Showing papers on "Social cognitive theory of morality published in 2021"

Mindful ethical practice and resilience academy: Equipping nurses to address ethical challenges

Abstract: Background Ethical challenges in clinical practice significantly affect frontline nurses, leading to moral distress, burnout, and job dissatisfaction, which can undermine safety, quality, and compassionate care. Objectives To examine the impact of a longitudinal, experiential educational curriculum to enhance nurses' skills in mindfulness, resilience, confidence, and competence to confront ethical challenges in clinical practice. Methods A prospective repeated-measures study was conducted before and after a curricular intervention at 2 hospitals in a large academic medical system. Intervention participants (192) and comparison participants (223) completed study instruments to assess the objectives. Results Mindfulness, ethical confidence, ethical competence, work engagement, and resilience increased significantly after the intervention. Resilience and mindfulness were positively correlated with moral competence and work engagement. As resilience and mindfulness improved, turnover intentions and burnout (emotional exhaustion and depersonalization) decreased. After the intervention, nurses reported significantly improved symptoms of depression and anger. The intervention was effective for intensive care unit and non-intensive care unit nurses (exception: emotional exhaustion) and for nurses with different years of experience (exception: turnover intentions). Conclusions Use of experiential discovery learning practices and high-fidelity simulation seems feasible and effective for enhancing nurses' skills in addressing moral adversity in clinical practice by cultivating the components of moral resilience, which contributes to a healthy work environment, improved retention, and enhanced patient care.

The Teaching of Ethics and the Moral Competence of Medical and Nursing Students.

Abstract: In a time marked by the development of innovative treatments in healthcare and the need for health professionals to deal with resulting ethical dilemmas in clinical practice, this study was developed to determine the influence of the bioethics teaching on the moral competence of medical and nursing students. The authors conduct a longitudinal study using the Moral Competence Test extended version before and after attending the ethics curricular unit, in three nursing schools and three medical schools of Portugal. In this questionnaire the participant is confronted with three ethical dilemmas (related to theft, euthanasia and the torture of a terrorist) and asked to evaluate arguments for and against the attitude of the main character (Worker, doctor and judge). For both nursing and medical students, C-score was lower after the attendance of the ethics curricular units, with a statistically significant decrease in the total score (from 21 to 19.5 on average; p = 0.046) for nursing students and a decrease not statistically significant for medical students (from 23.2 to 22 on average; p = 0.358). A multivariate analysis did not find any association between this decrease and gender, course, or age. The phenomenon of moral segmentation was observed, with better performance in the worker and judge dilemma, than in the doctor dilemma. These results highlight the need to reflect on the curricular strategies that can be implemented for health professionals to better develop moral competence and decision-making, allowing for the provision of humanized health care.

The development of moral sensitivity of nursing students: A scoping review.

Abstract: Moral sensitivity is known to be the starting point for moral competence and even is a core concept in the curricula for bachelor's-level nursing students in the Netherlands. While the development of moral sensitivity in nursing is commonly agreed to be important, there is no clear understanding of how to develop moral sensitivity through nursing education and what components of nursing education contribute to moral sensitivity. Studies on educational interventions could build knowledge about what works in developing moral sensitivity and how to achieve this outcome. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore if and how educational interventions contribute to the development of moral sensitivity in nursing students. A scoping review was conducted. Four electronic databases were searched: CINAHL, PubMed, MEDLINE and SpringerLink. Articles that were not about formal or initial nursing education and that had no link to moral development or moral sensitivity were excluded. After the final selection on educational interventions, 10 articles out of the initial 964 resources were included in the review. Three different but related dimensions of moral sensitivity emerged from the literature: (1) raising moral awareness, (2) providing the ability to frame and name ethical issues and (3) improving moral reasoning ability. Half of the studies used quantitative measures to evaluate the educational intervention, in particular the Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire; the other half used diverse qualitative evaluation methods. None of the studies presented teaching methods that included all three dimensions of moral sensitivity. Moral awareness of self appears to be more loosely connected to the other two dimensions, which raises the question of whether it can be seen as a prerequisite for them. To encompass all dimensions of moral sensitivity, a mix of quantitative and qualitative measures seems most appropriate to study that topic.

