Moral Dilemmas Research Articles

The effect of foreign language and psychological distance on moral judgment in Turkish–English bilinguals

Abstract People's judgements differ systematically while reading moral dilemmas in their native or their foreign language. This so-called Foreign Language Effect (FLE) has been found in many language pairs when tested with artificial, sacrificial moral dilemmas (i.e., Trolley and Footbridge). In Experiment 1, we investigated whether the FLE can be replicated in Turkish (native) – English (foreign) bilinguals using the same dilemmas (N = 203). These unrealistic and decontextualized dilemmas have been criticized for providing low external validity. Therefore, in Experiment 2, we (1) tested bilinguals with realistic scenarios which included the protagonist's age as a source of identity (child, adult, neutral), and (2) investigated the FLE in these scenarios (N = 467). Our results revealed that the FLE was not present in Turkish–English bilinguals, tested either on sacrificial dilemmas or realistic scenarios. Psychological distance of the scenarios, protagonists’ age and the perceived age similarity with the protagonist affected moral judgments.

Moral Guilt, Dirty Hands Dilemmas, and the Dark Ghetto

The non-ideal conditions of the dark ghetto can force residents into dirty hands dilemmas: dilemmas in which a moral agent must weigh between two courses of action that are both wrong but not equally wrong. For instance, one might have to decide between stealing and survival. The moral remainder of having done such acts invokes feelings of guilt, shame, or regret within the moral agent who has committed the infraction, even if it was the right thing to do all things considered. Philosophers such as John Rawls, Tommie Shelby, Allan Gibbard, Bernard Williams, and Patricia Greenspan have analyzed theories of justice, political philosophy, morality, moral emotions, and moral dilemmas. However, it has not yet been researched how moral remainder, specifically moral guilt, from dirty hands dilemmas are experienced by residents of the dark ghetto. Given that deontology, or duty ethics, is an ethical system that validates dirty hands dilemmas as genuine cases, a deontological approach is used to argue that guilt is appropriate for agents who emerge from dirty hands dilemmas having done things that are usually considered wrong.

THE CONCEPT OF UTILITARIANISM IN THE SHORT STORY “THE ONES WHO WALK AWAY FROM OMELAS” IN “THE WIND'S TWELVE QUARTERS” BY URSULA KROEBER LE GUIN

This study examines the concept of utilitarianism presented in the short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" in "The Wind's Twelve Quarter" by Ursula K. Le Guin. Through an ethical approach in sociology literature, this study aims to analyze the ethical implications of collective action in achieving general happiness in Omelas. Through analysis of the sociology of literature, this study reveals the social practices of utilitarianism presented in the story. In utilitarianism through ethical theory developed by philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, argues that a good action is an action that produces as much happiness as possible for as many people as possible. In the context of this short story, society has collectively chosen to maintain general happiness by ignoring the fate of the oppressed individual. This raises deep ethical questions about the justice and morality of emotional action. This study also analyzes the attitudes of individuals who choose to leave Omelas. This action shows disapproval of the principle of utilitarianism which sacrifices one individual for the sake of broad happiness. The attitude of individuals who dare to walk raises ethical overtones about our responsibilities to society and individuals. Through an analysis of ethical theory in a literary sociology approach, this study concludes that "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" pushes to limit the ethical boundaries of utilitarianism and change moral compromises in achieving peace. The social and psychological implications of this story awaken our awareness of the moral dilemmas associated with emotional action and raise deep ethical questions about human values ​​and justice.
 Keywords: Utilitarianism, Sociology of Literature, Ethics

Moral Dilemmas of Surrogate Motherhood.

