Sources Of Moral Authority Research Articles

For, against, and beyond: healthcare professionals’ positions on Medical Assistance in Dying in Spain

BackgroundIn 2021, Spain became the first Southern European country to grant and provide the right to euthanasia and medically assisted suicide. According to the law, the State has the obligation to ensure its access through the health services, which means that healthcare professionals’ participation is crucial. Nevertheless, its implementation has been uneven. Our research focuses on understanding possible ethical conflicts that shape different positions towards the practice of Medical Assistance in Dying, on identifying which core ideas may be underlying them, and on suggesting possible reasons for this disparity. The knowledge acquired contributes to understanding its complexity, shedding light into ambivalent profiles and creating strategies to increase their participation.MethodsWe conducted an exploratory qualitative research study by means of semi-structured interviews (1 h) with 25 physicians and nurses from primary care (12), hospital care (7), and palliative care (6), 17 women and 8 men, recruited from Madrid, Catalonia, and Andalusia between March and May 2023. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded in Atlas.ti software by means of thematic and interpretative methods to develop a conceptual model.ResultsWe identified four approaches to MAiD: Full Support (FS), Conditioned Support (CS), Conditioned Rejection (CR), and Full Rejection (FR). Full Support and Full Rejection fitted the traditional for and against positions on MAiD. Nevertheless, there was a gray area in between represented by conditioned profiles, whose participation cannot be predicted beforehand. The profiles were differentiated considering their different interpretations of four core ideas: end-of-life care, religion, professional duty/deontology, and patient autonomy. These ideas can intersect, which means that participants' positions are multicausal and complex. Divergences between profiles can be explained by different sources of moral authority used in their moral reasoning and their individualistic or relational approach to autonomy.ConclusionsThere is ultimately no agreement but rather a coexistence of plural moral perspectives regarding MAiD among healthcare professionals. Comprehending which cases are especially difficult to evaluate or which aspects of the law are not easy to interpret will help in developing new strategies, clarifying the legal framework, or guiding moral reasoning and education with the aim of reducing unpredictable non-participations in MAID.

Moral Elites and the De-Paradoxification of Danish Social Policy Between Civil Society and State (1849–2022)

The article argues that in Denmark during the past 150 years, moral elites have been central in settling paradoxes within social policy by developing ‘classifications’ of citizens and sectors: who are deserving of help and what sector (public or third) should provide care. Contrary to widely held beliefs, historically, there is no logical or practical connection between ‘more deserving’ and ‘state support’. Theoretically, the article integrates elite scholarship and cultural sociology in developing a concept of moral elites’ power from—their sources of moral authority—and power to, the way that they have used their power to classify citizens and sectors. Empirically, the Danish moral elite and its involvement in social policy are analyzed based on secondary as well as primary historical sources. Findings: The development of the Danish moral elite has roots in the administrators of the nineteenth-century absolutist state: the clergy, medical doctors, and lawyers. Educational resources and state affiliation continue to be central to moral elite status. Economists have ascended to the top of the moral elite, while clergymen have dropped out. Three major classifications were developed during the period. ‘Help to self-help’ (late nineteenth century): deserving poor should receive help from private charity, while the public system should deter and discipline. ‘Rights’ (mid-twentieth century): the state should care for all, philanthropy mostly considered stigmatizing. ‘Workfare’ (late twentieth century to present): citizens are considered deserving as long as they are ‘active’, and sectors are considered equal in providing for citizens as long as they reach the economistic goal of activation.

The Shifting Moral Authority of the Conservative Evangelicals’ Anti-LGBT Movement in South Korea

This paper reports on content analysis of the Korean Christian newspaper Kidok Sinmun (1998-2020) with regard to how conservative evangelical elites (CEs) change their discursive resources to construct persuasive appeals against the global LGBT movement. Our findings demonstrate that the CEs focus on different sources of moral authority in response to changing political ideologies of the Korean government or regardless of such ideologies (scientific research, family value). During the progressive Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in administrations, discursive tactics linked LGBT rights with the existential threat to liberal democracy or constitutional value, while the key words such as national security or military discipline were more frequently employed under the conservative Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye governments. Moreover, experiences shared by the transnational network of Christian activists appear to influence the construction of local perceptions on homosexuality.

Kindness in Australia: an empirical critique of moral decline sociology.

A new sociological agenda is emerging that interrogates how morality can be established in the absence of the moral certainties of the past but there is a shortage of empirical work on this topic. This article establishes a theoretical framework for the empirical analysis of everyday morality drawing on the work of theorists including Ahmed, Bauman and Taylor. It uses the Australian Survey of Social Attitudes to assess the state and shape of contemporary moralities by asking how kind are Australians, how is its expression socially distributed, and what are the motivations for kindness. The findings demonstrate that Australians exhibit a strong attachment and commitment to kindness as a moral value that is primarily motivated by interiorized sources of moral authority. We argue these findings support the work of theorists such as Ahmed and Taylor who argue authenticity and embodied emotion are legitimate sources of morality in today's secular societies. The research also provides new evidence that generational changes are shaping understandings and practices of kindness in unexpected ways.

