Another Look at Paternalism

ABSTRACT This paper attempts to provide some new insights into the problem of justifying paternalism. To begin with, there is a general analysis of the concept of paternalism which examines the conditions that must be present for it to occur. A distinction is then drawn between two contexts in which paternalism exists—first, where it applies to individuals or clearly specifiable groups and second, where it applies to society in general. Different approaches to justification are required in each case. It is argued that paternalism of the former type has to meet two necessary and sufficient conditions for it to be acceptable and a good deal of the paper is devoted to a discussion of these two conditions and the ways of determining when they are satisfied. Paternalism of the latter type which applies to the whole society is more difficult to justify, mainly because it applies indiscriminately to everyone regardless of their particular capacities, interests etc., but some suggestions are made as to when such paternalism may nevertheless be justified.     

The Impact of the Guilty but Mentally III Verdict on Juror Decisions: An Empirical Analysis

The present study attempted to determine the impact of alternative verdict choices on the decisions of mock jurors. Subjects used in this study as mock jurors were all college undergraduates. They were shown one of two versions of a videotaped simulated murder trial. Both films presented a defendant who appeared to be suffering emotional difficulties, but in one film the defendant had clearly committed the act while in the other film the defendant's actions were less certain. Subjects than gave their individual verdicts and, after deliberation with other subjects, a total jury verdict. The verdicts available to the subjects varied across three conditions such that the subjects in one condition were only allowed to find the defendant to be innocent or guilty. In another condition the subjects could find the defendant innocent, guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI). In the third condition the subjects were allowed to choose between innocent, guilty, NGRI, and guilty but mentally ill (GBMI). The results indicated that the addition of the "mental health" verdicts had a significant impact on the decisions of the jurors. In particular, it appears that only defendants who would otherwise have been found innocent were likely to be found NGRI. This study also indicated that the GBMI verdict is very attractive to mock jurors. Indeed, even innocent defendants were found to be GBMI, a form of guilt, when this alternative was made available. These findings raise potentially important constitutional and practical issues for the trial of emotionally disturbed criminal defendants.     

The Effect of Mood and Social Outlook on Hypothetical Juridic Decisions1

Data are reported for a laboratory experiment which examines both the impact of information about remote social events on judgments of defendants' guilt or innocence in two court cases and the roles of cognitive and affective elements in mediating these judgments. Subjects were exposed to one of four pretested news bulletins which covaried cognitive factors (positive or negative social information) and affective ones (positive or negative mood stimuli). In accord with previous findings, the results indicate that social information and the changes in social outlook that it caused were of primary importance in altering subjects' judgments about defendants. Subjects who heard positive social information in radio newscasts were more lenient in their judgments of defendants than were those who heard negative social information. Additional findings pertaining to the mediators of this effect suggest that positive mood amplified the impact of social information whatever its direction, while negative mood attenuated it.     

The Effect of Defendant's Plea on Mock Juror Decisions

Abstract

The study examined the attributional and attractional effects of admission or denial of a mistake in interaction with the stimulus person's status, the seriousness of the consequences of the mistake, and the certainty of the evidence. The factorial design of the experiment was 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 (Status x Consequences x Evidence x Admission). Male undergraduate college students in Bombay (N = 480) read a passage about a mislabeling incident in a pharmaceutical concern and then rated the stimulus person on several variables. Admission of the mistake elicited the most favorable ratings. The no-statement condition received slightly more negative evaluations than the denial condition. Higher status led to greater responsibility attribution, but seriousness of consequences did not. The most liked stimulus person was the high-status person who admitted his mistake in the condition of serious consequences and ambiguous evidence.     

Ethnicity of Defendants and Jurors as Influences on Jury Decisions1

To assess the influence of ethnicity on jury decisions, 480 subjects viewed a videotaped trial of an Anglo or Hispanic defendant. Anglo or Hispanic majority 6-person juries deliberated until a unanimous verdict was reached. The juries that convicted the defendant were asked to determine sentence length and to provide a probation/ parole recommendation. Anglo majority juries convicted the defendant significantly more (M= 79%) than did the Hispanic majority juries (M= 52%), x²= 5.45, p < 0.02. No main effect of defendant ethnicity was obtained, but there was an interaction between the defendant and the jury's ethnicity, x²= 5.41, p < 0.02. Anglo majority juries were more lenient with the Anglo defendant, but the Hispanic majority juries did not differ in their conviction rates. No significant effects were obtained for sentence length. Differences in probation/parole recommendations were a function of jury ethnicity, F(l, 15) = 4.74, p < 0.05. Anglos were more likely to recommend that the defendant serve the full term of the sentence. These results are interpreted in terms of stereotyping and are discussed regarding their implications for a defendant's constitutional right to a fair trial.     