In the sphere of new modalities of creating offspring, one of the most controversial issues is related to surrogacy because it opens the space to unforeseeable ethical, legal, sociological and psychological world of dilemmas. Surrogacy is the process whereby a woman carries and gives birth to a baby for a couple who cannot conceive naturally and it has become increasingly popular worldwide. This reproductive method relativized the biological fact of birth and denied the central moment in identifying motherhood, expressed in the ancient Roman proverb that the mother of a child is the woman who gave birth to it. Surrogate motherhood changes the notion of motherhood as it separates the natural functions of a woman as a mother, or it separates the genetic from the gestational motherhood. In such a situation, the biological riddle is: Who is the real mother of the child: the one who gives the genetic material or the one who gives birth to it? The answer to this question opens many moral and ethical dilemmas in complex relationships: the surrogate mother, the couple-clients and the child. As the successful medical practice of giving birth to another undeniably exists in different countries of the world, the further fate of this method of reproduction will significantly depend on ethical justifications.

The role of language and emotional intelligence in judgments of real‐life social and moral transgressions among Greek, Hungarian, and British users of English

AbstractPrevious research suggests that people are more prone to commit moral transgressions when they face moral dilemmas in a second language (LX) as opposed to their first language(s) (L1). This study investigated the influence of language, emotional intelligence, and the degree of severity of real moral transgressions on bilinguals' judgments of offense seriousness, the intensity of the emotions they experienced, and the punishments they proposed for the perpetrators. To this end, 256 British L1 users, 209 Greek–English bilinguals, and 187 Hungarian–English bilinguals watched four videos presenting moral transgressions of mild and extreme severity. Data were analyzed by means of robust linear mixed‐effects models and moderated mediation analyses. For the extreme severity videos, the results revealed strong correlations between offensiveness, emotionality ratings, and proposed punishments for the perpetrators. However, the Greek and the Hungarian participants who watched the videos in their LX English reported lower offensiveness and emotionality ratings and less harsh punishments for the perpetrators than they did in their L1 (Greek and Hungarian, respectively). Furthermore, the role of language in the proposed punishments for the perpetrators was mediated by emotional intensity, but only for the extreme severity stimuli. The results also suggest that higher levels of emotional intelligence are linked with tougher judgments of offense seriousness and stronger emotions when watching real moral transgressions. These findings highlight that the moral foreign language effect does not only exist in the hypothetical moral realm but affects perceptions of offensiveness and emotionality and decisions for the future of perpetrators in real‐life situations.

A Real Time Employee Attendance Monitoring System using ANN

Face recognition refers to the technology that examines and contrasts a person's face characteristics to recognise or verify their identity. Recently, this technology has drawn a lot of attention due to the potential uses it may have in security, marketing, and law enforcement. Face recognition involves studying a picture or video of a person's face to identify features like the space between their eyes, the contour of their nose, and the curve of their mouth. The person's identity is then established or verified by comparing these characteristics to a database of previously saved pictures. A series of techniques called facial recognition algorithms are used to identify and authenticate persons based on the features of their faces. These algorithms compare a person's facial attributes to those in a database of recognised faces by looking at things like the shape of their face, the distance between their eyes, and other distinctive facial features. There are many different types of face recognition algorithms, including geometric-based algorithms, appearance-based algorithms, and hybrid algorithms that combine both approaches. Geometric-based algorithms employ the geometry of face traits to identify and validate people, while appearance-based algorithms use image processing techniques to compare the patterns and textures of facial features. Recent advances in deep learning have significantly improved the accuracy of facial recognition algorithms. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) has shown to be highly effective and have been used in a range of applications, including mobile devices, security, and surveillance. Face recognition algorithms provide advantages, but there are also moral dilemmas with regard to its application, such as potential biases and privacy difficulties. As technology advances, it is imperative to address these problems and ensure that face recognition algorithms are used ethically and responsibly.

Moral dilemmas in food provisioning: Inflation, the claim for ‘just prices’ and for ‘fair wages’

The cost of living we envision here stems from an interpretation of the ‘cost of living’ phrase which addresses (1) macro indicators of inflation, (2) the difference between farm gate price and consumer price as a cost to farmers that endangers their viability, and (3) how this cost transfers to the wages of workers and endangers their livelihood. Finally, (4) we wish to highlight that the energy that needs to be invested to assure social reproduction at the scale of individuals and households – workers and employers in agriculture – and at the scale of entire political communities such as the nation-state or the European Union, is translated into moral dilemmas that mediate and produce material results – in people’s bodies, in the environment, in political mobilizations of different kinds. The ‘cost of living’ here expands into the multiple and situated meanings of what it costs to live and the practices that they support.

