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Showing papers on "Situational ethics published in 2004"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article examined the bases of opposition to immigrant minorities in Western Europe, focusing on The Netherlands, and found that considerations of national identity dominate those of economic advantage in evoking exclusionary reactions to immigrants.
Abstract: This paper examines the bases of opposition to immigrant minorities in Western Europe, focusing on The Netherlands. The specific aim of this study is to test the validity of predictions derived from two theories—realistic conflict, which emphasizes considerations of economic well-being, and social identity, which emphasizes considerations of identity based on group membership. The larger aim of this study is to investigate the interplay of predisposing factors and situational triggers in evoking political responses. The analysis is based on a series of three experiments embedded in a public opinion survey carried out in The Netherlands (n = 2007) in 1997‐98. The experiments, combined with parallel individual-level measures, allow measurement of the comparative impact of both dispositionally based and situationally triggered threats to economic well-being and to national identity at work. The results show, first, that considerations of national identity dominate those of economic advantage in evoking exclusionary reactions to immigrant minorities and, second, that the effect of situational triggers is to mobilize support for exclusionary policies above and beyond the core constituency already predisposed to support them.

942 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: From the results, organizations may be able to develop realistic training programs for IT professionals and managers and incorporate deterrent and preventive measures that can curb the rising tide of undesired misuse.

287 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, two experiments were conducted to investigate antecedents and consequences of creativity in a consumption context, and the results indicated that both situational factors (i.e., time constraints, situational involvement) and person factors (e.g., locus of control, metaphoric thinking ability) affect creative consumption.
Abstract: Creativity is an underresearched topic in consumer behavior, yet integral in many instances of consumer problem solving. Two experiments were conducted to investigate antecedents and consequences of creativity in a consumption context. The results indicate that both situational factors (i.e., time constraints, situational involvement) and person factors (i.e., locus of control, metaphoric thinking ability) affect creative consumption and that some of these variables have interactive influences. The results also show that acting creatively enhances positive affect.

258 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that coercive sexual behavior among college students can best be understood within the context of other sexual behaviors and values on college campuses.
Abstract: The literature on college women's experiences with sexual coercion is reviewed, with an emphasis on work published since 1990. Sexual coercion is defined as any situation in which one person uses verbal or physical means (including the administration of drugs or alcohol, with or without the other person's consent) to obtain sexual activity against consent. We argue that coercive sexual behavior among college students can best be understood within the context of other sexual behaviors and values on college campuses. Significant definitional and methodological problems are identified and discussed. Important victim, perpetrator, and situational variables are identified and discussed. These include attitudes toward women, beliefs about sexual behavior (including rape-supporting beliefs and values), communication problems, coercion-supporting peer groups (including fraternities and athletics), concepts of masculinity and femininity, sexual promiscuity, and alcohol.

230 citations


01 Jan 2004
TL;DR: The situationist approach is to the dispositional as public health models of disease are to medical models as mentioned in this paper, and it follows basic principles of Lewinian theory that propel situational determinants of behavior to a foreground well beyond being merely extenuating background circumstances.
Abstract: I endorse a situationist perspective on the ways in which anti-social behavior by individuals, and of violence sanctioned by nations, is best understood, treated and prevented. This view has both influenced and been informed by a body of social psychological research and theory. It contrasts with the traditional dispositional perspective to explaining the whys of evil behavior. The search for internal determinants of anti-social behavior locates evil within individual predispositions – genetic “bad seeds,” personality traits, pathological risk factors, and other organismic variables. The situationist approach is to the dispositional as public health models of disease are to medical models. It follows basic principles of Lewinian theory that propel situational determinants of behavior to a foreground well beyond being merely extenuating background circumstances. Unique to this situationist approach is using experimental laboratory and field research as demonstrations of vital phenomena that other approaches only analyze verbally or rely on archival or correlational data for answers. The basic paradigm to be presented illustrates the relative ease with which "ordinary," good men and women are induced into behaving in evil ways by turning on or off one or another social situational variable. I will start with a series of “oldies, but goodies” -my laboratory and field studies on deindividuation, aggression, vandalism, and the Stanford Prison Experiment, along with a process analysis of Milgram's obedience studies, and Bandura's analysis of “moral disengagement.” My analysis is extended to the evil of inaction by considering bystander failures of helping those in distress. This body of research demonstrates the under-recognized power of social situations to alter the mental representations and behavior of individuals, groups and nations. Finally, I explore extreme instances of “evil” behavior for their dispositional or situational foundations – torturers, death squad violence workers and terrorist suicide-bombers. 1 . The political views expressed in this chapter represent solely those of a private citizen-patriot, and in no way should be construed as being supported or endorsed by any of my professionalinstitutional affiliations.

