Observations of Muslim Physicians Regarding the Influence of Religion on Health and Their Clinical Approach

Although most patients report wanting their physicians to address the religious aspects of their lives, most physicians do not initiate questions concerning religion with their patients. Although religion plays a major role in every aspect of the life of a Muslim, most of the data on the role of religion in health have been conducted in populations that are predominantly non-Muslim. The objectives of this study were to assess Muslim physicians' beliefs and behaviours regarding religious discussions in clinical practice and to understand the factors that facilitate or impede discussion of religion in clinical settings. The study is based on a cross-sectional survey. Muslim physicians working in a tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia were invited to complete a questionnaire that included demographic data; intrinsic level of religiosity; beliefs about the impact of religion on health; and observations, attitudes, behaviours, and barriers to attending to patients' religious needs. Out of 225 physicians, 91% agreed that religion had a positive influence on health, but 62.2% thought that religion could lead to the refusal of medically indicated therapy. Over half of the physicians queried never asked about religious issues. Family physicians were more likely to initiate religious discussions, and physicians with high intrinsic religiosity were more likely to share their own religious views. Residents and staff physicians tended to avoid such discussions. The study results highlight the fact that many physicians do not address patients' religious issues and that there is a need to clarify ethically sound means by which to address such needs in Islamic countries. Medical institutions should work to improve the capacity of medical personnel to appropriately address religious issues. The training of clinical religious advisors is a promising solution to this dilemma.     

The Ethical Ideologies of Psychologists and Physicians: A Preliminary Comparison

The ethical ideologies of psychologists (who provide health services) and physicians were compared using the Ethics Position Questionnaire. The findings reveal that psychologists tend to be less relativistic than physicians. Further, we explored the degree to which physicians and psychologists report being influenced by a variety of factors (e.g., family views) in their ethical decision making. Psychologists were more influenced by their code of ethics and less influenced by family views, religious background, and peer attitudes than were physicians. We argue that these differences reflect the varied professional cultures in which practitioners are trained and socialized.     

ICU医务人员在心脏死亡器官捐献中面临的伦理问题及对策

心脏死亡器官捐献是目前解决器官移植工作器官短缺的关键性举措,参与器官捐献过程的ICU的医务人员需要直接面临对潜在捐献者的治疗照护、临终护理、死亡判定等诸多伦理问题.应加强ICU医务人员器官捐献伦理知识的普及教育并完善相关法律制度,以保证器官捐献工作的健康、可持续发展.     

Foundations for Ethical Standards and Codes: The Role of Moral Philosophy and Theory in Ethics

Ethical practice is a concern for all who practice in the psychological, social, and behavioral sciences. A central problem is discerning what action is ethically correct in a particular situation. It has been said that there is nothing so practical as good theory, because theory can help counselors organize and integrate knowledge. It seems, therefore, that a sound means to facilitate ethical competence in counseling would be through a knowledge and understanding of foundations and theories of ethics. Much of this pragmatic foundation is found in moral philosophy and related ethical theory.     

Ethical Issues in Tissue Banking for Research: The Prospects and Pitfalls of Setting International Standards

Bauer, Taub, and Parsi's review of an international sample of standards on informed consent, confidentiality, commercialization, and quality of research in tissue banking reveals that no clear national or international consensus exists for these issues. The authors' response to the lack of uniformity in the meaning, scope, and ethical significance of the policies they examined is to call for the creation of uniform ethical guidelines. This raises questions about whether harmonization should consist of voluntary international standards or international regulations that include an official oversight mechanism and sanctions for noncompliance, and about who should participate in the harmonization process. Moreover, the normative assumptions and political dynamics that shape global policymaking need to be addressed. This commentary explores the policy implications and normative questions raised by the idea of international ethical guidelines for the use of biotechnologies and biotechnological resources such as stored samples of human tissue.     

The End of Dependence? Ethical Issues in the Adoption of Assistive Technologies: An Introduction

This special issue explores the evolving role of assistive technology in health and medicine, with 3 original articles and 5 commentaries. The following introduction provides an overview of the issue’s unifying themes and the articles’ aims and concerns, as well as reflection on some critical points for discussion raised in the commentaries. Assistive technology finds itself at a pivotal point of development and integration into current systems, where sound and innovative ethical guidance is crucial. With this issue we hope to build capacity for realizing the potential of assistive technology—effectively, sustainably, and ethically.     

Subject Matter Expert Judgments Regarding the Relative Importance of Competencies are not Useful for Choosing the Test Batteries that Best Predict Performance

Several recent articles have suggested that assessments of the relative importance of different abilities or competencies to a job have little bearing on the criterion‐related validity of these selection tests that measure those abilities. We hypothesize that selection test batteries chosen to maximize the judged importance of knowledge, skills, and abilities will not predict performance better than batteries of tests chosen at random. The results in two independent samples consistently show that the validity of test batteries chosen based on subject matter expert judgments of importance is not different from the validity of batteries of a comparable number of tests chosen at random from a set of intercorrelated tests, or even those chosen to provide the worst possible match between test content and job content.     