Validation of the Dutch-language version of Nurses' Moral Courage Scale.

Abstract: Background:Moral courage as a part of nurses’ moral competence has gained increasing interest as a means to strengthen nurses acting on their moral decisions and offering alleviation to their moral...

The process of moral distress development: A virtue ethics perspective.

Abstract: This theoretical paper proposes a new perspective to understand the moral distress of nurses more fully, using virtue ethics. Moral distress is a widely studied subject, especially with respect to the determination of its causes and manifestations. Increasing the theoretical depth of previous work using ethical theory, however, can create new possibilities for moral distress to be explored and analyzed. Drawing on more recent work in this field, we explicate the conceptual framework of the process of moral distress in nurses, proposed by Ramos et al., using MacIntyrean virtue ethics. Our analysis considers the experience of moral distress in the context of a practice, enabling the adaptation of this framework using virtue ethics. The adoption of virtue ethics as an ethical perspective broadens the understanding of the complexity of nurses' experiences of moral distress, since it is impossible to create a ready model that can cover all possibilities. Specifically, we describe how identity, social context, beliefs, and tradition shape moral discomfort, uncertainty, and sensitivity and how virtues inform moral judgments. Individuals, such as nurses, who are involved in a practice have a narrative history and a purpose (telos) that guide them in every step of the process, especially in moral judgment. It is worth emphasizing that the process described is supported by the formation of moral competence that, if blocked, can lead to moral distress and deprofessionalization. It is expected that nurses seek to achieve the internal good of their practice, which legitimizes their professional practice and supports them in moral decision-making, preventing moral distress.

Toward Hybrid Relational-Normative Models of Robot Cognition

Abstract: Most previous work on enabling robots' moral competence has used norm-based systems of moral reasoning. However, a number of limitations to norm-based ethical theories have been widely acknowledged. These limitations may be addressed by role-based ethical theories, which have been extensively discussed in the philosophy of technology literature but have received little attention within robotics. My work proposes a hybrid role/norm-based model of robot cognitive processes including moral cognition.

What Morality and Religion have in Common with Health? Pedagogy of Religion in the Formation of Moral Competence.

Abstract: The aim of the article is to discuss how pedagogy of religion can contribute to the formation of moral competence and how this competence is in turn conducive to a new quality of life. Such analysis seems to be extremely important for modern educational theory. There are controversies concerning the role of morality in human life and its relationship with religion, and at the same time there is an increasing body of research that highlights the place and importance of religion in the formation of healthy individuals and societies. At the same time, the problem of the relationship between morality, religion and health is by no means new. The biblical writers already pointed out the connection between good and life, and between evil and death on the other hand. Both health and illness were taken to have their physical, inner, and spiritual dimensions. While Kulikova and Malchukova (2019) review the pedagogical and psychological subject literature, they lack references to the pedagogy of religion as a scientific discipline. This article aims to outline the Christian perspective on the formation of moral competence and its relationship with human health, understood as physical, mental, social and spiritual well-being. The understanding of this relationships is built on anthropological and transcendent foundations. Christian anthropological perspective means the acceptance of the so-called “personalistic norm.” Christian transcendent framework of moral education refers to the divine reality of the only God, the Creator and Redeemer of man. Moral competence is the result of moral education, which aims at engaging all human faculties—reason, emotions, and will—in discovering, accepting and internalizing values. One way of fostering moral competence based on the pedagogy of religion is to use the principles of the so-called pedagogy of accompaniment and testimony.

Question framing effects and the processing of the moral–conventional distinction

Abstract: Prominent theories in moral psychology maintain that a core aspect of moral competence is the ability to distinguish moral norms, which derive from universal principles of justice and fairness, fro...

Assessment of ethical competence among clinical nurses in health facilities

Abstract: Background:Ethical competence in nursing practice helps clinical nurses to think critically, analyse issues, make ethical decisions, solve ethical problems and behave ethically in their daily work....

