Showing papers on "Value (ethics) published in 2020"

On the Concept of Social Value

Abstract: It is but recently that, in pure theory, the concept of social value came into prominence. The founders of what is usually called the modern system of theory, as distinguished from the classical, never spoke of social, but only of individual value. Recently, however, the former concept has been introduced by some leaders of economic thought, and has quickly met with general approval. To-day it is to be found in nearly every text-book. Since it is generally used without careful definition, some interest attaches to a discussion of its meaning and its role; and it is the purpose of this paper to contribute to such a discussion. The reader is asked to bear in mind, first, that our question is a purely methodological one and has nothing whatever to do with the great problems of individualism and collectivism; further, that we shall consider the question for the purposes of pure theory only; and, finally, that we confine our inquiry to the concept of social value without including several other concepts which also have social aspects.

A Feminist Perspective on COVID-19 and the Value of Care Work Globally.

Abstract: The shared response to the COVID-19 crisis demonstrates that the vast majority of society believes human well-being - not economic growth - should be at the center of policy. COVID-19 exposes the foundational role of care work, both paid and unpaid, to functioning societies and economies. Focusing on "production" instead of the sustainable reproduction of human life devalues care work and those who perform it. Women's physical and mental health, and the societies that rely on them, are at stake. When these policies are formulated, the field of feminist economics has valuable lessons for mitigating hardships as countries navigate the related economic fallout. A comprehensive response to the COVID-19 crisis must recognize this gendered work as an integral part of the economic system that promotes human well-being for all.

Masculine defaults: Identifying and mitigating hidden cultural biases.

Abstract: Understanding and remedying women's underrepresentation in majority-male fields and occupations require the recognition of a lesser-known form of cultural bias called masculine defaults Masculine defaults exist when aspects of a culture value, reward, or regard as standard, normal, neutral, or necessary characteristics or behaviors associated with the male gender role Although feminist theorists have previously described and analyzed masculine defaults (eg, Bem, 1984; de Beauvoir, 1953; Gilligan, 1982; Warren, 1977), here we define masculine defaults in more detail, distinguish them from more well-researched forms of bias, and describe how they contribute to women's underrepresentation We additionally discuss how to counteract masculine defaults and possible challenges to addressing them Efforts to increase women's participation in majority-male departments and companies would benefit from identifying and counteracting masculine defaults on multiple levels of organizational culture (ie, ideas, institutional policies, interactions, individuals) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

The Transition of Religion to Culture in Law and Public Discourse

Abstract: This book explores the recent trend toward the transformation of religious symbols and practices into culture in Western democracies. Analyses of three legal cases involving religion in the public sphere are used to illuminate this trend: a municipal council chamber; a town hall; and town board meetings. Each case involves a different national context—Canada, France and the United States—and each illustrates something interesting about the shape-shifting nature of religion, specifically its flexibility and dexterity in the face of the secular, the religious and the plural. Despite the differences in national contexts, in each instance religion is transformed into culture or heritage by the courts to justify or excuse its presence and to distance the state from the possibility that it is violating legal norms of distance from religion. The cultural practice or symbol is represented as a shared national value or activity. Transforming the ‘Other’ into ‘Us’ through reconstitution is also possible. Finally, anxiety about the ‘Other’ becomes part of the story of rendering religion as culture, resulting in the impugning of anyone who dares to question the putative shared culture. The book will be essential reading for students, academics and policy-makers working in the areas of sociology of religion, religious studies, socio-legal studies, law and public policy, constitutional law, religion and politics, and cultural studies.

Aligning AI With Shared Human Values

Abstract: We show how to assess a language model's knowledge of basic concepts of morality. We introduce the ETHICS dataset, a new benchmark that spans concepts in justice, well-being, duties, virtues, and commonsense morality. Models predict widespread moral judgments about diverse text scenarios. This requires connecting physical and social world knowledge to value judgements, a capability that may enable us to steer chatbot outputs or eventually regularize open-ended reinforcement learning agents. With the ETHICS dataset, we find that current language models have a promising but incomplete ability to predict basic human ethical judgements. Our work shows that progress can be made on machine ethics today, and it provides a steppingstone toward AI that is aligned with human values.

