Is Water Necessarily Identical to H2O?

Philosophical Studies -     

Dimensions of Moral Intensity and Ethical Decision Making: An Empirical Study

Moral intensity is a construct that relates to issues in terms of their perceived moral significance. Individuals' perceptions of moral intensity should impact their recognition of issues as posing moral dilemmas and should also affect ethical judgments and behavioral intentions regarding issues. This study examined the relationship between 4 dimensions of moral intensity and the ethical decision-making process. Two work-related actions were presented to respondents, who then completed measures of the 4 dimensions of moral intensity, whether the actions posed an ethical issue, ethical judgments regarding the actions, and the likelihood that they would engage in the actions. Results indicate that moral intensity dimensions were associated with individuals' ethical decisions. Social consensus and seriousness of consequences were particularly important influences on the ethical decision-making process.     

What works to change identity? A rapid evidence assessment of interventions

This paper describes the results of a rapid evidence assessment that aimed to identify the characteristics and efficacy of interventions that aimed to or reportedly changed personal or social identity. Following a rapid but systematic search of the published, peer-reviewed research on identity change, 400 studies or reviews were screened for eligibility for inclusion in the review, and 22 were retained. The interventions and samples were diverse and studies came from a broad geographic area. The quality of the research varied, but the majority was assessed as carrying a low weight of evidence. Just under two-thirds of the studies were qualitative, and most explored, retrospectively, participants' perceptions of, or applied theoretical frameworks to, identity change sometime after an intervention. Quantitative studies provided little evidence of the effectiveness of interventions in changing identity. Qualitative studies most commonly applied and then supported the Social Identity Theory of Identity Change to explain perceived changes in identity. Implications for research are discussed.     

Psychometric Properties of the French Version of the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence for Young Children (PMSC)

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a French version of the pictorial scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence for Young Children (PMSC), which is aligned with the third version of the Test of Gross Motor Development.MethodA sample of 219 French-speaking Canadian children (5 to 12 years old) participated in this study.ResultsResults supported the factor validity and reliability of a 13-item version of the PMSC encompassing two factors (i.e., ball skills and locomotor skills). Subsequent analyses supported the weak, partial strong, and partial strict invariance of responses to the PMSC as a function of sex. Additionally, analyses revealed that boys displayed significantly higher perceived ball skill competence than girls. Results also supported a lack of differential item functioning (DIF) and latent mean differences as a function of body mass index and physical activity/sport involvement, but revealed evidence of DIF and latent mean differences as a function of age. More precisely, these results show that older children displayed significantly: (a) higher scores on the sliding item and lower scores on the kicking item relative to younger children; and (b) lower scores on perceived locomotor skills competence than younger children.ConclusionOverall, results suggest that the French version of the PMSC has acceptable psychometric properties and can be confidently used in research or practice to assess children's perceived movement skill competence.     

Do research assessments make college students more reactive to alcohol events?

This study examines possible synergistic effects of alcohol-related events and postevent assessments on changes in college student readiness to change alcohol use, frequency of alcohol use, and negative consequences. Students were participants in a longitudinal study of drinking behavior. A portion of those reporting negative alcohol events/consequences (e.g., injury, vomiting, memory loss) during the parent study were randomly selected to participate in the present study (n = 492) and randomized to a postevent assessment (n = 296) or a no-assessment control (n = 196). Participants in the postevent assessment group were interviewed soon after their event, and participants in both conditions were interviewed three months after their event. Linear regression models showed higher 3-month readiness to change alcohol use in participants who received a postevent assessment than those who did not. There were reductions in drinking days, heavy drinking days, and further consequences postevent, but no differences by assessment group. However, female participants showed greater reductions in drinking days and heavy drinking days if they were assigned to assessment compared to control. There also was greater postevent reduction in drinking days among assessment group participants with high precollege alcohol severity compared to low precollege alcohol severity. Conversely, participants who reported high aversiveness of their event and were in the control group showed greater reduction in heavy drinking days than those assigned to the assessment group. Findings suggest that college student heavy drinking is reactive to alcohol events, whereas reactivity to postevent assessments may depend on gender, alcohol severity, and event aversiveness. This work highlights the importance of considering possible interactions among extratherapeutic factors in clinical outcome research.     