Desarrollo moral a través de un programa predeportivo y de valores en estudiantes adultos con discapacidad intelectual

Abstract: The aim of this study was to increase moral development of the students with intellectual disabilities, through an intervention with values learning and adapted sports. The program was developed in a training course for Social and Labor insertion of People with Intellectual Disability. The sample consisted of 37 students of three consecutive promotions (n1 = 11; n2 = 12; n3 = 14), aged from 19 to 37 years (M = 24.49 ± 4.22). Instrument used was the Spanish version of the Moral Competence Test adapted to intellectual disability (MCT) which measures the two components of moral development through two scores: moral competence and moral orientations/preferences. A quasi-experimental recurrent institutional cycle cohort design was planned. This design involved three cohorts, evaluated in three consecutive years. In addition, to ensure the equivalence of the groups, a study was carried out on the influence of sociodemographic and clinical variables in the change of students' moral competence, through a prospective ex post facto single group design. The results showed an improvement in two components of moral development, with statistically significant differences in stage 4 of moral orientations/preferences.

Measuring Virtues in Chinese Culture: Development of a Chinese Moral Character Questionnaire

Abstract: This paper describes the development and validation of the Chinese Moral Character Questionnaire (CMCQ), an instrument that measures seven key moral character attributes highlighted in Confucian culture. The CMCQ was developed based on both expert review and focus group interviews with 39 Chinese university students in mainland China and Hong Kong. Its psychometric properties were examined with a sample of 565 university students in Hong Kong. Exploratory factor analysis retained 46 items and seven factors and the seven-factor structure was further validated by confirmatory factor analysis. We found that CMCQ subscales had satisfactory internal consistency (α ranged from 0.78 to 0.85). Convergent validity of the CMCQ subscales was supported by their positive correlations with life satisfaction and positive affect, and their negative correlations with negative affect, depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively. All virtues had positive correlations with individual strengths. The findings indicate that the CMCQ is a promising tool for measuring the development of moral competence in Confucian culture, an important supplement to the character strength framework.

Educating moral sensitivity in business: An experimental study to evaluate the effectiveness of a serious moral game

Abstract: Serious games have emerged as a promising new form of education and training. Even though the benefits of serious games for education are undisputed, there is still a further need for research on the efficacy of such games. The main goal of our research is to examine the effectiveness of a serious moral game—uFin: The Challenge—that was designed to promote moral sensitivity in business, a precondition of ethical decision-making and behavior and a core moral competency of moral intelligence. A second goal is to examine the role of metacognitive prompting and prosocial nudging in influencing learning effectiveness. Participants (N = 345) took part in an experimental game-based intervention study and completed a pre- and post-test questionnaire assessing moral sensitivity. The analyses of both questionnaire and game data suggest that merely playing this game is effective in promoting moral sensitivity. Neither self-reflection nor exposure to prosocial nudges, however, were determined to be factors that improve learning effectiveness. In contrast, those interventions even decreased the learning outcome in some cases. Overall, findings demonstrate the potential for game-based learning in the moral domain. An important avenue for future research is to examine others ways of increasing the effectiveness of the game.

Panic and the Lack of Moral Competence. How We Can Help to Prevent Panic Pandemics

Abstract: Often we have to decide on difficult problems and conflicts. For this, a certain level of moral competence is needed, in order to solve them as quickly and adequately as possible. Otherwise these problems and conflicts can overwhelm us, triggering a feeling of fear and panic, and making us react too slowly or inadequately, or both. Fear and panic can make us ignore problems and conflicts, attempt to “solve” them through brute force or deceit, or declare them to be beyond our responsibility and let an authority decide what to do. Often such makeshift solutions seem to work, but, more often, they have damaging effects. Therefore, society tries to curb criminal and anti-democratic activities through coercion, that is, through laws, law-enforcing institutions, and correction facilities – at high costs, and often with little efficacy. In this article I show that such coercion would not be needed if we gave all citizens an opportunity to develop their ability to solve conflicts and problems through thinking and discussion. Moral competence would immunize us against fear and panic, and thus also against immoral practices. Moral competence is not inborn in us, and it does not develop unless it is fostered through proper learning opportunities. Therefore, if we want to live together peacefully in a democratic society, we need to provide proper learning opportunities for everyone, not only of a few people. If the masses are infected by panic, a few rational people cannot stop this pandemic.

