Theory Of Judgment Research Articles

Reverse symbolic action and quiescence: a critical exploration of anti-abortion rhetoric and movement activation

Abstract Following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision, the pro-choice movement had a clear spike in motivation and action. The Republican Party hosted a celebratory news conference following the decision, but rather than activating their own base they witnessed an unintentional activation of their opposing base. This article proposes a theory of reverse symbolic action which explores the possibility that extreme anti-abortion rhetoric caused the pro-life movement to fall into dormancy while causing the pro-choice movement to activate. Drawing on social judgment theory and politics as symbolic action, reverse symbolic action has three dimensions: policy action producing quiescence, rhetorical overreach, and unintentional activation of the oppositional base. A case study applies this new theoretical lens to the House Republican news conference held immediately after the announcement of Dobbs. Public responses are explored through analysis of Twitter activity following the conference and the 2022 midterm election results.

“All knowledge is either conception or assent”. On the history and significance of a fundamental distinction in Islamic philosophy

ABSTRACT Following Aristotle, classical Islamic philosophers distinguished between two types of knowledge: conception and assent. This paper argues that the discussions elicited by this distinction are an essential feature of postclassical Islamic philosophy (ca. 1200–1800). The early postclassical philosophers made the distinction central to logic and thereby to epistemology and scientific inquiry at large. As the distinction came to be perceived as problematic, it sparked philosophical arguments about a range of issues in logic and epistemology. One particularly pertinent problem was the nature of the distinction itself: it was understood as an exclusive disjunction, but it seemed impossible to define one notion without recourse to the other. In the fourteenth century this led to the emergence of a new genre of philosophical writings exclusively dedicated to discussing the precise nature of the distinction. This paper discusses some of the central arguments of these writings, showing how philosophers grappling with that problem devised new theories of judgement and new forms of the proposition as they were continuously developing their theory of knowledge.

Aesthetics as philosophy of art, or Hegel’s reconciliation of Kantian dualism

Abstract Despite the extraordinary influence of Hegel’s aesthetics, the very term “aesthetics” features very seldom in his body of work. Considering both ongoing radical uncertainty as to the status of aesthetics as well as Hegel’s profound and persistent influence on aesthetics, it is worth reflecting on the reasons for, and potential alternatives to, Hegel’s use of the term “aesthetics.” This is the goal of this paper, which combines a reconstruction of Hegel’s variations on the topic with a broader perspective on what they can still teach us today. I begin by discussing Hegel’s presentations of the topic of his lectures on aesthetics (Section II). In Section III, I argue that both Hegel’s ambivalence towards aesthetics and his eventual identification of the latter with a philosophy of art are rooted in his confrontation with Kant’s seminal, yet insufficient, attempt to surmount dualism through his theory of reflective judgment. The attempt to address Kant’s unresolved dualism ultimately leads to the equivalence, both conceptual and terminological, of aesthetics and philosophy of art, and to the autonomy of art as a form of the absolute spirit (Section IV). In the concluding section, I outline the fundamental tensions left open by this equivalence as open challenges in contemporary aesthetics (Section V).

A Psychological Approach to Credit Risk Management: A Qualitative Dyadic Survey of Moroccan SMEs

The banking environment has become both unstable and vulnerable due to various fluctuations in the monetary sphere. Faced with these various disruptions, banks are increasingly threatened by risks affecting their activity and position on the financial market, notably credit risk. Risk management is the best defense shield for ensuring a healthy financial equilibrium in the long term. Nevertheless, it remains an advanced practice, which Moroccan banks are unable to support, due to the lack of human and financial resources. This article intends to highlight the importance of customer and banker behavior in the credit granting process. It analyses the customer's profile, which can have an impact on the credit granting decision, using differential psychology and in particular the theory of personality traits -BIG5-, and the banker's behavior, using the theory of judgement and decision-making - JDM-.

Emotion-Driven Moral Evaluation: A Mechanistic Study Based on the Drift-Diffusion Model.

