Showing papers on "Social cognitive theory of morality published in 1987"

The biology of moral systems

Abstract: Despite wide acceptance that the attributes of living creatures have appeared through a cumulative evolutionary process guided chiefly by natural selection, many human activities have seemed analytically inaccessible through such an approach. Prominent evolutionary biologists, for example, have described morality as contrary to the direction of biological evolution, and moral philosophers rarely regard evolution as relevant to their discussions. "The Biology of Moral Systems" adopts the position that moral questions arise out of conflicts of interest, and that moral systems are ways of using confluences of interest at lower levels of social organization to deal with conflicts of interest at higher levels. Moral systems are described as systems of indirect reciprocity: humans gain and lose socially and reproductively not only by direct transactions, but also by the reputations they gain from the everyday flow of social interactions. The author develops a general theory of human interests, using senescence and effort theory from biology, to help analyze the patterning of human lifetimes. He argues that the ultimate interests of humans are reproductive, and that the concept of morality has arisen within groups because of its contribution to unity in the context, ultimately, of success in intergroup competition. He contends that morality is not easily relatable to universals, and he carries this argument into a discussion of what he calls the greatest of all moral problems, the nuclear arms race. "Crammed with sage observations on moral dilemmas and many reasons why an understanding of evolution based on natural selection will advance thinking in finding practical solutions to our most difficult social problems." U "Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences" "Richard D. Alexander" is Donald Ward Tinkle Professor of Evolutionary Biology, Department of Biology, and Curator of Insects, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan. A recipient of numerous awards, Dr. Alexander is the author of "Darwinism and Human Affairs."

Positive affect, cognitive processes, and social behavior.

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter examines some of the literature demonstrating an impact of affect on social behavior. It will consider the influence of affect on cognition in an attempt to further understand on the way cognitive processes may mediate the effect of feelings on social behavior. The chapter describes the recent works suggesting an influence of positive affect on flexibility in cognitive organization (that is, in the perceived relatedness of ideas) and the implications of this effect for social interaction. The goal of this research is to expand the understanding of social behavior and the factors, such as affect, that influence interaction among people. Another has been to extend the knowledge of affect, both as one of these determinants of social behavior and in its own right. And a third has been to increase the understanding of cognitive processes, especially as they play a role in social interaction. Most recently, cognitive and social psychologists have investigated ways in which affective factors may participate in cognitive processes (not just interrupt them) and have begun to include affect as a factor in more comprehensive models of cognition. The research described in the chapter has focused primarily on feelings rather than intense emotion, because feelings are probably the most frequent affective experiences. The chapter focuses primarily on positive affect.

Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social-Cognitive View

Abstract: The article reviews the book “Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social-Cognitive View,” by Albert Bandura.

Well-Being: Its Meaning, Measurement, and Moral Importance.

Abstract: Part 1 Utilitarian accounts: state of mind or state of the world - the desire account developed objective accounts perfectionism and the ends of life. Part 2 Measurement: are there incommensurable values? the case of one person the case of many persons. Part 3 Moral importance: from prudence to morality equal respect fairness rights desert distribution.

Patterns of moral complexity

Abstract: Larmore aims to recover three forms of moral complexity that have often been neglected by moral and political philosophers. First, he argues that virtue is not simply the conscientious adherence to principle. Rather, the exercise of virtue apply. He argues - and this is the second pattern of complexity - that recognizing the value of constitutive ties with shared forms of life does not undermine the liberal ideal of political neutrality toward differing ideals of the good life. Finally Larmore agrues for what he calls the heterogeneity of morality. Moral thinking need not be exclusively deontological or consequentialist, and we should recognize that the ultimate sources of moral value are diverse. The arguments presented here do not attack the possibility of moral theory. But in addressing some of the central issues of moral and political thinking today thay attempt to restore to that thinking greater flexibility and a necessary sensitivity to our common experience.

Persons, Rights, and the Moral Community

Abstract: This book presents the foundations of a liberal individualistic theory of rights, and explains what rights we have and do not have, why we have them, who is and who is not a holder of rights, and the place of rights within the overall structure of morality. The author argues for the moral importance of individual commitments to 'projects', and demonstrates the implications of this for a variety of problems and issues. Readership: students of moral, social, and political philosophy.