Educating moral sensitivity in business: An experimental study to evaluate the effectiveness of a serious moral game

Abstract: Serious games have emerged as a promising new form of education and training. Even though the benefits of serious games for education are undisputed, there is still a further need for research on the efficacy of such games. The main goal of our research is to examine the effectiveness of a serious moral game—uFin: The Challenge—that was designed to promote moral sensitivity in business, a precondition of ethical decision-making and behavior and a core moral competence of moral intelligence. A second goal is to examine the role of metacognitive prompting and prosocial nudging in influencing learning effectiveness. Participants (N = 345) took part in an experimental game-based intervention study and completed a pre- and post-test questionnaire assessing moral sensitivity. The analyses of both questionnaire and game data suggest that the game is effective in promoting moral sensitivity. Neither self-reflection nor exposure to prosocial nudges, however, were determined to be factors that improve learning effectiveness. In contrast, those interventions even decreased the learning outcome in some cases. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations and avenues of further research are discussed.

Validation of the Lithuanian Version of Moral Competence Test and Application of KMDD in Language Teaching / Learning Process at Vilnius University, Lithuania

Abstract: The findings obtained by G. Lind using his original research instrument – the Moral Competence Test – suggest that universities lack the capacity to foster students’ moral competence development. The MCT has been translated into 39 languages, all of which have gone through the necessary validation procedure. The article reports on the MCT validation study for the 40th language, namely Lithuanian. The research sample consisted of 526 students of English/German/French languages, future foreign language teachers, in the 1 st to 4th years of study at two universities in Lithuania: the former Vilnius Pedagogical University and the Vilnius University. The majority of the respondents demonstrated low or medium level of moral competence. On the basis of this cross-sectional study (2019–2020), the MCT for Lithuanian has been successfully validated and certified. In the following article, we present and discuss all the validation criteria and revisit the theoretical background of MCT. We also argue for educating students in moral competence and evaluating the effects of moral competence promotion in academic contexts.

The Effect of Healthcare Education on Future Doctors’ Moral Competence in Poland. Joining to the Competitive League with a Beneficial Delay?

Abstract: In competitive education test scores and scientometric indicators are 'the alpha and omega'. This can be mis-educative for healthcare students’ moral competence. A pilot research study with n=114 Polish healthcare students was conducted to examine how their moral competence development was affected by learning environment with the focus on competition. Data were obtained with the standard Moral Competence Test. Results. The sample allowed the identification of a regress in moral competence during students’ pre-clinical curriculum, and then progress during their clinical curriculum. Also, a reverse gender gap effect concerning participants’ C-scores (C for moral competence) was observed, but no significant segmentation effect was noticed. Explanations. Scholarly literature usually suggests a decrease or stagnation of medical and healthcare students’ C-scores (particularly during their clinical curriculum) resulting from, e.g., competitive trends in higher education. Polish tertiary education only tries hard to increase its competitiveness and position in national and international rankings. This delay effect seems beneficial for the development of students’ moral competence against trends in moral competence education during medical education documented between 1983 and 2021, and additionally discussed in the following article.

Strengthening Moral Competence with Commercial Videogames: Integrating Papers: Please into Lind’s Konstanz Method of Dilemma Discussion

Abstract: Commercial videogames have come a long way since their emergence in the 20th century. They remain, however, widely excluded from educational discourse. A reason is the absence of reliable methodologies that ensure effective learning through videogames. There have been attempts to teach historical or other content-centred topics to students through edutainment software. It is argued, however, that games are much more effective in strengthening cognitive decision-making processes. One of these cognitive abilities is moral competence. This paper discusses the possibilities of strengthening moral competence through integrating the videogame Papers, Please into Lind's Konstanz Method of Dilemma Discussion (KMDD®). The goal is to craft a didactic framework in which a measurable learning curve in moral competence can be ensured by selecting games that provide a suitable degree of moral complexity. Through clearly defined goals, well-moderated discussions and streamlined reflections, games hold the potential to complement contemporary reading materials in schools and universities.