Moral evaluation is identified as the first stage in the theory of moral judgment, and academics believe that it may align with the social intuitionist model. This study aims to prove that the model's emotional dominance hypothesis applies to moral evaluation by presenting a computational decision-making model that mathematically formalizes this emotional dominance decision-making process. We also compared different types of valence evaluation tasks to test the emotional priority hypothesis. We used a convenience sampling method to randomly recruit 30 enrolled college students. The drift-diffusion model was employed to analyze reaction times for words with various emotional and moral valences Additionally, we designed different valence evaluation tasks based on the response relevance hypothesis and evaluated the processing order through reaction time comparisons. The analysis revealed that the emotional mechanism of immoral evaluation differs from moral evaluation. An increase in emotional valence accelerates the speed of evidence accumulation (v) for moral evaluation (M = 1.21, 0.2% < 0 < 99.8%) but lowers decision caution (a) in immoral evaluation (M = -0.64, 96.1% < 0 < 3.9%). In contrast, moral valence does not have a significant influence on evaluation processes (v, M = -0.28, 72.1% < 0 < 27.9%; a, M = -0.32, 79.3% < 0 < 20.7%). Furthermore, We found no significant difference in reaction times between moral and immoral words in the emotional evaluation task (F(1,29) = 0.55, p = 0.464, partial η2 = 0.02), but a significant difference existed in the moral evaluation task (F(1,29) = 17.99, p < 0.001, partial η2 = 0.38), indicating that the tendency of relatively fast immoral evaluation in emotional evaluation tasks may be caused by emotional priority. Our findings support the intuitive model's emotional dominance hypothesis and introduce a new emotional mechanism into moral evaluation. This study clarifies the distinct emotional processes in moral and immoral evaluations, fills a gap in the research on moral evaluation, and offers insights into human decision-making in moral contexts.

Akt przekonania w ujęciu Jana Łukasiewicza a idiogeniczna teoria sądu

The aim of this article is to provide a comparative analysis of (i) the act of belief in Jan Łukasiewicz’s conception and (ii) the act of judging in the view of idiogenic theory of judgment. According to Łukasiewicz, the act of belief is not a propositional entity, which reproduces (correctly or not) the states of affairs to which it is intentional directed. Consequently, the act of belief is not a carrier of truth but rather a feeling of reality of something to what it is directed. If one analyses Łukasiewicz’s remarks about beliefs, he would agree that the act of belief is the same as the act of judging understood within the idiogenic theory of judgment. In turn, in phenomenological terms: Łukasiewicz’s belief and idiogenic act of judging could be defined as “thetical moment” or “moment of capturing the reality” (R. Ingarden) or Setzungsmoment (E. Husserl).

The Representation of Peace Values in Indonesian Primary School Textbooks: Marrying of Ecovisual Judgment Theory with Environmental Literacy

This qualitative research, employing content analysis, aims to achieve two objectives: (1) to examine self-values, which encompass the categories of literacy and environmental assessment, and (2) to explore social peace values, which include the categories of content and environmental literacy assessment. The research data consist of images accompanied by textual elements sourced from Indonesian language textbooks used in grades 5 and 6 of primary schools. These textbooks are published by the Center for Curriculum, Research, and Book Development, which operates directly under the Ministry of Education and Culture, Republic of Indonesia in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The findings of the research reveal that (1) the values of oneself include acceptance of conditions, wisdom, adherence to rules, patience, consistency, cleanliness, hard work, creativity, enthusiasm, and hard work. Meanwhile, (2) the values of social peace consist of cooperation, care for the environment and other living beings, togetherness, and respect for others' rights. These two categories are spread across texts of types environmental behavior, knowledge, affect, and cognitive, which are included in the categories of social esteem and sanction. Overall, the findings of this research indicate that the discursive practices within the textbooks aim to shape individuals who are independent and cooperative, with an emphasis on inclusivity, appreciation of diversity, and mutual intercultural respect in fostering environmental peace. The analytical framework developed in this study represents a novel contribution to environmental discourse analysis and can be utilized by future researchers, both locally and globally, to study textbooks. Future research could focus on a lexico-grammatical analysis of engagement and graduation elements, with the aim of deepening understanding and enhancing the delivery of sustainability solutions.