228 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article examined the effect of four issue contingencies on marketers' ethical decision-making process and found that perceptions of a greater magnitude of consequences were positively related to issue recognition and judgments that the action was unethical in both scenarios and behavioral intentions in one scenario.

179 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article explored the effects of personal, interpersonal, and situational variables on social integration in the community and found that personal determinants (perceived stress and depressive mood) were statistically related to a decrease in social integration.
Abstract: This article aims to explore the effects of personal, interpersonal, and situational variables on social integration in the community. Structural equation analyses from two-wave panel data (N = 536) of adult participants living in an urban area showed that personal determinants (perceived stress and depressive mood), and situational determinants (undesirable life events) were statistically related to a decrease in social integration in the community. Interpersonal determinants (emotional, guidance, and instrumental support) were positively associated with an increase in social integration in the community. Implications of these and other findings are discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

106 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined three examples of situational constraints in work conflict interactions: (1) time deadlines (non-urgent or urgent), (2) cultural identity of the other person (same or different), and (3) work status of other party (superior or subordinate).

99 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argue that outside of the laboratory, emotionally powerful situational factors are almost always endogenous and often the result of self-interested entrepreneurs, and that economics provides a stronger basis for understanding the supply of emotionally-relevant situational variables.
Abstract: Prospect theory, loss aversion, mental accounts, hyperbolic discounting, cues, and the endowment effect can all be seen as examples of situationalism -- the view that people isolate decisions and overweight immediate aspects of the situation relative to longer term concerns. But outside of the laboratory, emotionally-powerful situational factors -- frames, social influence, mental accounts -- are almost always endogenous and often the result of self-interested entrepreneurs. As such, laboratory work and, indeed, psychology more generally, gives us little guidance as to market outcomes. Economics provides a stronger basis for understanding the supply of emotionally-relevant situational variables. Paradoxically situationalism actually increases the relative importance of economics.

87 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the effects of moral orientation (moral versus conventional) and of three situational variables on attitudes toward two types of cheating in school exams (copying from others (active) and letting others copy (passive).
Abstract: One hundred and ninety‐six Israeli middle‐school students participated in a study that explored the effects of moral orientation (moral versus conventional)and of three situational variables on attitudes toward two types of cheating in school exams—copying from others (‘active’)and letting others copy (‘passive’). Several vignettes that were comprised of different combinations of the three situational variables—exam importance, supervision level and peers' norms—were used as the main instrument. It was found that a‐morally oriented students approved significantly more of cheating than morally oriented students. Importance of exam had marginally significant effects on active copying. Level of supervision during exam and classmates' norms had significant effects on both active and passive cheating attitudes.