Iranian mothers' needs for reproductive health education of their adolescent daughters: a qualitative study.

Abstract: INTRODUCTION In order to be effective in discussing high-risk sexual behaviors with adolescents, mothers need to be educated about their adolescent daughters' sexual issues. As no detailed and exact knowledge on mothers' educational needs concerning adolescent girls' reproductive health is available, the current study was intended to investigate mothers' educational needs concerning their adolescent daughters' reproductive health. MATERIALS AND METHODS This research was a qualitative content analysis. Purposive sampling was performed to the saturation point. The samples included 26 mothers and 14 key informants. Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. Data authenticity was verified based on Lincoln and Guba's criteria and data analysis was conducted using conventional content analysis with MAXQDA10 software. FINDINGS In this study, three themes and 13 main categories, each with a number of subcategories were extracted. The themes and main categories included: "appropriate educational content (reproductive health, sexual health, general health, psychological health, family health, social health and spiritual health)", "characteristics of the educator (communicative skill, cognitive skill and moral competence)", and "effective factors in learning (teaching method, learning conditions and environment, and the learner's readiness)". CONCLUSIONS The results demonstrated that mothers need to be informed about sexual, reproductive, general, psychological, family, social and spiritual health in adolescent girls. Consequently, the results can help the healthcare authorities to implement need-based programs and boost the effectiveness of education about adolescent girls' reproductive health for mothers.

Action Modulates the Conscious Reasoning Process of Moral Judgment: Evidence From Behavior and Neurophysiology.

Abstract: Moral judgment can be highly affected by the action and intention factors on a behavior level. Previous neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that the intention factor can modulate both the affective and cognitive processing of moral judgment. The present event-related potentials (ERP) study examined how the action factor modulated the neural dynamics of moral judgment under a newly developed moral dilemma paradigm including three different conditions: harm caused by action (i.e., doing harm), harm caused by omission (i.e., allowing harm), and no harm. Behavior data showed that participants preferred utilitarian judgments and spent less time on the allowing harm condition than for the doing harm condition. ERP results revealed that, compared with the doing harm and no harm dilemmas, the allowing harm dilemmas elicited an enhanced N450 response associated with cognitive control and/or cognitive effort processes, but attenuated a late positive potentials (LPP) response associated with top-down control of attention and cognitive "rational" control processes. Such LPP amplitude differences were positively correlated with the C-score of the moral competence test which indexed the cognitive aspect of moral judgment competency. These findings suggested that people have a strong omission bias, and such an action factor modulates the conscious reasoning process during moral judgment, including the cognitive control and/or cognitive effort, and attentional allocation processes.

Psychopaths and Symmetry: A Reply to Nelkin

Abstract: An agent is morally competent if she can respond to moral considerations. There is a debate about whether agents are open to moral blame only if they are morally competent, and Dana Nelkin’s “Psychopaths, Incorrigible Racists, and the Faces of Responsibility” is an important contribution to this debate. Like others involved in this dispute, Nelkin takes the case of the psychopath to be instructive. This is because psychopaths are similar to responsible agents insofar as they act deliberately and on judgments about reasons, and yet psychopaths lack moral competence. Nelkin argues that, because of their moral incompetence, vices such as cruelty are not attributable to psychopaths. It follows that psychopaths are not open to moral blame since their behavior is only seemingly vicious. I have three aims in this reply to Nelkin. First, I respond to her claim that psychopaths are not capable of cruelty. Second, I respond to the related proposal—embedded in Nelkin’s “symmetry argument”—that a “pro-social psychopath” would not be capable of kindness. My responses to these claims are unified: even if the psychopath is not capable of “cruelty,” and the pro-social psychopath is not capable of “kindness,” the actions of these agents can have a significance for us that properly engages our blaming and praising practices. Finally, I argue that Nelkin’s strategy for showing that moral competence is required for cruelty supports a stronger conclusion than she anticipates: it supports the conclusion that blameworthiness requires not just moral competence, but actual moral understanding.