Three Decades of Customer Value Research: Paradigmatic Roots and Future Research Avenues

Abstract: The last three decades have witnessed a resurgence of research on the topic of customer value. In search of a comprehensive integration and analysis of this research—including conceptualization, operationalization, and measurement—we examined the myriad journal publications on the construct. We acknowledge that while some of the literature can be fully integrated, other parts are more difficult because they represent three different paradigms: positivist, interpretive, and social constructionist. We begin by briefly describing these three paradigms. Next, we detail the many studies representing the positivist paradigm, literature capturing customer value from just the customer’s perspective and using deductive logic. We designate the second paradigm as interpretive, in that researchers are interested in understanding the subjective nature of customer value along with its emergence through inductive logic. The third paradigm, the social constructionist, frames customer value as emerging from value co-creation practices in complex ecosystems. Building upon the commonalities and differences among research studies stemming from the positivist, interpretive, and social constructionist paradigms, we propose how researchers can complement one another to move the customer value field forward.

Implicit? What Do You Mean? A Comprehensive Review of the Delusive Implicitness Construct in Attitude Research.

Abstract: This article provides a comprehensive review of divergent conceptualizations of the "implicit" construct that have emerged in attitude research over the past two decades. In doing so, our goal is to raise awareness of the harmful consequences of conceptual ambiguities associated with this terminology. We identify three main conceptualizations of the "implicitness" construct: the procedural conceptualization (implicit-as-indirect), the functional conceptualization (implicit-as-automatic), and the mental theory conceptualization (implicit-as-associative), as well as two hybrid conceptualizations (implicit-as-indirect-and-automatic, implicit-as-driven-by-affective-gut-reactions). We discuss critical limitations associated with each conceptualization and explain that confusion also arises from their coexistence. We recommend discontinuing the usage of the "implicit" terminology in attitude research and research inspired by it. We offer terminological alternatives aimed at increasing both the precision of theorization and the practical value of future research.

Universals and variations in moral decisions made in 42 countries by 70,000 participants.

Abstract: When do people find it acceptable to sacrifice one life to save many? Cross-cultural studies suggested a complex pattern of universals and variations in the way people approach this question, but data were often based on small samples from a small number of countries outside of the Western world. Here we analyze responses to three sacrificial dilemmas by 70,000 participants in 10 languages and 42 countries. In every country, the three dilemmas displayed the same qualitative ordering of sacrifice acceptability, suggesting that this ordering is best explained by basic cognitive processes rather than cultural norms. The quantitative acceptability of each sacrifice, however, showed substantial country-level variations. We show that low relational mobility (where people are more cautious about not alienating their current social partners) is strongly associated with the rejection of sacrifices for the greater good (especially for Eastern countries), which may be explained by the signaling value of this rejection. We make our dataset fully available as a public resource for researchers studying universals and variations in human morality.

Coronavirus (covid-19) and social value co-creation

Abstract: Society has changed forever as a result of coronavirus (covid-19) with the new normal referring to lifestyle changes including social distancing and working from home. The purpose of this article is to understand how covid-19 has resulted in increased levels of social value co-creation aimed at producing innovative benefits to society.,A commentary is provided on crisis management from a social entrepreneurship perspective with the goal of understanding the social benefits of collective action resulting from the covid-19 pandemic. This approach offers a novel way to understand the social policy implications derived from the covid-19 crisis.,The article highlights how there has been an increased emphasis on social policy focussing on finding entrepreneurial ways to handle the covid-19 crisis that incorporates some degree of value co-creation. Examples from seed plant initiatives and reducing homelessness in times of crisis are discussed as a way to explain social value co-creation. Moreover, the different ways countries have responded to the covid-19 crisis are stated as a way to understand contextual differences in global society.,This article is amongst the first to focus on the link between covid-19 and social entrepreneurship from a value co-creation perspective thereby enabling a new way of thinking about the crisis from a social policy perspective. This will provide a theoretical basis from which to understand social policy differences regarding the covid-19 crisis.

Mattering at the Intersection of Psychology, Philosophy, and Politics.