84 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of self-sacrificial behavior, along with the effect of situational crisis on followers' perceptions of their leader's charisma and organizational commitment are investigated.
Abstract: As charismatic and transformational leadership theories have broadened their perspective to include situational factors (i.e., crisis), it is important to understand how specific leader behaviors might interact with such situations. Recently, Choi and Mai-Dalton [Leadersh. Q. 10 (1999) 397; Leadersh. Q. 9 (1998) 475] have given both empirical and theoretical attention to the behavior of self-sacrifice, which is an important facet of both Transformational [Organ. Dyn. 13 (1985) 26] and Charismatic Leadership Theories [Acad. Manage. Rev. 12 (1987) 637; House, R. J. (1977). A 1976 theory of charismatic leadership. In J. G. Hunt & L. L. Larson (Eds.), Leadership: The cutting edge (pp. 189–207). Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press]. The present experimental study investigates the effects of self-sacrificial behavior, along with the effects of situational crisis on followers' perceptions of their leader's charisma and organizational commitment. Leaders are perceived particularly well when exhibiting self-sacrificial behavior in times of crisis.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose a framework that focuses initially on the more proximal factors that influence an employee's likelihood of participating in such programs, and then examine the role of organization-based situational characteristics in shaping both personal and normative assessments.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, it is argued that contemporary natural law theory provides a framework for formulating a caring political theory, and, alternatively, that care theory provided a foundation for justifying a form of natural law.
Abstract: Feminist care ethics have generally been considered too particular and situational to provide the basis for an institutional political theory. In recent years, however, a number of feminist authors have demonstrated care ethics’ applicability to general moral and political problems. Yet they have not yet developed an institutionally based caring political theory. This article outlines such a theory by drawing upon contemporary natural law theory. It is argued that contemporary natural law theory provides a framework for formulating a caring political theory, and, alternatively, that care theory provides a foundation for justifying a form of natural law theory.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a reconceptualization of organizational apologia is proposed, based on argument field theory, arguing that all organizational apologists must use one or more of four strategies to protect the image of the organization.
Abstract: There is much less agreement about the characteristics defining organizational apologia/crisis response than in the case of clearly defined categories such as the eulogy. This lack of agreement can be traced to two conflicting purposes served by the category (image repair and image maintenance) and also the fact that the organizational apologist faces much greater situational variation than in other well-defined categories. This article confronts these difficulties by proposing a reconceptualization of organizational apologia. Drawing on argument field theory, we argue that all organizational apologia must use one or more of four strategies to protect the image of the organization. Regarding image repair, the article proposes a research agenda for identifying the situational characteristics that characterize well-defined subgenres.


Book
26 Nov 2004
TL;DR: A Manager's Guide to Self-Development 4/e as mentioned in this paper provides readers with a range of tools and techniques to help them assess and respond to a variety of difficult challenges, such as managing mergers, improving work processes, and downsizing.
Abstract: In "A Manager's Guide to Leadership", the authors argue two key points: Good leadership is not just a question of possessing and developing the right skill set or aligning yourself with a guru's particular model, it is about how you respond to tough dilemmas and difficult challenges; and, Leadership does not belong to the business top hierarchy, everybody faces leadership challenges whatever level they are within their organization. Based on the winning formula of "A Manager's Guide to Self-Development 4/e", this book provides readers with a range of tools and techniques to help them assess and respond to a variety of difficult challenges.The book is divided into two main parts: Part one helps you to take stock of your own situation in terms of your current skill set, the leadership challenges you are faced and those you are likely to face in the future. Diagnostic activities help you discover your strengths and your weaknesses and identify your own goals for self-development.Part two features 21 practical and thought- provoking activities to assist you develop your skills, thus enabling you to respond to a multitude of challenges. These include: 14 situational challenges - Based in part on the findings from a recent government research survey (Council for Excellence in Management and Leadership 2002), these situational challenges are considered to be most pertinent to today's managers. Each chapter features case examples, tools and models and suggested follow up work. Challenges include managing mergers, improving work processes, and downsizing. 7 core practices - These are essential strengthening activities for leadership development that can be used in any leadership situation. These include encouraging commitment, developing facilitation skills, and asking the right questions.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the results of an analysis of three years' process-oriented interview data concerning secondary school students' goals and learning strategies in computer-supported collaborative inquiries were investigated over 3 years.
Abstract: This article describes the results of an analysis of three years' process-oriented interview data concerning secondary school students' goals and learning strategies in computer-supported collaborative inquiries. Specifically, the changes in students' goal interpretations and the situational dynamics of students' goals and strategies were investigated over 3 years. By examining how these secondary school students (N = 18, from ages 13-15 years) interpret and explain different situations in a new instructional setting, we were able to determine their subjective and context-specific explanations of the situation. The interview data were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis, and nonparametric statistics were then used to authenticate some of the qualitative findings. The data show how the students' explanations and interpretations of their goals and strategies vary during different years of the study. It can be concluded that the students seem to develop both individual and contextual goals, as well...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examined situation-specific coping strategies of students with different achievement goals as they take part in inquiry learning and revealed the importance of a situative perspective in instructional design, since the students not only differed in their coping attempts regarding their initial goals but also according to their individual situational interpretations that mediated their active coping attempts.
Abstract: This study examined situation-specific coping strategies of students with different achievement goals as they take part in inquiry learning. A case study was conducted in a Finnish elementary school. 21 ten-year-old students participated in the study. Two types of data were collected: (1) Students self-reported questionnaires on achievement goals, (2) Video data on the students' learning processes and social interaction. The results revealed the importance of a situative perspective in instructional design, since the students not only differed in their coping attempts regarding their initial goals but also according to their individual situational interpretations that mediated their active coping attempts. Some of the non-learning-focused students had difficulties engaging in the working procedures. A lack of teacher's concrete and precise guidance in both cognitive and motivational sense appeared to explain this phenomenon.

