elements of a social theory of disease based on a study of back trouble

Abstract: According to the British general practitioner and anthropologis t Cecil Helman the biomedical model of disease can be characterized by body – mind dualism, scientiŽ c reductionism, and a predominant emphasis on biologica l rather than social-psycho logical information (1). This model is detailed out in biomedical everyday practice, where diseases are often conceived of as separate entities that can be fully described by way of a diagnosis – encompassing a name, pathology, etiology, prognosis , etc. In clinical work, this diagnostic description is considered objective knowledge with global validity (2). However, medical philosophers and metascientists in general do not subscribe to this view, and several medical disciplines (e.g. social medicine, general medicine, psychiatry) are only in part devoted to the biomedical model (3). Today, there is an increasing amount of medical theoretical work underway which offers new perspectives on the nature of disease. The biomedical model is no longer dominant in the theoretical discourse the way it still is in practice. In psychosomatics and in stress theory, in anthropolog y and sociology we are confronted with new ideas and new conceptualiza tions of disease, for instance the holistic model and the patient-centred model. What these concepts have in common is context – meaning that disease is inextricably bound up with time, with a person, with situations and with biography . This article presents one such contextual contribution to the ongoing theoretical discussion on the nature of disease. Here, the perspective of disease as a social and relational phenomenon – a phenomenon developed and shaped through the interaction of people in a social everyday world – emerges on the basis of an empirical study of the prevalence and handling of back troubles in a general adult population. The data are subsequently interpreted in the light of sociologica l theory. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND Around 1980, the American sociologis t Angelo Alonzo developed a model of illness behaviour which he labelled ‘‘a situational perspective’’ (4,5). This work will be brie y described. A premise of Alonzo’s theory is that bodily deviations – like symptoms and physical signs – are experiences that are typical of our everyday life. While we constantly interact with our environment and experience ourselves accordingly , we perceive a multitude of bodily sensations that must be interpreted, evaluated and eventually acted upon. Each person is involved in and goes through a number of daily social situations which demand some involve ment, and often some activity, from him. Normally, there is a certain repetitive pattern in the set of situations in which we involve ourselves day after day, week after week. A key issue is that of ‘containment’. In the  ow of bodily symptoms and sensations, the question arises: can these be contained within the situation so that the individual can preserve his core activity (e.g. working) in the situation? For example, can the pain in the back or the itching of the hands be concealed, suppressed or attended to in such a way that working may go on undisturbed? If the symptoms cannot be thus contained within the situation, the person may have to leave the situation intermittently or permanently. Thus, situations can be thought of and analysed, not just in terms of their potential to produce signs or symptoms either during or after participation , but in terms of their capacity to contain symptoms as well. In Alonzo’s theory of situational behaviour , disease is thus not conceptualized as something going on within the body (though it may well be, only this theory is not concerned with it), but rather something which happens and is handled through a person’s experience of elementary sensations and actions in a series of situations. The kind of symptoms Alonzo refers to are, for example, cough, cold,  u, ache, stiffness, swelling,

Situational Influcence in the Internationa Marketplace: An Examination of Japanese Gift-Giving

Abstract: This study was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture through the National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program.Within the theoretical framework of modern interactionism, the study focuses on the influence of situational factors on Japanese gift-giving market, a market rife with subtle nuance and arcane conventions. ANOVA is used to examine the significance and the magnitude of situational influence on Japanese gift-giving behavior and regression analysis is used to examine in greater detail the nature of the situational influence. The findings show significant situational main and interaction effects and demonstrate an ability to transcend product-based segmentation methods by identifying products that, although they are dissimilar from a product attribute perspective, satisfy similar needs and are directly competitive from a situational perspective. The study is among the first to examine situational influence outside of the US market.