Abstract: Mattering is an ideal state of affairs consisting of two complementary psychological experiences: feeling valued and adding value. Human beings can feel valued by, and add value to, self, others, work, and community. To make sure that the need for mattering is fulfilled, we must balance feeling valued with adding value. Moreover, we must balance adding value to self with adding value to others. Unfortunately, the dominant neoliberal philosophy does not support the values required to ensure the experience of mattering. Whereas a healthy and fair society would require equilibrium among values for personal, relational, and collective well-being, the dominant philosophy in many parts of the world favors personal at the expense of relational and collective values. Neoliberal economic and social policies have resulted in diminished sense of mattering for millions of people. Some people respond to cultural pressures to achieve higher status by becoming depressive or aggressive. Some marginalized groups, in turn, support xenophobic, nationalistic, and populist policies in an effort to regain a sense of mattering. To make sure that everyone matters, we must align the psychology, philosophy, and politics of mattering. The political struggle for a just and equitable distribution of mattering takes place in social movements and the policy arena. The perils and promises of these efforts are considered.

HR managers’ talent philosophies: prevalence and relationships with perceived talent management practices

Abstract: HR managers have different beliefs about the nature, value, and instrumentality of talent—referred to as ‘talent philosophies’. In line with cognitive psychology, we reason that talent philosophies...

Values, Spirituality and Religion : Family Business and the Roots of Sustainable Ethical Behavior

Abstract: The inclusion of morally binding values such as religious—or in a broader sense, spiritual—values fundamentally alter organizational decision-making and ethical behavior. Family firms, being a particularly value-driven type of organization, provide ample room for religious beliefs to affect family, business, and individual decisions. The influence that the owning family is able to exert on value formation and preservation in the family business makes religious family firms an incubator for value-driven and faith-led decision-making and behavior. They represent a particularly rich and relevant context to re-assess the relationship between ethical beliefs, decision-making processes and behaviors in business organizations at the interface between family and professional logics. This Special Issue is dedicated to deepening our understanding of the role religious values and spirituality play in the formation of organizational ethical practices in faith-led family firms and resulting organizational and family-related outcomes. In this editorial, we introduce the 10 papers included in this Special Issue, which investigate the relationship between religion or spirituality and family firm ethical behavior in various geographical, cultural and religious contexts, using a multitude of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. By focusing on the effects of religious or spiritual orientations on both the business and the family, as well as on the values, norms and goals present in the family business system, further research can gain a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between religious and spiritual believes, and sustainable ethical behavior in family firms.

Corona and value change. The role of social media and emotional contagion.

Abstract: People share their emotions on social media and evidence suggests that in times of crisis people are especially motivated to post emotional content. The current Coronavirus pandemic is such a crisis. The online sharing of emotional content during the Coronavirus crisis may contribute to societal value change. Emotion sharing via social media could lead to emotional contagion which in turn could facilitate an emotional climate in a society. In turn, the emotional climate of a society can influence society’s value structure. The emotions that spread in the current Coronavirus crisis are predominantly negative, which could result in a negative emotional climate. Based on the dynamic relations of values to each other and the way that emotions relate to values, a negative emotional climate can contribute to societal value change towards values related to security preservation and threat avoidance. As a consequence, a negative emotional climate and the shift in values could lead to a change in political attitudes that has implications for rights, freedom, privacy and moral progress. Considering the impact of social media in terms of emotional contagion and a longer-lasting value change is an important perspective in thinking about the ethical long-term impact of social media technology.

Why Study History

Abstract: This book lays out the advantages in studying history in terms of intellectual value, enhancement of citizenship and preparing students for a variety of careers. It discusses the principal fields of historical study at universities today and how these can fulfil goals for history undergraduates. It outlines what to look for in choosing particular history programmes and how to make the transition from school to college. The intent is to explore history’s rich promise while providing a very practical guide for students and their advisors. It is designed to help university applicants to write their personal statements or to prepare for an admissions interview.