Evidence for a dissociation between moral reasoning and moral decision-making in Tourette syndrome.

Despite the growing interest on how Tourette syndrome (TS) affects social cognition skills, this field remains to date relatively under-explored. Here, we aim to advance knowledge on the topic by studying moral decision-making and moral reasoning in a group of adolescents with TS and a group of healthy controls. Overall, we found higher endorsement (i.e. a greater 'yes' response rate) for utilitarian solutions of incidental and instrumental moral dilemmas in TS compared to controls. By contrast, we reported an overall higher tendency of TS individuals to apply principles described in the moral foundation questionnaire to establish whether something is morally right or wrong. Our results document intact moral reasoning in TS and suggest that a deficit in suppressing inappropriate behaviours and/or altered sense of agency might be responsible for their higher utilitarian moral decision-making.

A Study on the Potential and Implication of Using ChatGPT in Moral Education: Focusing on the Moral Dilemma Discussion

The purpose of this study is to explore the potential applications of ChatGPT in moral education and to analyze it. Specifically, we seek concrete ways to utilize ChatGPT in moral dilemma discussion model. ChatGPT, a generative and conversational AI technology, is anticipated to be useful in creating moral dilemma narratives and facilitating discussions centered around these dilemmas. Firstly, ChatGPT can be utilized to generate educationally appropriate moral dilemma stories that reflect the developmental level and interests of students, based on its pre-trained vast amount of data. In this case, if teachers adjust the prompts based on the principles of creating moral dilemma stories, ChatGPT could yield valuable educational materials. Furthermore, it is possible to have a moral dilemma discussion with ChatGPT. By clarifying a few simple rules of the discussion and initially stating student's position, a debate involving arguments, refutations, and counter-refutations can take place. In this process, both students and teachers need to fully understand the purpose, process, and features of the moral dilemma discussion. For ChatGPT to be used as a desirable educational tool in moral education, it is important to accurately recognize the general limitations of ChatGPT and its limitations in the context of moral education, and to maintain a complementary relationship between ChatGPT and human educators and students.

Penerapan Pendekatan Konstruktivisme Dalam Metode Cerita Dilema Moral

This research aims to stimulate the ability to understand moral considerations for PGSD students as a provision for knowledge of character education theory. Understanding moral dilemmas is important in moral and character education strategies. The researcher used a qualitative approach with a descriptive method with data collection techniques using interviews through a zoom meeting platform with 71 students consisting of PGSD Muhammadiyah University Cirebon students and PGSD UNNES. The results of the study revealed that the application of the discussion of moral dilemmas to a constructive approach received a positive response from the students. The fact was found that discussions of moral dilemmas presented in learning through zoom meetings were able to stimulate critical thinking skills which increased the moral judgment abilities of PGSD students as prospective educators. This increase was found from the results of the discussion of students' moral dilemmas which showed maturity in thinking hypothetically. The discussion of moral dilemmas also provides an understanding from the perspective of others, so that listening to other people's reasons for making decisions can increase judgment. The importance of ability in moral judgment and reasoning is one of the processes that can guide individual moral decisions to be more mature.

Exploring Psychiatrists' Experiences During Transition from Mental Health Act, 1987 to Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 in Goa, India.