The moral dimension of organizational culture

Abstract: The lack of concrete guidance provided by managerial moral standards and the ambiguity of the expectations they create are discussed in terms of the moral stress experienced by many managers. It is argued that requisite clarity and feelings of obligation with respect to moral standards derive ultimately from public discussion of moral issues within organizations and from shared public agreement about appropriate behavior. Suggestions are made about ways in which the moral dimension of an organization's culture can be more effectively managed. This is the third in a research series of three papers.

Reflective Teacher Education and Moral Deliberation.

Abstract: Liston and Zeichner discuss the frailties of both the reflective approach and the moral craft orientation, and they elabo rate on the idea of "moral deliberation." They suggest that the reflective and moral craft approaches to teacher educa tion do not recognize the complexity of moral deliberation. Prospective teachers are encouraged, instead, to utilize dis tinct moral principles to examine teach ing issues and to strive to act in morally virtuous ways — to be caring and consid erate, for example — in their interactions with students. The authors describe how a principled approach to teaching and an ethic of caring may be evidenced in a preservice teachers' ability to critically reflect on a specific instructional issue — ability grouping.

The Neglected Moral Link in Social Work Practice

Abstract: T TNTIL RECENTLY, speculation and U debate about moral and ethical questions were, for the most part, re stricted to the studies of the secluded moral philosopher or the theologian. Moral concerns have now become widespread and secular for many reasons. One of the more apparent of these is the consequence of the prodigious advances that have taken place in biomedical technology. Not long ago, parents of newborn infants with severe birth defects or relatives of seriously impaired patients were spared the need to make the moral decision few individuals are prepared to contemplate: whether one's life should or should not be pro longed. Where natural death once ex empted this decision, the development of life-sustaining technologies now force the making of such a choice. The biological and genetic experimenta tion that is now growing exponentially poses other moral considerations. Fields such as law, management, and scientific research have come to appreciate the importance of ethical theory in profes sional education and practice. There is a broadening interest in theories of moral development in many levels of education. Undoubtedly, this new-found sensitivity to large-scale ethical problems will be ben eficial. If nothing else, such awareness may help compensate for the dehumaniz ing consequences of advanced technology and highly specialized professionalism. Attention to ethical matters makes appar ent that regardless of the direction in which technological growth moves, sen tient human beings alone can resolve the radical questions that bear on the quality and meaning of their lives. There is yet another benefit—perhaps more subtle-that accrues from the upsurge of concern about some of the more dra matic moral questions. Insofar as these graver questions alert us to the importance of moral principles in the making of seri ous choices and decisions, they simultan eously underscore the role of personal but less articulate principles in the scheme of Howard Goldstein

Crafting virtue: The rhetorical construction of public morality

Abstract: Recent theorists have tended to deprecate the role of rhetoric in constructing public morality, and have resorted to “privatized” models of morality. This essay outlines weaknesses in the foundational metaphors of that position and offers a theory of the rhetorical crafting of public morality. Morality is described as humanly generated, objectively constrained, and contingent. The theory is illustrated and substantiated by a description of the public moral struggle over moral justice for Afro‐Americans.

Healthy Respect: Ethics in Health Care

Abstract: Knowledge, skills and values Scientific understanding and decision-making Moral values Autonomy and respect Embryos, persons and other human beings Individual and group responsibility Moral conflict and moral deficiency Alternative views of human nature Arguments Learning and teaching moral values Making contact and making decisions Working together A question of living Quality of life Health: the moral issues A question of dying A question of economics Moral aspects of research Quality in health care Codes of ethics.

Education for the moral development of managers: Kohlberg's stages of moral development and integrative education

Abstract: Recent management behavior such as the PINTO gasoline tank decision has received a great deal of notoriety. In fact, repugnant examples of management amorality and immorality abound. One is forced to ask a number of questions. Does such behavior reflect a lack of a proper education in moral behavior? Can education result in moral behavior? If so, what kind of education might that be? Answers to these questions might point a way out of the moral shadows giant corporations have cast over much of the world. An attempt to answer these questions, then, might be a worthwhile venture.

The nature of managerial moral standards

Abstract: Descriptions of how managers think about the moral questions that come up in their work lives are analyzed to draw out the moral assumptions to which they commonly refer. The moral standards thus derived are identified as (1) honesty in communication, (2) fair treatment, (3) special consideration, (4) fair competition, (5) organizational responsibility, (6) corporate social responsibility, and, (7) respect for law. It is observed that these normative standards assume the cultural form of social conventions but because managers invoke them as largely private intuitions, their cultural status remains precarious and unclear. This is the second in a research series of three papers.