The Relationship between Sources of Moral Authority, Political Attitude and Authoritarianism

Individuals with different political attitudes attribute their political tendencies to different sources of moral authority. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between moral authority sources, political attitude and authoritarianism. A total of 128 subjects from two universities participated in this study by completing the Moral Authority Test-Revised (MAS-R) and the Authoritarianism Scale. Respondents were also asked regarding their political tendencies. Findings showed no significant difference of political attitudes in attribution to different sources of moral authority and authoritarianism. There was however a significant relation of authoritarianism with external source of moral authority, but not with principle and self interest sources. This implies that authoritarians relied on external source of authority figures in moral judgment rather than one's own interest or principle issues. The findings were discussed in terms of the characteristics of the sample and sociopolitical sphere of Iran.

Relationship Between Mother, Father, and Peer Attachment and Empathy With Moral Authority

We explored the relationship between mother, father, and peer attachment security, empathy, and moral authority in order to clarify certain problems of previous empirical research on such relationships. A sample of 202 Persian-speaking undergraduate students completed questionnaires pertaining to these constructs. The results revealed that mother and father attachment were significantly correlated with family, society welfare, and equality sources of moral authority, whereas peer attachment security was related only to society welfare and equality sources of moral authority. Out of the empathy subscales, only empathic concern was associated with moral authority sources. Empathic concern was also related to mother, father, and peer attachment, whereas perspective taking was correlated with mother and peer attachment. The combination of empathic concern and mother, father, and peer attachment predicted significant amount of variance of “principle source of moral authority” (including society welfare and equality sources). Findings support existence of a strong relationship between attachment security and the content of moral thought of adolescents, and findings redress an empirical imbalance in research literature on the relation of attachment and morality.

Do the Right Thing: Sources of Moral Authority in Julia Spencer-Fleming's Millers Kill Series

Do the Right Thing: Sources of Moral Authority in Julia Spencer-Fleming's Millers Kill Series

Seeking a multi‐construct model of morality

The present study explored a multi‐construct model of moral development. Variables commonly seen in the moral development literature, such as family interactions, spiritual life, ascription to various sources of moral authority, empathy, shame, guilt and moral judgement competence, were investigated. Results from the current study support previous research that the three moral emotions of empathy, shame and guilt interrelate. Further, it was found that the relationship one has with a higher power (spirituality) involves empathy and guilt. Implications for moral education are discussed. Future research should continue to explore a multi‐construct model of morality.

The Church and the World: Are There Theological Resources for a Common Conversation?

Abortion is an especially salient issue for considering the general problematic of religiously based conversation in the public square. It remains deeply divisive, fully thirty-four years after Roe v. Wade. Such divisiveness cannot be interpreted as merely an expression of profound differences between “secular” and “religious” voices, because differences also emerge among Christian denominations, reflecting different sources of moral authority, different accounts of moral discernment, and different judgments about the appropriate relations between law and morality in the context of pluralism. As this paper explores, however, despite those differences, a generally identifiable “Christian” position concerning the moral status of abortion can be distinguished from secular philosophical judgments on the issue, which is important for Christian engagement with public policy debate.

"Trust and Obey"

IN THIS ESSAY I EXPLORE THE WAYS IN WHICH OBEDIENCE TO AUTHORITY functions as a moral norm in evangelical ethics, with the potential of constrain ing and even endangering the multifaceted nature of Christian morality. I con sider two particular sources of moral authority in evangelicalism: the Bible and leaders. I discuss the reasons and ways in which obedience to these two sources of moral authority functions in evangelical ethics and provide an ethi cal critique to these two moral norms and ethical practices. My primary aim is to expand an understanding of Christian morality that takes seriously the narra tive dimensions of Christian ethics, conscience formation, moral agency, and skills in moral discernment.

Predictors of Moral Thought in Two Contrasting Adolescent Samples

This study investigated the consistency of the finding that family cohesion and adaptability are significant predictors of adolescent moral thought. To test this, 175 adolescents from a metropolitan population (Sample 1) and 146 from an urban fringe population (Sample 2) were administered White's (1997) revised Moral Authority Scale, Olson et al.'s (1992) Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale, and a family demographic questionnaire. A linear relation between family cohesion and family and equality sources of moral authority was found in both samples. However, the significant linear relation between family adaptability and total source influence score found in Sample 1 was not found in Sample 2. This finding might result from the heterogeneity of sociocultural factors across the samples; post hoc analyses suggested that sociocultural factors might play an important moderating role in the relation between family adaptability and adolescent moral thought.