Mental Healthcare Act 2017 (MHCA) came into force on 29 May 2018. Goa State Mental Health Authority (GSMHA) notified the Mental Health Review Board on 8 February 2022, completing the important process of implementation of the act. The transition comes with challenges. A qualitative study was conducted with 18 practicing psychiatrists who had worked under Mental Health Act 1987 as well as MHCA 2017 through purposive sampling across Goa. Data was collected through individual interviews; analysis was done by Braune and Clarke's framework of Thematic Analysis. Eighteen psychiatrists participated: 4 private, 3 secondary and 11 from tertiary levels. The themes extracted were work during MHA 1987, transition, and after the implementation of MHCA 2017. Some participants reported difficulties, felt an increase in workload, and had negative emotions, while a few were neutral, indicating mixed perceptions. This study highlights the administrative struggles and moral dilemmas faced by psychiatrists in handling the new legislation. It's imperative that the implementation of new act should be carried out with sufficient resource allocation and monitoring mechanisms.

When Do Korsakoff Patients Justify Immoral Behaviors? The Influence of Premorbid Delinquency and Self-Other Perspectives in Moral Decision-Making and Moral Reasoning.

Korsakoff's syndrome (KS) is a chronic neuropsychiatric disorder caused by a vitamin B1 deficiency. KS is characterized by profound amnesia and often accompanied by poor executive functioning, decreased social-cognitive abilities, and difficulties in behavioral regulation. As moral behaviors and attitudes may provide insight in socio-behavioral interactions, the current study aimed to evaluate everyday moral maturity by administering self- versus other-oriented moral dilemmas in a group of KS patients (n = 20) and healthy controls (n = 20). Responses were scored according to the Kohlberg stages of moral reasoning. Furthermore, we assessed premorbid delinquency and current neurocognitive functioning as possible relevant factors. Our results show that KS patients were prone to lower levels of moral maturity when confronted with moral dilemmas relating to themselves, compared to dilemmas relating to (un)personal others in KS patients, while healthy subjects showed an opposite pattern. Moral immaturity could find its origin already before the onset of the KS diagnosis, as suggested by the elevated premorbid levels of delinquent behavior and correlation between premorbid delinquency and moral maturity in KS. Lower moral maturity could therefore be a possible predisposing factor to both delinquency and later development of Korsakoff's syndrome.

COVID-19防控中醫療衛生人員的責任衝突——儒家倫理的視角

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.
 自2019年COVID-19疫情爆發以來，醫療衛生人員承擔 了繁重的疫情防控工作。在這些工作中，他們承擔了更多的責 任，有些責任是相互衝突的，如照護患者的責任與照顧家庭的 責任。本文根據對部分中國醫療衛生人員的訪談，結合國內外 發表的相關文獻，對疫情防控中醫護人員面臨的責任衝突進行 梳理，並從儒家倫理的視角進行評析。
 During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare providers faced many challenges and were loaded with heavy psychological burdens. This paper focuses on a moral dilemma between the duty of healthcare providers and the overall well-being of the providers and their families during the medical crisis of the pandemic in Huhan, China. Based on interviews, the paper takes a Confucian perspective to explicate the duties and supererogatory acts of those who volunteered to help and the balance between the moral duties of loyalty and filial piety.

Analysis of the Human-Android Divide in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? And its Implications on Authenticity

This research paper delves into the intricate portrayal of the human-Android divide in Philip K. Dick's renowned novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and its profound implications on the notion of authenticity. Set in a dystopian future, the novel presents a world where advanced androids blur the lines between human and artificial emotions, raising existential questions about identity and consciousness. Through a meticulous analysis of pivotal passages and character interactions, the paper examines how the fluid nature of authenticity is influenced by emotional connections and experiences. The significance of empathy emerges as a defining characteristic, challenging conventional definitions of humanity and prompting characters to confront moral dilemmas and ethical considerations. By exploring the human-Android divide and the role of empathy, this study contributes to critical reflections on the ethical implications of artificial intelligence and the importance of genuine emotional connections in a technologically driven world. The research underscores the enduring impact of Dick's visionary work in challenging societal constructs and inspiring contemplation on the complexities of the human experience.