Journal Article
TL;DR: The theory reaches further than moral distress, identifying a critical juncture and better explaining a process that includes motivation and conflict, resolution, and reflection.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Moral distress is a pervasive problem in nursing, contributing to loss of nurses' ethical integrity, dissatisfaction with the work of nursing, and loss of nurses from the workforce. PURPOSE: The purpose of this research was twofold: to further elucidate the experiences and consequences of professional nurses' moral distress and to formulate a logical, systematic, and explanatory theory of moral distress and its consequences. METHODS: This Glasserian grounded theory study utilized volunteer and purposive sampling to recruit a sample of 21 registered nurses. RESULTS: The theory of moral reckoning in nursing illuminates a three-stage process. After a novice period, the nurse experiences a Stage of Ease in which there is comfort in the workplace and congruence of internal and external values. Unexpectedly, a situational bind occurs in which the nurse's core beliefs come into irreconcilable conflict with social norms. This constitutes a critical juncture, forcing the nurse out of the Stage of Ease into the Stage of Resolution, during which the nurse attempts to resolve the conflict by choosing among values. Resolution includes either giving up or making a stand. The nurse then moves into the Stage of Reflection in which beliefs, values, and actions are iteratively examined. The nurse tries to make sense of his or her experiences through remembering, telling the story, examining conflicts, and living with the consequences. CONCLUSIONS: The theory reaches further than moral distress, identifying a critical juncture and better explaining a process that includes motivation and conflict, resolution, and reflection.

01 Jan 2004
TL;DR: This article explored the influence of situational factors on aggressive driving from within the framework of a frustration-aggression model of aggressive driving and found that the situational characteristics of a potentially frustrating road event can influence both the anger reported by participating drivers and their likely behavioural response.
Abstract: This study explored the influence of situational factors on aggressive driving from within the framework of a frustration-aggression model of aggressive driving. Through the use of driving scenarios, a number of situational characteristics were manipulated to examine their effect on the level of anger reported by participants and their likely behavioural response. The situational characteristics examined included the age, gender and anonymity of the offending driver, and the sense of time pressure as well as the gender of the participants. The results confirmed that the situational characteristics of a potentially frustrating road event can influence both the anger reported by participating drivers and their likely behavioural response.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This study examines the impact of a new workspace technology on individual privacy and on team interaction and found that the participants were generally satisfied with the visual privacy but not with the auditory privacy.
Abstract: One way organizations increase their competitive advantage is through innovative strategies that improve human performance. Human performance can be enhanced or constrained by situational factors that are introduced into the organization's work environment. One situational factor is the organization's workspace. This study examines the impact of a new workspace technology on individual privacy and on team interaction. The research found that the participants were generally satisfied with the visual privacy but not with the auditory privacy. The research also found that the participants were satisfied with the workspace's ability to facilitate team interaction. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors explored the influence of situational factors on aggressive driving from within the framework of a frustration-aggression model of aggressive driving and found that the situational characteristics of a potentially frustrating road event can influence both the anger reported by participating drivers and their likely behavioural response.
Abstract: This study explored the influence of situational factors on aggressive driving from within the framework of a frustration-aggression model of aggressive driving. Through the use of driving scenarios, a number of situational characteristics were manipulated to examine their effect on the level of anger reported by participants and their likely behavioural response. The situational characteristics examined included the age, gender and anonymity of the offending driver, and the sense of time pressure as well as the gender of the participants. The results confirmed that the situational characteristics of a potentially frustrating road event can influence both the anger reported by participating drivers and their likely behavioural response.

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 2004
TL;DR: In this paper, a socio-cognitive framework is described to study the interaction between designers and social groups, and experimentation with situational factors of creativity is presented, where social ties in a population of adopters are shown to shape the way in which designers are considered as change agents of their societies.
Abstract: This paper describes a socio-cognitive framework to study the interaction between designers and social groups. Experimentation with situational factors of creativity is presented. In particular, social ties in a population of adopters are shown to shape the way in which designers are considered as change agents of their societies.