Relationship of Family Socialization Processes to Adolescent Moral Thought

The author investigated the relationship between salient family processes and adolescent moral thought among a sample of 271 adolescents and their parents. Family-process variables measured were adaptability, cohesion, and parent-adolescent communication; adolescent moral thought was measured by the influence the adolescent participants attributed to sources of moral authority. Perceptions of high family cohesion were associated with the greatest influence attributed to the family as a source of moral authority. Perceptions of high family adaptability were associated with greater influence attributed to all sources of moral authority. Parent-adolescent dyads who perceived high positive communication showed strong parent-adolescent agreement on the levels of influence attributed to all sources of moral authority. The findings (a) support the view that a strong relationship exists between family-socialization processes and the content of adolescent moral thought and (b) redress an empirical imbalance in research literature.

Sexual Ethics and Communal Judgments: On the Pluralism of Virtues, Values, and Practices

Different judgments by Christian communities on issues in sexual ethics involve different weightings of various sources of moral authority, different understandings of the normativity of the natural, and different assessments of the scope of freedom to be exercised in relation to the goods of marriage. These fundamental differences of interpretation can be exemplified by the ongoing Roman Catholic discussion of the legitimacy of voluntary sterilization in certain “hard cases.” The contributors to this issue of Christian Bioethics, in their spirited exchange on that issue, exemplify the need for careful attention to the ways that differences of theological emphasis and moral method lead to different judgments in particular cases, both within and between particular Christian communities.

Sexual ethics and communal judgments: on the pluralism of virtues, values, and practices.

Different judgments by Christian communities on issues in sexual ethics involve different weightings of various sources of moral authority, different understandings of the normativity of the natural, and different assessments of the scope of freedom to be exercised in relation to the goods of marriage. These fundamental differences of interpretation can be exemplified by the ongoing Roman Catholic discussion of the legitimacy of voluntary sterilization in certain "hard cases." The contributors to this issue of Christian Bioethics, in their spirited exchange on that issue, exemplify the need for careful attention to the ways that differences of theological emphasis and moral method lead to different judgements in particular cases, both within and between particular Christian communities.

Moral authority in law and criminal justice: Some reflections on Wilson'sThe Moral Sense

In his book The Moral Sense James Q. Wilson demonstrates the scope of people's moral concerns. His comments are striking for their range and for his compelling arguments about the centrality of moral concerns to people's lives. Wilson makes it clear that an important basis for people's evaluations of the authorities within organized groups is their assessment of the moral character of the authorities. His conclusion flows, in part, from an examination of research on legal authorities,[1] although the scope of his overall examination is much broader. Our goal in this comment is to explore some of the implications of Wilson's thesis in the area of law and criminal justice. We consider four areas: policing, juries, sentencing, and mediation. Each of these areas shares the common characteristic of being concerned about resolving social conflicts and regulating interactions among the members of society. Wilson's thesis is that these legal/criminal justice functions and the institutions and authorities who perform them will be judged by moral criteria. We accept this premise, but feel that it does not confront a further concern central to an analysis of the moral basis of social control: the sources of moral authority. Of course, we do not mean to suggest that legal authority is solely moral in character, and has no coercive elements.1 Rather, we support Wilson's thesis that there are important moral aspects to legal authority which need to be recognized and elaborated. Types of Moral Authority All societies recognize the need for authorities to establish and enforce social order. One important basis on which authorities operate is their moral legitimacy. However, moral authority is not always the same. We want to contrast two types of moral authority: personalized authority and professional authority. Our argument is that both are forms of moral authority, but that they represent two distinct and to some extent competing forms of moral authority. The two forms of authority involved differ in several ways (see Table 1). [TABULAR DATA OMITTED] The Basis of Authority The two forms of moral authority are distinguishable in terms of the basis of authority. Personalized authorities draw upon individualized knowledge about the person, their background, and their needs. This individualized knowledge flows from a background in the community and a knowledge of community norms. Typically, the community member subject to the authority personally knows or knows indirectly about the authority figure and that figure's history in the community. For example, in describing a highly regarded police officer in the community, Muir says that Marshall enjoyed what Tocqueville referred to as 'that respectable power which men willingly grant to the remembrance of a life spent in doing good before their eyes.'(3) In contrast, professional authority depends upon the knowledge and capacity to apply a body of specialized knowledge as well as knowing professional rules of conduct.(4) For example, sentencing guidelines provide rules for deciding how to punish those who commit various types of crimes. More broadly, it is knowledge of the law which indicates the appropriate response to various types of problems and which underlies the authority of judges. An example of the difference between these two sources of authority can be found in Elijah Anderson's discussion of life on contemporary ghetto streets.(5) Anderson says that ghetto youth are preoccupied with exaggerated concerns about receiving respect and deference from others, and are willing to enforce their demands in this regard with violence. This preoccupation has developed into a behavioral norm (a code of the streets) to which everyone in the community must respond. Personal appearance - dress and demeanor - are an integral part of this code and serve to display and enhance an image of fearlessness. …