LITERATURE AND ETHICS

“Literature is the teacher of ethics” (Temkov). If one assumes that literature reflects life, then it only serves to pedagogically illustrate classic questions: how one should behave towards one’s fellow human beings, what virtue and vice are, how conflicts arise and how they are to be solved and which are the highest goods are in life. However, literature itself teaches us much more: it touches delicate issues that no other medium would dare to do. Only literary works can delicately, profoundly and provocative handle questions like love, war, guilt, (un)justice. The modern moral standards would not allow Lolita, Tadzio, or Törleß. New theories of literature and ethics focus on the reading process because ‘literary fiction debates norms and values’. In this paper, the attempt has been made to acknowledge the value of theme diversity in literature in order to broaden the limits of moral dilemmas, but also to discuss the cultural influence, as well as the role of the narrative, author and reader in the comprehension of ethical questions. Bernhard Schlink’s “The Reader” and Peter Handke`s “Winter Journey” are only the tip of the iceberg concerning a much broader topic realm.

7 Ethical Dilemmas Faced by Healthcare Professionals when Considering a Report to Child Protection: Experiences and Perspectives from a Tertiary Paediatric Centre

Abstract Background Child maltreatment is an important global problem that is increasingly being recognized as a public health issue as well as a violation of children’s fundamental rights. Mandatory reporting is a legislative attempt to decrease its prevalence and impacts. It is generally thought that these laws improve child maltreatment detection rates. However, the actual effects of such laws, as well as mandated reporters’ perspectives on them, remain unclear. Several studies have explored the many obstacles perceived in the reporting process, including some of which can be considered as moral dilemmas. Very few of these studies have explicitly adopted an ethical lens in the analysis of these situations. Objectives Through an exploratory study, our aim was to describe the experiences and perspectives of healthcare professionals from a large paediatric university centre when considering making a report to child protective services. We were interested in the reporting process rather than initial identification. We also explored how profession (nurse, doctor or resident), work environment (general paediatrics team, NICU or ED) and years in practice influenced participants' answers. Additional questions addressed the concept of disclosure of reports to families involved, training on child maltreatment and reporting, and perceived impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s safety. Design/Methods One hundred and thirty-five respondents answered an anonymous online survey constructed by the research team and based on a review of the available literature. Results Most participants (96%) had encountered situations of possible child maltreatment through their work and reported being committed to their mandated reporting obligations. However, only 44% of respondents had personally reported a situation to protective services. Teamwork and/or delegation of reporting duties seemed to contribute to the gap between exposure and reporting experiences. Sixty nine percent of participants felt that families should be told about healthcare professionals’ concerns at least as often as possible, but many expressed significant concerns, mostly related to their own safety and well-being. Training was lacking according to 88-89% of respondents. Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions, participants were concerned for children’s safety in their homes. Conclusion Many ethical aspects of the reporting process should be considered when addressing a particular situation but also when teaching and training professionals in the identification and reporting of child maltreatment.

Morality in middle childhood: the role of callous-unemotional traits and emotion regulation skills

BackgroundThe development of morality is vital for fostering prosocial behavior and enhancing both individual and societal well-being. Clarifying what contextual and individual factors play a role in moral processes during childhood can contribute to our understanding of the development of morality. Given the previous acknowledgment of importance, yet lack of existing empirical findings, the study focused on the significance of callous-unemotional traits (i.e., an affective-interpersonal personality trait, related to psychopathy in adulthood) and emotion regulation (i.e., an essential part of socio-emotional competence, and a transdiagnostic factor in the development of psychopathology) for moral emotions and cognitions during middle childhood. The concrete aim was to examine direct and indirect effects of callous-unemotional trait dimensions (callousness, uncaring, unemotionality) onto immoral emotional attribution (i.e., feeling good after immoral decisions) and admissibility of immoral actions (i.e., evaluating immoral actions as being okay) via emotion regulation skills.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted with 194 children attending Grades 1 to 4, and their primary caregivers. The children completed the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits and caregivers completed the Emotion Regulation Checklist. The children were also presented with a set of moral dilemma vignettes, and asked about the emotions of protagonists who acted immoral, and the admissibility of their actions.ResultsPath-model analysis revealed (1) negative direct effects of emotion regulation skills onto immoral emotional attribution and admissibility of immoral actions, (2) positive direct effects of the dimensions callousness and uncaring onto immoral emotional attribution and admissibility of immoral actions, and (3) negative direct effects of dimensions callousness and uncaring onto emotion regulation skills. Indirect effects, indicating that emotion regulation skills mediate the association between the callous-unemotional trait dimensions and morality, were also found.ConclusionThe findings address a knowledge gap and indicate that emotion regulation skills, callousness, and uncaring play an important role in morality in middle childhood and should be included in frameworks of moral decision-making and development.