Dialectics of training: A critique of recommendation engines’ aesthetic judgment

In this article, we evaluate the politics of recommendation engines by focusing on an indispensible feature of their operation: training. We use the notion of training as a key word which helps us link three bodies of knowledge: data science, the history of automation, and aesthetic and political theory. Training is a staple in the operation of algorithmic systems, and artificial intelligence more generally; it is a practical methodology by which these systems become intelligent. Training is also a key feature of how workers throughout history came to perform their labor, and how, during the 20th century, machines came to acquire this human ability, that is, automation. And lastly, drawing on Immanuel Kant’s theory of aesthetic judgment, Hannah Arendt offers a political theory where training is key to political judgment. We trace the meaning and significance of ‘training’ in these three fields in order to draw conclusions from one field to another.

Choosing between bad and worse: investigating choice in moral dilemmas through the lens of control.

People's preferences for the utilitarian outcome in sacrificial moral dilemmas, where a larger group of individuals are saved at the cost of a few, have been argued to be influenced by various factors. Taking expected utility (EU) theory into consideration, we investigate whether the expected effectiveness of actions elucidate certain inconsistencies in moral judgments. Additionally, we also explore whether participants' role in the dilemma as the executor or a superior who merely makes a decision, which is carried out by a subordinate, influences judgments-a factor generally overlooked by classical EU models. We test these hypotheses using a modified moral dilemma paradigm with a choice between two actions, one highly successful and the other more likely to fail. Both actions are either expected to result in a favorable outcome of saving five individuals by sacrificing one or an unfavorable outcome of sacrificing five to save one. When the efficient action is anticipated to lead to a favorable outcome, in line with EU models, people almost invariably choose the efficient action. However, in conditions where the EUs associated with efficient and inefficient actions are close to each other, people's choice for favored outcome is above chance when they act as agents themselves. We discuss the implications of our results for existing theories of moral judgments.

Structure and dynamics of growing networks of Reddit threads

Millions of people use online social networks to reinforce their sense of belonging, for example by giving and asking for feedback as a form of social validation and self-recognition. It is common to observe disagreement among people beliefs and points of view when expressing this feedback. Modeling and analyzing such interactions is crucial to understand social phenomena that happen when people face different opinions while expressing and discussing their values. In this work, we study a Reddit community in which people participate to judge or be judged with respect to some behavior, as it represents a valuable source to study how users express judgments online. We model threads of this community as complex networks of user interactions growing in time, and we analyze the evolution of their structural properties. We show that the evolution of Reddit networks differ from other real social networks, despite falling in the same category. This happens because their global clustering coefficient is extremely small and the average shortest path length increases over time. Such properties reveal how users discuss in threads, i.e. with mostly one other user and often by a single message. We strengthen such result by analyzing the role that disagreement and reciprocity play in such conversations. We also show that Reddit thread’s evolution over time is governed by two subgraphs growing at different speeds. We discover that, in the studied community, the difference of such speed is higher than in other communities because of the user guidelines enforcing specific user interactions. Finally, we interpret the obtained results on user behavior drawing back to Social Judgment Theory.

Towards an entrepreneurial judgement theory: Building the cognitive microfoundations of entrepreneurial judgement

Towards an entrepreneurial judgement theory: Building the cognitive microfoundations of entrepreneurial judgement

The moderating effect of place attachment on visitors’ trust and support for recreational fees in national parks

The success of fee programs on public lands hinges on visitors' perceptions and reactions towards recreational fees, emphasizing the importance of understanding visitor dynamics in park management decisions. Using Indiana Dunes National Park in the U.S. as the study context, this study investigates the role of trust and place attachment in shaping visitors' support for national park entrance fees. Informed by social judgment theory, we hypothesize that place identity (socio-emotional attachment) will strengthen the relationship between trust and fee support, while place dependence (functional attachment) will weaken it. Our sample included 900 park visitors. The findings showed that as visitors’ place dependence increased, trust in the park agency became less critical in fee support. However, place identity did not significantly impact the trust-fee support relationship. These results underscore the importance of building trust and fostering place dependence among visitors to increase support for fee-related decisions by park managers. This study extends the environmental psychology literature and the recreation fee literature by furthering our understanding of the interplay among trust, place attachment, and fee support in the context of protected area management, providing insights for policymakers and park managers grappling with the contentious discourse surrounding park fees.