Another Look at Reputational Paths and Case Studies

Two studies are reported on effects of salience of identity (personal or group), comparison of performance (individual or intergroup), and dispositional self-esteem on originality of thinking. Study 1, with 169 participants, had a measure of algorithm use as the dependent variable. Significant main effect interactive effects of the predictors on algorithm use were observed. The second study had 369 participants, and a dependent measure of rated originality (novelty) of individuals' problem-solving ideas. A statistically significant three-way interaction of identity salience, comparison type, and self-esteem was observed on the originality scores. The pattern of the results across the two studies is interpreted as indicating dispositional differences in how specific situational influences on identity affect inclination toward use of algorithmic versus original problem-solving approaches. Both theoretical and applied implications of the results are offered.     

Another Look at Character Education in Christian Schools

A review of the literature and meta-analytic research into the effectiveness of character/moral education programs reveals that Christian educators should be wary of implementing such curricula. A brief history of character education demonstrates how the field has evolved. Problems associated with programming rationale, faulty methodology, and the lack of appropriate research may leave educators questioning the validity of character education interventions. Recommendations for practice in Christian education contexts are provided.     

A Closer Look at the Role of Applicant Age in Selection Decisions

Participants evaluated hypothetical applicants recruited from a younger (university students) or older (American Association of Retired Persons) population for 2 young-typed jobs, one more strongly young-typed than the other. Participants were given applicant information, including age and personal characteristics, that varied in the extent to which it was consistent with raters' job stereotypes. Results indicated that younger applicants were evaluated more favorably than older applicants. However, an Applicant Age × Job interaction effect indicated that the older applicant was evaluated less favorably for the more strongly compared with the less strongly young-typed job. In addition. applicants whose personal characteristics (other than age) were more consistent with raters' job stereotypes were evaluated more favorably than applicants whose characteristics were less consistent. Results also indicated that applicant age and personal characteristics interacted to influence applicant evaluations. The implications of these and other study results are discussed.     

Another Look at Sex Bias in Students' Evaluations of Professors

Forty male and forty female students evaluated the identical teaching methods of three female and three male award-winning professors in two traditionally masculine, two traditionally feminine and two relatively non-sex-linked areas. Different ratings were assigned as a function of the sex of the professor and the teaching field. Students attributed the success of male professors to instrumental qualities and that of females to affective qualities.     

Gender Characteristics and Relationship Adjustment: Another Look at Similarity-Complementarity Hypotheses

ABSTRACT The present study examined how the similarity and complementarity of gender-related attitudes, behaviors, interests, and personality traits related to partner selection and relationship adjustment in the context of serious, romantic relationships. Results revealed the important role of gender-related attitudes in relationships, indicating that study participants tended to be paired with partners who held similar attitudes, and that couples who were similar in attitudes had higher dyadic adjustment. Furthermore, the nature of the couples' attitudes affected (a) the extent to which couples were paired on the basis of complementary interests and behaviors, and (b) the relation between partner's gender-related behaviors and dyadic adjustment. Results support previous research citing the importance of attitude similarity in interpersonal attraction, and demonstrate that these findings can be generalized to ongoing, close relationships.     

Boundary Conditions for Self-serving Attributions: Another Look at the Sports Pages1

Attributions (N =.310) by professional athletes were extracted from newspapers, and coded along the dimensions of locus, stability, controllability, and globality. Findings confirmed the existence of self-serving attributional biases, but showed these to be limited in extenthtensity by personal (ability and experience level) and situational (team vs. solo sport) factors. Losses were ascribed to external and wins to internal causes among athletes of low experience, high ability, and/or engaged in solo sports-but not under other circumstances. A similar pattern of results emerged only on the controllability dimension. Beyond indicating boundary conditions to the bias, results suggested that it might not even be “self-serving”, or hedonistic, in nature. Difficulties in this type of research, and possible improvements, are discussed.     

Effects of Prior Juror Experience on Juror Behavior

A psychological assumption underlying the common and legally sanctioned use of jurors with previous jury experience is that such prior experience has little effect on a juror's behavior. The empirical evidence on this assumption is reviewed. Special attention is devoted to recent research that indicates two types of potential bias among experienced jurors. The theoretical and practical implications of this research are discussed.