Moral Disengagement Through Displacement of Responsibility: The Role of Leadership Beliefs

The present study examined the relationship between a person's leadership beliefs and the propensity to justify his or her unethical behavior by shifting responsibility to those people in leadership positions who ordered or condoned the behavior. Theoretical support for this relationship comes from the moral disengagement branch of social cognitive theory, which proposes that one cognitive mechanism people employ to justify unethical behavior involves displacing responsibility for their action onto someone else ( Bandura, 1999b ). The study's results revealed that leadership self‐efficacy, affective and noncalculative motivation to lead, and shared orientation toward leadership were related to moral disengagement through the displacement of responsibility.     

The code of the street and romantic relationships: A dyadic analysis

Since its publication, Elijah Anderson's (1999) Code of the Street thesis has found support in studies connecting disadvantage to the internalization of street‐oriented values and an associated lifestyle of violent/deviant behavior. This primary emphasis on deviance in public arenas has precluded researchers from examining the implications of the code of the street for less public arenas, such as intimate relationships. In an effort to understand if and how the endorsement of the street code may infiltrate such relationships, this study examines the associations between the code of the street and relationship satisfaction and commitment among young adults involved in heterosexual romantic relationships. Using a dyadic approach, the study finds that street code orientation, in general, negatively predicts satisfaction and commitment, in part due to increased relationship hostility/conflict associated with the internalization of the code. Gender differences in these associations are considered and discussed at length.     

Relations between parent–child affect and synchrony and cognitive outcome at 5 years of age

This investigation involved the longitudinal assessment of 30 preterm and 39 full-term infants from 2 to 5 years of age. Measures of cognitive outcome at 2 and 5 years of age and mother-child dyadic synchrony and affect during free-play interaction were obtained at 5 years of age. Correlational and regression analyses indicated that 5-year cognitive outcome was predicted by 2-year cognitive status, mother education, and 5-year dyadic interaction. In addition, 5-year maternal positive affect contributed independently to children's cognitive status at age 5, above and beyond the contributions of early cognitive status and maternal education. Also, affect and synchrony interacted in predicting lower cognitive abilities. Findings are discussed in relation to the importance of maternal affect and synchronous interactions in transactional explanations of development during early childhood.     

Examining Reasoning Skill Differences Between Expert and Novice Counselors

There is increasing interest in identifying the complex cognitive skills that constitute counseling expertise. Research from cognitive psychology suggests significant differences between experts and novices in their reasoning. This study examines the reasoning of expert and novice counselors engaged in a diagnostic task. Cases varied on “problem structure”—the extent to which problem-relevant information was clear and apparent. While an expertise by problem structure interaction was hypothesized, most of the differences were found across case type. Results suggest that the structure of the diagnostic problem may be an important variable affecting reasoning. The importance of problem structure for future research and training is discussed.     

Student Services for Athletes: A Model for Enhancing the Student-Athlete Experience

A comprehensive outreach program for providing student services to college athletes is described. Sponsored by the Center for Counseling and Student Development, the program attends to the developmental needs of student-athletes. Services include academic monitoring, consultation, workshops, and personal counseling. Benefits and suggestions for implementation of the program are addressed.     

How Indirect Can Indirect Utilitarianism Be?*

Most act‐utilitarians now reject the direct utilitarianism of Bentham. They do so because they are convinced of what I call the paradox of utilitarianism—the thought that one cannot maximize happiness if one is trying to maximize happiness. Instead, they adopt some form of indirect utilitarianism (IU), arguing that the optimal decision procedure may differ markedly from the criterion of rightness for actions. Here I distinguish between six different versions of indirect utilitarianism, arguing that the weaker versions of IU also fall prey to the paradox of utilitarianism, while the stronger versions of IU violate an overwhelmingly plausible moral principle, the principle that one ought to V only if one can V intentionally.