Journal Article
TL;DR: The Ethics in Public Relations: A Guide to Best Practice by Patricia J. Parsons as mentioned in this paper provides a broad range of decision-making tools that may be used to grapple with issues and to reach responsible and defensible solutions.
Abstract: Ethics in Public Relations: A Guide to Best Practice. Patricia J. Parsons. Sterling, VA: Kogan Page Limited, 2004. 187 pp. $35 pbk. Ethics in Public Relations fills a textbook void by acknowledging, upfront, the inherent dilemmas and conflicts that may arise among practitioners who are faced with ethical situations on the job. The book then provides a breadth of decision-making tools that may be used to grapple with issues and to reach responsible and defensible solutions. The author, who teaches strategic communication and ethics, brings the issues pragmatically to the forefront for examination by future public relations practitioners. Patricia J. Parsons, associate professor and past chair of the Department of Public Relations at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, brings a wealth of professional and classroom expertise to the textbook. She has written two other public relations books: Manager's Guide to PR Projects: A Practical Approach in 2003 and Beyond Persuasion: The Healthcare Manager's Guide to Strategic Communication in 2001. Additionally, she serves as a public relations consultant in the health care arena. After acknowledging the tendency to judge public relations ethics as an oxymoron, Parsons avoids the black-andwhite approach and shows novice practitioners how to navigate through the grey haze of ethical public relations practice. Yes, it can be done. The book is divided into four sections. It does not wax poetically about the great philosophers. Rather, readers will receive a brief grounding in ethical principles, particularly as they relate to this discipline, with the remaining three-fourths of the book devoted to "doing" ethical public relations. The first part of the text addresses principles of ethical thinking, including roots of professionalism, truth-telling, responsibilities, rights, and loyalties. It's a quick look (forty-seven pages) at the basic foundations, including deontology, utilitarianism, and situational ethics. The second part focuses on the individual's moral sense of self, including moral development, ethics codes, conflicts, and the inherent dilemmas of the practice. The strategies and tactics section delves into those dilemmas more fully and outlines potential strategies for dealing with them. Here, Parsons does an exemplary job shedding light on the nuances of ethical persuasion. In the last section, she focuses on public relations practitioners' roles in the ethics of an organization. It is within this section that various decision-making tools are introduced-the Potter Box, use of "PR pillars," Peter Drucker's mirror test, and "criteria for second guessing. …

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the Asch paradigm is defined as experimentally attested conditions for eliciting conformity of behavior regardless of available evidence of prior beliefs, and a version of situational explanations of perpetrator behavior is presented.
Abstract: Three theories contend as explanations of perpetrator behavior in the Holocaust as well as other cases of genocide: structural, intentional, and situational Structural explanations emphasize the sense in which no single individual or choice accounts for the course of events In opposition, intentional/cutltural accounts insist upon the genocides as intended outcomes, for how can one explain situations in which people ‘step up’ and repeatedly kill defenseless others in large numbers over sustained periods of time as anything other than a choice? Situational explanations offer a type of behavioral account; this is how people act in certain environments Critical to the situational account as I discuss it is the ‘Asch paradigm’, ie experimentally attested conditions for eliciting conformityof behavior regardlesss of available evidence of prior beliefs In what follows, I defend what I term above a version of situational explanations of perpetrator behavior Moreover, I maintain that the factors that expla