Learning to Make a Difference: Value Creation in Social Learning Spaces

Abstract: Today, more people want to know how to make a meaningful difference to what they care about. But for that, traditional approaches to learning often fall short. In this book, we offer a theoretical and practical way forward. We introduce the concept of social learning spaces for developing both new capabilities and a sense of agency. We provide a rich framework for focusing on the value of social learning spaces: how to generate this value, monitor it, and learn iteratively through the process. The book is a useful extension and refinement of 'communities of practice' for those familiar with the theory. For those who are not, the chapters will lay out a new way to approach learning. This volume is written to serve the needs of readers across fields, including researchers, educators, and leaders in business, government, healthcare, and international development.

Engineering social change using social norms: lessons from the study of collective action.

Abstract: Behavioral interventions have embraced social norms as information that can be communicated in simple messages to motivate behavior change This article argues for the value and necessity of recognizing that social-norm interventions are grounded in group processes This approach has three major benefits that more than offset the costs of its greater theoretical and practical complexity One, it improves the effectiveness of existing interventions, including those that target the normative beliefs of individuals Two, it opens up new intervention strategies that broaden the range of mechanisms used to change behavior Three, it connects research on social-norm interventions with theories and research on rallies, rebellions, riots, and other forms of collective action

Truth, Knowledge, and the Standard of Proof in Criminal Law

Abstract: Could it be right to convict and punish defendants using only statistical evidence? In this paper, I argue that it is not and explain why it would be wrong. This is difficult to do because there is a powerful argument for thinking that we should convict and punish defendants using statistical evidence. It looks as if the relevant cases are cases of decision under risk and it seems we know what we should do in such cases (i.e., maximize expected value). Given some standard assumptions about the values at stake, the case for convicting and punishing using statistical evidence seems solid. In trying to show where this argument goes wrong, I shall argue (against Lockeans, reliabilists, and others) that beliefs supported only by statistical evidence are epistemically defective and (against Enoch, Fisher, and Spectre) that these epistemic considerations should matter to the law. To solve the puzzle about the role of statistical evidence in the law, we need to revise some commonly held assumptions about epistemic value and defend the relevance of epistemology to this practical question.

Managing customer reviews for value co-creation: an empowerment theory perspective.

Abstract: Tourism provides myriad opportunities for customer engagement and value co-creation, especially in online communities. This research analyzed the role of empowerment in the tourist knowledge value ...

The Social Dimension of Political Values

Abstract: Worries about the instability of political attitudes and lack of ideological constraint among the public are often pacified by the assumption that individuals have stable political values. These political values are assumed to help individuals filter political information and thus both minimize outside influence and guide people through complex political environments. This perspective, though, assumes that political values are stable and consistent across contexts. This piece questions that assumption and argues that political values are socially reinforced—that is, that political values are not internal predispositions, but the result of social influence. I consider this idea with two empirical tests: an experimental test that recreates the transmission of political values and an observational analysis of the effect of politically homogeneous social contexts on political value endorsements. Results suggest that political values are socially reinforced. The broader implication of my findings is that the concepts scholars term “political values” may be reflections of individuals’ social contexts rather than values governing political behavior.

Moral machines: From value alignment to embodied virtue

Abstract: Implementing sensitivity to norms, laws, and human values in computational systems has transitioned from philosophical reflection to an actual engineering challenge. The “value alignment” approach to dealing with superintelligent AIs tends to employ computationally friendly concepts such as utility functions, system goals, agent preferences, and value optimizers, which, this chapter argues, do not have intrinsic ethical significance. This chapter considers what may be lost in the excision of intrinsically ethical concepts from the project of engineering moral machines. It argues that human-level AI and superintelligent systems can be assured to be safe and beneficial only if they embody something like virtue or moral character and that virtue embodiment is a more appropriate long-term goal for AI safety research than value alignment.

What's sex got to do with machine learning?