Adjustment of Siblings of Children with Mental Health Problems: Behaviour, Self-Concept, Quality of Life and Family Functioning

This study examined the adjustment of siblings of children with mental health problems. The participants had brothers or sisters receiving treatment at a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service within the Hunter New England Health Service, New South Wales, Australia. Seventy-five siblings completed questionnaires on their self-concept, quality of life and family functioning. Their carers completed questionnaires on the sibling’s behaviours, family demographics and family functioning. The diagnosis and severity of disability of index children were attained from the treating clinician. The study revealed the siblings had significantly higher rates of psychopathology, poorer quality of life and lived in more dysfunctional families than normally developing children. Regression modelling predicted variables related to the three main behaviour scales of the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). Family functioning, family communication and the extreme ends of family cohesion and balance, were the most significant contributors to regression model. The sibling self-concept domains of global self-worth, athletic competence and behavioural conduct, contributed to the model. Additionally, a smaller family size was associated with more internalising behaviour disorders in the siblings. The diagnosis and severity of mental health problem of the index child and other family demographic factors did not impact on the sibling’s behavioural functioning. This study highlights that siblings of children with mental health difficulties are a group vulnerable to adjustment difficulties regardless of the index child’s diagnosis or the severity of impairment. Overall, family functioning had a greater impact on the siblings than other factors.     

Identifying mediators of training effects on performance-related psychobiosocial states: A single-case observational study in an elite female triathlete

ObjectivesRelationships between training load, psychobiosocial (PBS) states and performance are dynamic and individual-specific. The nature of these relationships can be investigated using a combination of dynamic linear models (DLMs) and mediating variable analysis, potentially assisting applied sports psychologists in planning and monitoring of individual elite athletes’ intervention programmes.DesignWe illustrate this approach by examining the relationships of training loads with a performance-related state (‘self-efficacy’) and the role of potential mediating PBS variables (‘fatigue/lack of energy’ and ‘being in shape’) in explaining these relationships in an elite triathlete across time.MethodSelf-reports of PBS states (twice weekly) and training data were collected over 137 days. Using DLMs and mediating variable analysis, direct (unmediated) and indirect (mediated) short-term associations of training load with ‘self-efficacy’ were examined.ResultsIn this triathlete, we found evidence for positive effects of training on ‘self-efficacy’, which were partly explained by feelings of ‘being in shape’ and suppressed by feelings of ‘fatigue/lack of energy’. Changes in the relationship between lagged training load and ‘fatigue/lack of energy’ were observed across time and were particularly pronounced in temporal proximity of an injury.ConclusionStrengths of the presented approach are its dynamic nature enabling the observation of changes occurring over time, use of statistical inference rather than visual data interpretation, and quantification of mediating effects to identify potential pathways of intervention. Additionally, the DLM method can identify complex nonlinear associations by examining correspondence between changes in levels of predictors and changes in magnitude and direction of predictor-outcome associations.     

Ethics Code Awareness,Perceived Ethical Values,and Organizational Commitment

This study examines the relationships among ethics code awareness, perceived corporate ethical values, and organizational commitment. Three key findings emerged. First, those aware of the existence of an ethics code in their organizations perceived their organizations as having more ethical values than those not aware of an ethics code in their organizations. Second, respondents exhibited higher levels of organizational commitment when they were aware of an ethics code in their companies. Finally, the relationship between ethics code awareness and organizational commitment was fully mediated by perceptions of an organization’s ethical values. The results suggest that ethics codes may lead to higher levels of organizational commitment by increasing the belief that their organizations have strong ethical values, as long as the existence of ethics codes are adequately communicated.