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors built on data collected by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) Law Enforcement and Management and Administrative Statistics (LMS) program, which administered a questionnaire to larger (enrol...
Abstract: This research builds on data collected by the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ Law Enforcement and Management and Administrative Statistics program, which administered a questionnaire to larger (enrol...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a study was conducted to bridge the gap between situational and more general measures in investigating university students' studying, and the aim was to establish a connection between students' situational reaction tendencies and their general study orientations.
Abstract: The purpose of the study was to bridge the gap between situational and more general measures in investigating university students' studying. More precisely, the aim was to establish a connection between students' situational reaction tendencies and their general study orientations. Furthermore, situational reaction tendencies were related to the applied learning strategies and actual study success. The participants in the study were 578 second year students in a multi-disciplinary Finnish university. A questionnaire was used including the Inventory of General Study Orientations (IGSO) and measures concerning situational reaction tendencies, learning strategies, self-efficacy and self-evaluated expertise. Archive data from the university's student register were utilized to objectively examine study success. The following four groups of students with differing situational reaction tendencies were distinguished: performance-oriented students, task-oriented students, socially oriented students and avoiders. I...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the role of schemas and scripts in the formation and evolution of corporate law and all of modern policy-making, and reveal that all of us are susceptible to schemas that guide our attention and inferences.
Abstract: This Article is about some of the schemas and scripts that form and define our lives. It is about the knowledge structures that shape how we view the world and how we understand the limitless information with which we are always confronted. This Article is also about the "evolution of ideas" underlying corporate law and all of modern policymaking. It is about the ways in which schemas and scripts have influenced how policy theorists, policymakers, lawyers, and many others (particularly in the West) understand and approach policymaking generally and corporate law specifically. It is about both the invisibility and blinding effect of those schemas. It is about the battle over those schemas and the prizes of victory. And, finally, it is about how the now-dominant schemas render us the "unwitting puppets of the intellectual forces that have been undermining the basis of a free society these past decades." We begin our discussion in Part II with the dominant knowledge structures underlying modern policymaking, describing the emergence of what we term the "meta script" of policymaking - or the schemas that frame our approach to policy analysis today. Part III turns to the law regulating large commercial interests - specifically, corporate law - and examines the emergence and dominance of the new "macro script" of corporate law. It examines the schemas that identify and legitimate the purpose of the law. Parts IV and V highlight the signs of illusion in those schemas and then begin to unveil the situational magician behind those illusions. Corporate law works, as all illusions work, by relying on a set of schemas that guide our attention and inferences and play into our intuitions and motives. Yet the outcome and response that this Article suggests is neither so benign nor light-hearted as that of a magic show. While its analysis is concentrated on corporate law, the Article's implications reach each of us, from law student to legal scholar, citizen to policymaker, and reveal something unsettling: all of us are susceptible to schematic sleight-of-hand, tricks that render us vulnerable to dangerous illusion. Where many have heretofore tended to see magic, this Article reveals the illusion of law and some of the unseen mechanisms that make it possible. This project's larger ambition, it should be noted, is not to encourage disillusionment with the purported goals of the law, but to provide insights that help tailor our means and to narrow the gap between our ends and our outcomes.