Abstract: The debate about fairness in machine learning has largely centered around competing substantive definitions of what fairness or nondiscrimination between groups requires. However, very little attention has been paid to what precisely a group is. Many recent approaches have abandoned observational, or purely statistical, definitions of fairness in favor of definitions that require one to specify a causal model of the data generating process. The implicit ontological assumption of these exercises is that a racial or sex group is a collection of individuals who share a trait or attribute, for example: the group "female" simply consists in grouping individuals who share female-coded sex features. We show this by exploring the formal assumption of modularity in causal models using directed acyclic graphs (DAGs), which hold that the dependencies captured by one causal pathway are invariant to interventions on any other causal pathways. Modeling sex, for example, as a node in a causal model aimed at elucidating fairness questions proposes two substantive claims: 1) There exists a feature, sex-on-its-own, that is an inherent trait of an individual that then (causally) brings about social phenomena external to it in the world; and 2) the relations between sex and its downstream effects can be modified in whichever ways and the former node would still retain the meaning that sex has in our world. Together, these claims suggest sex to be a category that could be different in its (causal) relations with other features of our social world via hypothetical interventions yet still mean what it means in our world. This fundamental stability of categories and causes (unless explicitly intervened on) is essential in the methodology of causal inference, because without it, causal operations can alter the meaning of a category, fundamentally change how it is situated within a causal diagram, and undermine the validity of any inferences drawn on the diagram as corresponding to any real phenomena in the world. We argue that these methods' ontological assumptions about social groups such as sex are conceptual errors. Many of the "effects" that sex purportedly "causes" are in fact constitutive features of sex as a social status. They constitute what it means to be sexed. In other words, together, they give the social meaning of sex features. These social meanings are precisely, we argue, what makes sex discrimination a distinctively morally problematic type of act that differs from mere irrationality or meanness on the basis of a physical feature. Correcting this conceptual error has a number of important implications for how analytical models can be used to detect discrimination. If what makes something discrimination on the basis of a particular social grouping is that the practice acts on what it means to be in that group in a way that we deem wrongful, then what we need from analytical diagrams is a model of what constitutes the social grouping. Such a model would allow us to explain the special moral (and legal) reasons we have to be concerned with the treatment of this category by reference to the empirical social relations and meanings that establish the category as what it is. Only then can we have the normative debate about what is fair or nondiscriminatory vis-a-vis that group. We suggest that formal diagrams of constitutive relations would present an entirely different path toward reasoning about discrimination (and relatedly, counterfactuals) because they proffer a model of how the meaning of a social group emerges from its constitutive features. Whereas the value of causal diagrams is to guide the construction and testing of sophisticated modular counterfactuals, the value of constitutive diagrams would be to identify a different kind of counterfactual as central to our inquiry into discrimination: one that asks how the social meaning of a group would be changed if its non-modular features were altered.

The effect of social influence, trust, and entertainment value on social media use: Evidence from Pakistan

Abstract: The rise of social networking sites (SNS) has changed our ways of communicating and conducting business all over the world. The present study explored the factors affecting the pervasive adoption o...

Political informality: deals, trust networks and the negotiation of value in the urban realm

Abstract: This article develops a conceptual framework for analysing political informality, before going on to explore it through a discussion of urban politics in Kampala, Uganda. It builds on recent theore...

The Effect of Internal Control, Individual Morality and Ethical Value on Accounting Fraud Tendency

Abstract: In general, this study aims to determine the effect of Internal Control, Individual Morality, and ethical Value on Accounting Fraud Tendency in Start-Up Businesses. This study was conducted on Start-Up Businesses. One hundred eighty-eight respondents participated in this study. The result of this study showed that internal control has a significant negative effect on accounting fraud tendency. In other words, an increase in Internal Control will decrease the tendency of accounting fraud in a company. Individual morality also has a significant negative effect on accounting fraud tendency. An increase in individual morality, which could be done by implementing the right morals in daily activity will prevent the action of fraudulent behavior. Furthermore, ethical value also has a significant negative effect on accounting fraud tendency. A proper profession ethic codes will increase moral value in an individual's professionalism, which will minimize the action of fraudulent behavior. This research is done in the hope to contribute to the theory and practice. This study contributes to the subject related to internal control, individual morality, ethical value, and accounting fraud tendency. Furthermore, for Start-Up Businesses, research can be used to prevent accounting fraud

Toward a theory of entry in moral markets: The role of social movements and organizational identity:

Abstract: A growing body of research on moral markets—sectors whose raison d’etre is to create social value by offering market solutions to social and environmental issues—has offered critical insights into ...