Situational ethics

About: Situational ethics is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4023 publications have been published within this topic receiving 145379 citations.

Decision-Making Processes on Ethical Issues: The Impact of a Social Contract Perspective

Abstract: This paper develops a framework for examining decision making about ethical issues and tests the applicability of a social contract perspective. Using two separate samples of students and salespeople, we determine that community members (salespeople) tend to judge a potentially unethical act to constitute a violation of an implicit social contract and non-community members (students) do not. Also, consistent with the emphasis on context specificity of integrative social contracts theory, situational variables influence perceptions of ethicality for the community members, but do not affect the perceptions of individuals outside the community. The study finds considerable support for the use of a social contractarian perspective in the study of decision-making processes about ethical issues.

The Automaticity of Everyday Life : Advances in Social Cognition, Volume X

Abstract: As Skinner argued so pointedly, the more we know about the situational causes of psychological phenomena, the less need we have for postulating internal conscious mediating processes to explain those phenomena. Now, as the purview of social psychology is precisely to discover those situational causes of thinking, feeling, and acting in the real or implied presence of other people, it is hard to escape the forecast that as knowledge progresses regarding social psychological phenomena there will be less of a role played by free will or conscious choice in accounting for them. In other words, because of social psychology's natural focus on the situational determinants of thinking, feeling, and doing, it is inevitable that social psychological phenomena increasingly will be found to be automatic in nature. This 10th book in the series addresses automaticity and how it relates to social behavior. The lead article, written by John Bargh, argues that social psychology phenomena are essentially automatic in nature, as opposed to being mediated by conscious choice or reflection. Bargh maintains that an automatic mental phenomenon is that which occurs reflexively whenever certain triggering conditions are in place; when those conditions are present, the process runs off autonomously, independently of conscious guidance. In his lead article, he focuses on these preconscious automatic processes that can be contrasted with postconscious and goal-dependent forms of automaticity which depend on more than the mere presence of environmental objects or events. Because social psychology, like automaticity theory and research, is also largely concerned with phenomena that occur whenever certain situational features or factors are in place, social psychology phenomena are essentially automatic. Students and researchers in social and cognitive psychology will find this to be a provocative addition to the series.

Clashing Values: Contemporary Views about Cheating and Plagiarism Compared to Traditional Beliefs and Practices.

Abstract: Current research establishes that a values shift justifying a positive regard of cheating has been replacing the more traditional standard of viewing cheating as a priori unethical, immoral, and wrong (Blum, 2009, Sacks, 1996). However, researchers seem to be more aware of this shift in values than are the professors and university administrations who have sent out a call for solutions to the problems of cheating and plagiarism on campuses, as well as in high schools and other learning arenas (Volpe, et. al., 2008, McCabe, et. al., 2001). In fact, while attention is focused on solutions to the problem of cheating, cheating continues to increase (Josephson Institute of Ethics Report Card, 2011) That the professoriate is only now beginning to wonder about the nature of this shift is understandable since the shift from modern to post-modern values perspectives is not generally well understood (Inglehart, 2008, Pew Research Center, 2010) In fact, even a cursory Google search quickly reveals a preponderance of references for catching and punishing cheating and plagiarism. Values shift research, on the other hand, establishes an empirical basis for arguing that societal outlooks on sexual behavior, sexual orientation, family values, and other traditional values, like truthfulness, have been replaced by what Inglehart and others identify as post modern value orientations (Inglehart, 2008; Blum, 2009) These outlooks, as the evidence indicates, are much more tolerant of situational, personalized, and relational solutions to ethical dilemmas, inclusive of cheating and plagiarism, than has historically been the case. This paper will attempt to show, as an illustration of changes in values that are here to stay, not only that cheating happens, but also why it does. I will also argue that the University's reaction to cheating should therefore seek to incorporate tolerance for behaviors that are nonetheless viewed as antithetical to the Enlightenment morality still dominant in academic cultures. In other words, I will argue that reacting by punishing cheating and plagiarism will not be as effective as understanding why these behaviors occur. The need is to adapt performance criteria to these new realities rather than act to repress or punish them. Traditional outlooks--from not lying about chopping down the cherry tree to what McCabe and others refer to as "honor code violations"--are based on beliefs about immutable notions about right and wrong that no longer apply, either literally or figuratively (McCabe, 2001, Center for Academic Integrity, 1990). New values for performance and behavior are needed in a world where students born after 1982 prefer to engage in decisions based on personality, relationship, and expediency rather than on abstract rules about right or wrong. In thinking about the meaning of post modem values shift, the inapplicability of the 18th Century Enlightenment ideals that dominated the moral development of generations before the most recent is starkly clear in example after example of the explanations given by students for cheating (Blum, 58-59) One way to understand the differences between the modern value orientations still held by much of the professoriate and the post modern value orientations that reflected in attitudes and behaviors of the most recent generation of students is to contrast core concepts as follows: Traditional/Modern Post Modern/Emergent 1. objective merit Merit as subjective and relational 2. universal application of Situational application of grading standards grading standards 3. adherence to exegetically Opportunism, expedience and Self derived standards and rules as authority 4. detached/ professional Engaged, involved application of application of standards standards, expectations 5. individual accomplishment Communal/collaborative effort highest regard highest regard 6. …

Casting Light On Prison Violence in Scotland: Evaluating the Impact of Situational Risk Factors

Abstract: Violence among prisoners and that between prisoners and staff is a perennial concern for all prison systems. That violent prisoners are only violent in certain circumstances suggests a need to develop ways to understand not only the origins of violence in prison but also the situational contexts in which violence occurs. The technology of risk assessment has evolved dramatically in the last decade; however, the focus on individual risk factors has been at the expense of a de-emphasizing of the role of situational factors. In this article, evidence for the importance of situational factors in relation to prison violence is considered. The authors describe the development of a new risk assessment procedure—promoting risk intervention by situational management (PRISM). Within the context of the Scottish Prison Service, they conclude that systematic attention to situational risk factors can help reduce prison violence.