When is it acceptable to break the rules? Knowledge representation of moral judgements based on empirical data

Constraining the actions of AI systems is one promising way to ensure that these systems behave in a way that is morally acceptable to humans. But constraints alone come with drawbacks as in many AI systems, they are not flexible. If these constraints are too rigid, they can preclude actions that are actually acceptable in certain, contextual situations. Humans, on the other hand, can often decide when a simple and seemingly inflexible rule should actually be overridden based on the context. In this paper, we empirically investigate the way humans make these contextual moral judgements, with the goal of building AI systems that understand when to follow and when to override constraints. We propose a novel and general preference-based graphical model that captures a modification of standard dual process theories of moral judgment. We then detail the design, implementation, and results of a study of human participants who judge whether it is acceptable to break a well-established rule: no cutting in line. We then develop an instance of our model and compare its performance to that of standard machine learning approaches on the task of predicting the behavior of human participants in the study, showing that our preference-based approach more accurately captures the judgments of human decision-makers. It also provides a flexible method to model the relationship between variables for moral decision-making tasks that can be generalized to other settings.

PERCEPTION AND ATTITUDE OF IMO STATE ELECTORATE TOWARDS VOTE BUYING

Despite the potential consequences of vote purchasing on the nation's democratic system, vote-trading has become a common practice in Nigeria, where a deeply entrenched corrupt political class and a complex political environment have made it difficult for democracy to fully consolidate. The aim of this study was to evaluate the perception and attitude of Imo State electorate towards vote buying. The theoretical underpinning of this study was the social judgement theory. The methodology adopted for this investigation was the survey research design. From a population of 5,459,300, electorate who are eligible to vote in Imo State, a sample size of 384 was arrived at using Wimmer and Dominick online sample size calculator. Findings of this study revealed that respondents are highly aware of vote buying and this awareness has in no little way shaped their perception of the menace. Further findings also revealed that the attitude of Imo State electorates towards vote buying have been favourably influenced as a result of their high level of awareness of vote buying. This study therefore recommended that fighting vote buying must be a conscious effort of the government to provide infrastructure and amenities that will revive the hopes of its citizen towards good governance. Also, further study on vote buying should be carried out by other researchers to cover other regions this study could not handle.

Justus Buchler and the Community of Query

Before he originated the field of philosophy for children, Matthew Lipman spent nearly twenty years teaching at Columbia University and its affiliated colleges under the tutelage of the American philosopher Justus Buchler. In those years Lipman’s scholarship focused on Buchler’s naturalist metaphysics, which was informed by Buchler’s scholarship on the philosophy of Charles Peirce. In this essay I relate Lipman’s relationship with Buchler, summarise Buchler’s theory of human judgement, and indicate key parts of that theory that influenced Lipman’s own theory of judgement and multidimensional thinking. I then discuss the pedagogical turn Buchler made with his theory, including his conception of classroom discussion as a mode of ‘community of query,’ which became the prototype for Lipman and Ann Margaret Sharp’s theory of ‘community of inquiry’ as a protocol of classroom dialogue and a paradigm of philosophical practice and democratic decision-making.

It’s not just what you say: the impact of message tone on intra-party endorsements

This study expands previous research on political endorsements by focusing on the tone of the endorsement, rather than the endorser or the presence/absence of any endorsement at all. Using a 2×2 experimental design and a sample of 906 registered voters from a midwestern U.S. state, this study measures the effect of positive and negative endorsements on the voter perceptions of the endorsee, endorser, and unendorsed candidate during a partisan primary election campaign. Results support the idea that positive endorsements generally improve voters’ attitudes toward the endorsee and the endorser and negative endorsements generally hurt voters’ perception of the unendorsed candidate. Further interaction analyses show that factors such as a voter’s existing enthusiasm for politics, government, and politicians can moderate the effect of endorsements. The findings are in line with the proposition of the Social Judgment Theory and support the existing literature on the effect of endorsements.