The influence on recognition of spoken words that are misperceived

Two experiments were performed that involved an initial word-identification task in which the acoustic signal was degraded by either 50% or 60% compression of the recorded words. A control group was tested at the original recording rate (0% compression). The compression manipulation was successful in increasing the number of identification errors. During the second stage of the experiments, words were read at a normal rate. In Experiment 1, the subjects indicated whether each word had appeared on the prior list, and in Experiment 2, the subjects estimated the number of times each word had been read on the prior list. The false-negative rate decreased and frequency ratings increased as a function of the number of prior presentations (one, two, or three) of the target words. The most interesting result was that the effect of repetitions was present even for words that had been misperceived.     

The Scope of WebCounseling: A Survey of Services and Compliance With NBCC Standards for the Ethical Practice of WebCounseling

A survey of 136 Web sites offering counseling through computer chat rooms and e‐mail revealed a wide range of credentials of providers, fees for service, and low levels of compliance with the ethical standards for WebCounseling published by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC). Eight months after the first data collection point, more than a third of the WebCounseling sites were no longer in operation. Credentialed professionals provided significantly higher levels of compliance with NBCC standards than did noncredentialed providers. Implications of Web services for professional practice and public confidence in the profession in this medium are discussed.     

家族一元体内的男尊女卑——论儒家性别差等结构的层次机制

儒家所建构的性别伦理并不是男性彻底压制女性的二元对立,而是家族一元体内两性相依互动的男尊女卑,是一个复杂灵动的性别差等结构。家族一元体为此性别差等结构奠定了总体框架,使男女两性共同从属于父系家族;家族一元体内的男尊女卑是其核心支柱,集中体现了父系家族的父权性质;两性阴阳对反则使性别差等结构接榫而成为一个循环系统,两性都转而成为父系家族的维护者。正是家族一元体的笼罩与运作机制,才使得儒家性别差等演化为一个隐固循环的结构系统。因此,剖析儒家性别差等结构的内在层次及其制约机制是阐释各种复杂交错现象的关键。     

Flexible mental processes in numerical size judgments: The case of hebrew letters that are used to convey numbers

In addition to its primary linguistic function, the Hebrew alphabet is sometimes used as a means of number notation (i.e., the system of gematria). Hebrew letters, Arabic numerals, Hebrew number names, and Hebrew letter names were used in a numerical size comparison task, in which two visually presented symbols were compared for numerical value while irrelevant variations in their physical size had to be ignored. A size congruity effect, indicated by faster responses when differences in physical and numerical size were consistent, was larger for Arabic numerals than for number names. The effect for Hebrew letters was similar to that for Arabic numerals and was stronger than that observed for letter names. These results suggest flexible processing of Hebrew letters, so that they function as ideographic symbols in an arithmetic context. A distance effect, indicated by an inverse relationship between reaction time and numerical distance, was found for all notations but was particularly strong for Hebrew letters.     

性善与工夫——孟子言性善的角度与理论特色

孟子言人性善,从根本上说,并非是强调人所具有的一种抽象本质,而是就人的情感生活和人生境遇而揭示真实的情感规律,指出人之所以为人的价值内涵,从而指点道德修养的进路和人间秩序的价值本原。故孟子言性善的同时,必然随即言道德修养的工夫:其一,从四端之心言性善;其二,从孝悌亲亲之情言性善,这两个角度可概括为"即情言性",由此孟子特别强调"求放心"、"扩充"本心的工夫。其三,由养气说以凸显仁义内在之理,由此提出"集义"、"养浩然之气"的工夫。其四,强调性命之辨,从命运境遇之动态的角度来凸显善性本具的道理,由此而强调"反求诸己"的道德精神。孟子言性善必言工夫,体现了儒学一贯的"即工夫即本体"的学术精神。     

The clocks that time us are not the same: A theory of temporal diversity,task characteristics,and performance in teams

Temporal individual differences are an under-explored, but research-worthy form of diversity in teams. Although persistent differences in how members think about and value time can profoundly influence team performance, the compositional impact of time-based individual differences is regularly overlooked. Optimal or suboptimal team performance can result because the composition of time-based individual differences is matched or unmatched (respectively) to task demands. Therefore, we offer a detailed presentation of how the configuration of four time-based individual differences (time urgency, time perspective, polychronicity, and pacing style) interact with two task typologies (task type and task complexity) to specify when elevation (mean) and diversity (dispersion) of temporal differences is helpful or harmful to team performance.