While Theseus Was Sailing Away… PSI XV 1468 (= fr. 37 APHex): a Few Thoughts

The article presents a new proposal to supplement v. 12 of the anonymous hexametric piece containing, most likely, the lament of Ariadne abandoned by Theseus on Naxos. The suggestion offered here (οὐκ or, better, οὐδ’ αἰδ]ὼς ἐν ὀνείρωι instead of δήλ]ωσεν ὀνείρωι or ὡς ἐν ὀνείρωι developed by other scholars) allows us to guess that the piece may have expressed Ariadne’s contradictory feelings and her moral dilemma.

Ethical Dilemmas and Family History: A Psychological Approach

Family historians frequently encounter ethical issues in the course of their research, and many come to recognise the moral dilemmas facing them. Common dilemmas revolve around topics such as whether family secrets should be revealed or favourite stories debunked in light of the evidence, how the privacy of living relatives can be maintained when family histories are published, if the ‘sins of the fathers’ require reparation (and how this might be possible), and to what extent is it acceptable to romanticise or ‘whitewash’ one’s ancestral story. In this paper, dilemmas such as these are discussed using the theoretical framework of psychologist Jonathan Haidt whose model of five moral ‘instincts’ includes care, fairness, loyalty, respect for authority, and sanctity. It is concluded that examining ethical issues using such a framework has the potential to stimulate empathy, reduce impulsive action, and increase the likelihood of finding creative solutions to moral dilemmas.

When healers get wounded! Moral injury in healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan.

Moral injury (MI) is a multi-faceted and multidimensional phenomenon. Occupational MI has been studied mainly among military personnel and first responders and is linked to mental health problems. MI encompasses negative moral emotions such as shame, guilt, and anger leading to distress, and impairment in social and occupational functioning. The COVID-19 pandemic predisposed healthcare providers to moral dilemmas, potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs), and MI. We aimed to assess the prevalence and predictors of MI in healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan. This cross-sectional study was conducted in July-October 2021 among physician/clinician staff working at teaching hospitals in Lahore. The Moral Injury Symptoms Scale-Health Professionals (MISS-HP) was used to collect data. SPSS 26 was used for data analysis applying Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests on non-normally distributed data at α = 0.05. Predictors of MI were ascertained through Binary Logistic Regression analysis. Four hundred and twenty physicians responded to the questionnaires. The Median (IQR) MI scores were 37(28-47). Guilt, moral concerns, and shame were higher-scoring MI dimensions. 40.8% (n = 171) suffered from clinically significant distress and impaired functioning while 14.3% (n = 60) from severe distress. Gender, department, and history of psychiatric illness predicted higher levels of distress which were 1.9 times higher in females than males and 2.5 times higher with a history of psychiatric illness. Working on the front lines did not predict MI. Our findings highlight the substantial burden of MI in our sample during COVID-19, having implications for healthcare providers' well-being, healthcare quality, and service delivery. This calls for concerted efforts from all stakeholders to better prepare for future disasters through effective human-resource policies, pre-trauma exposure soft-skills training, effective teamwork and communication strategies; self-stewardship and resilience modules, and mental health support for healthcare providers. The dimensional construct of MI may vary across cultures; hence we recommend further cross-cultural research on MI in healthcare providers, particularly in the context of public health disasters.