Journal Article
TL;DR: The Situation: An Introduction to the Situational Character, Critical Realism, Power Economics, and Deep Capture, 152 U.S. L. Rev. 129 (2003).
Abstract: This Article is dedicated to retiring the now-dominant "rational actor" model of human agency, together with its numerous "dispositionist" cohorts, and replacing them with a new conception of human agency that the authors call the "situational character." This is a key installment of a larger project recently introduced in an article titled The Situation: An Introduction to the Situational Character, Critical Realism, Power Economics, and Deep Capture, 152 U. Pa. L. Rev. 129 (2003). That introductory article adumbrated, often in broad stroke, the central premises and some basic conclusions of a new approach to legal theory and policy analysis. This Article provides a more complete version of one of those central premises by elucidating a more realistic conception of the human animal than is currently embraced in legal theory. The Article begins with a short introduction to the larger project, and describes the central place that a realist conception of the human actor plays in that project. It then explores several bodies of literature within the fields of social, cognitive, behavioral, and neural psychology in pursuit of a vision of the human actor that is grounded in social science. Having explicated that conception, the Article then outlines some of the basic implications of it for law, legal theory, and social policy. It then analyzes conventional legal scholars', particularly legal economists', arguments for ignoring the lessons of social science in their treatment of human agency. As part of that analysis, this Article describes why recent efforts to incorporate some psychological findings - the sort of work that is often labeled "behavioralist" - have been inadequate. Finally, the authors briefly look beyond the human actor itself to consider some of the fairly obvious - but generally ignored - realities of our present social situation, and some of their implications for common policy presumptions. As subsequent work will make clear, this new, situationist conception of the human animal is as important to a realist account of law and legal theory as the dispositionist conception has been to now-dominant accounts.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: One study showed that participants who had received the entity theory induction exhibited more evidence of a helpless reaction to failure and were more likely to make negative judgments about their intelligence from the failures as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Most studies have tried to explain the school difficulties by analysing the intellectual factors that lead to school failure. However in addition to the instrumental capacities, authors also recognize the role played by other factors such as motivation. More specifically, the theory of achievement motivation aims to determine motivational factors involved in achievement situations when the students have to demonstrate their competencies. This paradigm attributes a central place to beliefs in order to explain children's behavior in academic situations. According to Dweck, it seems that beliefs about the nature of intelligence have a very powerful impact on behavior. These implicit theories of intelligence create a meaning system or conceptual framework that influences the individual interpretation of school situations. Thus, an entity theory of intelligence is the belief that intelligence is a fixed trait, a personal quality that cannot be changed. Students who subscribe to this theory believe that although people can learn new things, their underlying intelligence remains the same. In contrast, an incremental theory of intelligence is the belief that intelligence is a malleable quality that can increase through efforts. The identification of these two theories allows us to understand the cognition and behavior of individuals in achievement situations. Many studies carried out in the academic area show that students who hold an entity theory of intelligence (ie they consider intelligence like a stable quality) have a strong tendency to attribute their failures to a fixed trait. They are more likely to blame their intelligence for ne-gative outcomes and to attribute failures to their bad intellectual ability. In contrast, students who hold an incremental theory of intelligence (ie they consider intelligence as a malleable quality) are more likely to understand the same ne-gative outcomes in terms of specific factors: they attribute them to a lack of effort. This differential emphasis on traits versus specific mediators in turn fosters different reactions to negative events. Several studies have shown that entity theorists of intelligence are more likely than incremental theorists to react helplessly in the face of failure. They are not only more likely to make negative judgments about their intelligence from the failures, but also more likely to show negative affect and behaviors. This helpless response pattern is cha-racterized by a lack of persistence, and performance decrements. In contrast, incremental theorists, who focus more on behavioral factors (eg effort, problem-solving strategies) as causes of negative achievement outcomes, tend to act on these mediators. They try harder and develop better strategies and continue to work. Some authors have tendency to consider implicit theories of intelligence as a disposition or a stable dimension. But in the last few years, several studies showed that people's theories are not fixed traits; they are beliefs that may be influenced. These studies also suggested that students use the two types of beliefs and that the context determines the choice between the two types of theories. According to these authors, the psychological state of the student depends on dispositional factors but also on situational factors. Thus, several studies have tried to demonstrate that it is possible to modify experimentally implicit theories of intelligence and subsequent cognitions and behaviors by modifying situational factors. Several studies have demonstrated that it was possible to induce students to adopt one of the two theories of intelligence by presenting them a scientific article that compelling argued for either an entity or an incremental view of intelligence. The results showed that participants who had received the entity theory induction exhibited more evidence of a helpless reaction to failure. These studies show that some of the judgments and reactions associated with implicit theories can be experimentally induced by manipulating participant theories. However in the context of school difficulties, only few works have been conducted. We think that the model of the motivation of achievement would allow us to better understand maladjusted behaviors that engender failure and scholastic exclusion. In one study, reseachers have demonstrated that children with mental disorders are less likely than other children to hold an incremental theory of their intellectual abilities. Other studies have demonstrated that entity theorists interpret their bad results according to their global intelligence level by negatively judging their global abilities ("I think I am stupid"). It is interesting to note that these students make the same attributions as depressive students. These results reveal the need to determine systems of beliefs within populations with anxiety or depressive symptoms in order to characterise their motivational profiles. Indeed, we think that these symptoms contribute to modify implicit theories of intelligence and the nature of the subsequent scholastic achievement. Finally, we think that it is inte-resting to demonstrate the positive motivational effects of the experimental induction of the incremental theory. A series of studies showed that children's theories of intelligence expe-rimentally induced will influence their tendency to persevere in the face of failure. Like normally developing children, children with mental disorders were more likely to prefer challenging activities and report high levels of interest-enjoyment when the task was presented as one which is improvable. It suggests that although children with difficulties are pessimistic about improving their intellectual capacities, if a new task is introduced in a way that highlights the possibility of self-improvement (incremental theory), then they will pursue the challenge in an adaptive manner (strong perseverance, enjoy, and important interest). These results are very inte-resting. Indeed, highlighting an incremental theory had a po-sitive motivational effect on behavior in achievement situations. In addition, all these results also may open up several interesting perspectives for the treatment of learning disabi-lities. The results should lead to plan programmes of cognitive therapy in order to modify beliefs that underlie maladjusted achievement behaviors of children and adolescents in scholastic failure.