Social influence on group moral decisions: the interactive effects of moral reasoning and sex role orientation.

Abstract: In this study, we examined the effects of moral reasoning level and sex role orientation on social influence in group decision making. We predicted that these two individual difference constructs would have an interactive effect such that people who are compatible or nonconflicted on the two dimensions would have more influence on a group task with moral implications than would people who are conflicted. All subjects individually completed a distributive decision task that required ranking terminally ill patients for access to a life-saving kidney machine. They then met in small groups and reached a group decision on the same task. The subjects' moral reasoning level and sex role orientation--assessed via the Rest Defining Issues Test (Rest, 1979) and the Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bem, 1974), respectively--were used to predict influence on the group decision. Influence was measured in three ways: similarity between individual and group ranks, self-rated influence, and selection of the most influential group member. The results of all three influence measures provided support for the interactive hypothesis. In the discussion we consider the implications of the data for individual difference models of moral reasoning, the need for further understanding of goal competition and personality conflict, and the importance of considering the impact of moral factors on group decision-making proceses.

Moral principles and social values

Abstract: An introduction to moral philosophy covering such topics as moral conflict, morality and the law, emotivism and prescriptivism, the morality of politics, and practical reason.

Open-mindedness in Moral Education: Three Contemporary Approaches

Abstract: Three fashionable approaches to moral education are examined to see how far they satisfy the ideal of open-mindedness. It seems clear that (1) values clarification, (2) situation ethics and (3) critical issues all seek to avoid indoctrination, and, in different ways, present an alternative to traditional moral instruction with its emphasis on absolute moral rules. In stressing the autonomy of the individual, in denouncing prefabricated rules, and in promoting discussion of vexed questions, a clear concern for open-mindedness can be detected. It is argued, however, that an inadequate account of open-mindedness pervades these approaches. Moral education would benefit from a positive account of open-mindedness. It is not enough merely to avoid the grosser forms of indoctrination.

Transforming Moral Education

Abstract: The anomalous character of approaches to moral education that focus on love and an ethic of care is explained in this paper. It is then argued that if moral education is to foster generative love, education itself must be redefined and moral education as we know it must be transformed.

A case study of theory development: moral behavior in nursing.

Abstract: The theoretical considerations, operationalization of the constructs, and measurement issues of an ongoing program of research designed to explain ethical practice in nursing are presented. They illustrate the constant give and take among research, the empirical world, and theory building. This case study depicts the iterative and complex process of developing constructs and relationships, based on research findings, that explain moral behavior in nursing practice.

Moral Reasoning and Behavior of Striking Physicians in Israel

Abstract: Routine daily experience does not always provide physicians and moral researchers the opportunity to focus on the ways in which personal moral values are put into practice. An extreme situation—a physicians' strike—provided such an opportunity. This paper is based on interviews with 50 Israeli striking physicians. The extent to which the physicians' justifications of their action reflected their moral competence, is discussed.

Moral Competence and Education in Democratic Society

Abstract: This paper views ‘conscience’ in the context of society and education. Modern states, in particular democratic ones which rely on the rule of law and popular voting, require an adequate stage of moral-cognitive development in their citizens. Schooling is widely thought to be a necessary and indispensable means for achieving this, although it may not be a sufficient one and other social institutions may be equally necessary. Our main question is: Do institutions of education in our societies foster moral judgment competence? After reviewing a large body of research findings related to this questions, the answer is that yes, by and large education does facilitate cognitive-moral development. This seems to hold true at least for secondary and university education. Before beginning this review, I would like to comment briefly on the salience of moral-cognitive development and education for the survival and development of a democratic society, and on problems of definition and measurement.

Prospects of Kohlberg-Oriented Research on Moral Development.

Abstract: Zeitschrift fur Padagogik 33 (1987) 4, S. 491-511 Padagogische Teildisziplin: Padagogische Psychologie; Bildungs- und Erziehungsphilosophie;

Method, Content and Motivation in Moral Education.

Abstract: Arguments about whether stress should be laid on content or on method in moral education are shown to be misguided: both are inextricably interlocked since morality is a complete form of life, partly concerned with action and partly with feeling. Proper motivation for moral education must display this form in the daily lives of the pupils, who will come to be morally educated only in so far as they share the form with those who love them and whom they love. Schools have to be structured into genuine communities in order to make this possible. In these respects morality is parallel to other forms of life and thought in the school curriculum.