Aesthetic Judgment: A Pragmatic View

Abstract: This essay stages a critique of Michael W. Clune’s A Defense of Judgment , raising problems with its theoretical assumptions, interpretive methods, and literary readings. At the same time, the essay offers a counterproposal for a theory of judgment premised on incommensurability, meaning attuned to the contingency of aesthetic values, to the context of their perception, and to their uses for different purposes. The anticapitalism of this pragmatic (and pragmatist) view derives from neither a presumed equality of artworks nor from a hierarchy that ranks them, but rather from a radical embrace of the sociality and incommensurability of art—particularly in the classroom.

Pulling the lever in a hurry: the influence of impulsivity and sensitivity to reward on moral decision-making under time pressure

BackgroundMaking timely moral decisions can save a life. However, literature on how moral decisions are made under time pressure reports conflicting results. Moreover, it is unclear whether and how moral choices under time pressure may be influenced by personality traits like impulsivity and sensitivity to reward and punishment.MethodsTo address these gaps, in this study we employed a moral dilemma task, manipulating decision time between participants: one group (N = 25) was subjected to time pressure (TP), with 8 s maximum time for response (including the reading time), the other (N = 28) was left free to take all the time to respond (noTP). We measured type of choice (utilitarian vs. non-utilitarian), decision times, self-reported unpleasantness and arousal during decision-making, and participants’ impulsivity and BIS-BAS sensitivity.ResultsWe found no group effect on the type of choice, suggesting that time pressure per se did not influence moral decisions. However, impulsivity affected the impact of time pressure, in that individuals with higher cognitive instability showed slower response times under no time constraint. In addition, higher sensitivity to reward predicted a higher proportion of utilitarian choices regardless of the time available for decision.ConclusionsResults are discussed within the dual-process theory of moral judgement, revealing that the impact of time pressure on moral decision-making might be more complex and multifaceted than expected, potentially interacting with a specific facet of attentional impulsivity.

Between villainification and heroification: toward a theory of nuanced ethical judgments

PurposeThe purpose of this conceptual article is to examine the role of villainification and heroification in social studies through critically analyzing the author’s place-based encounters with three civil war narratives.Design/methodology/approachThe article describes the author’s critical reflections on three narratives involving confederate figures and examines theoretical and pedagogical implications.FindingsThe article introduces a spectrum of ethical judgments which plots villainification and heroification on opposing ends. The author advocates for more nuanced ethical judgments that contextualize decisions as understandable or defensible based on evidence. The term understandable reflects a concept of being able to explain (i.e. demonstrate understanding) why a curricular figure made certain choices without agreeing with or supporting those choices. The term defensible denotes the existence of evidence that provides a rationale for a choice such that the person making the ethical judgment would feel comfortable making (i.e. defending) the same choice.Originality/valueThe article introduces a theory of nuanced ethical judgments in social studies that maps onto existing literature on heroification, villainification and place-based education. Pedagogical implications for social studies education are also identified.

Reconceptualizing selective moral disengagement mechanisms as continuums of moral influence: a theoretical expansion

Abstract Mass communication researchers have applied Bandura’s selective moral disengagement (SMD) concept in diverse contexts to explain audiences’ acceptance of moral violations and reduced condemnation. Recent updates to moral psychology—specifically the application of social intuitionist theories—challenge SMD’s underlying assumptions, necessitating a reconceptualization. In this article, we incorporate modern social intuitionist theories of moral judgment into SMD’s underlying assumptions. We further propose a two-stage moral signal detection process consistent with current decision-making theory in order to explain how SMD reflects a modulation of both moral condemnation and moral commendation. Building on these extensions, we reconceptualize SMD’s eight original mechanisms as expanded continuums of moral influence applicable to diverse forms of moral perceptions and moral judgments. This reconceptualization of SMD removes unnecessary boundary conditions, improves the internal consistency of the theory, and can begin to resolve scholarly disagreements. We conclude the article by providing concrete suggestions for future empirical research.