Field and Experience Influences on Ethical Decision Making in the Sciences

Differences across fields and experience levels are frequently considered in discussions of ethical decision making and ethical behavior. In the present study, doctoral students in the health, biological, and social sciences completed measures of ethical decision making. The effects of field and level of experience with respect to ethical decision making, metacognitive reasoning strategies, social-behavioral responses, and exposure to unethical events were examined. Social and biological scientists performed better than health scientists with respect to ethical decision making. Furthermore, the ethical decision making of health science students decreased as experience increased. Moreover, these effects appeared to be linked to the specific strategies underlying participants' ethical decision making. The implications of these findings for ethical decision making are discussed.     

Optimism Is Universal: Exploring the Presence and Benefits of Optimism in a Representative Sample of the World

Current theories of optimism suggest that the tendency to maintain positive expectations for the future is an adaptive psychological resource associated with improved well‐being and physical health, but the majority of previous optimism research has been conducted in industrialized nations. The present study examined (a) whether optimism is universal, (b) what demographic factors predict optimism, and (c) whether optimism is consistently associated with improved subjective well‐being and perceived health worldwide. The present study used representative samples of 142 countries that together represent 95% of the world's population. The total sample of 150,048 individuals had a mean age of 38.28 (SD = 16.85) and approximately equal sex distribution (51.2% female). The relationships between optimism, subjective well‐being, and perceived health were examined using hierarchical linear modeling. Results indicated that most individuals and most countries worldwide are optimistic and that higher levels of optimism are associated with improved subjective well‐being and perceived health worldwide. The present study provides compelling evidence that optimism is a universal phenomenon and that the associations between optimism and improved psychological functioning are not limited to industrialized nations.     

The social and communication impact of stuttering on adolescents and their families

Purpose

Stuttering can cause wide ranging psychosocial impact. This is particularly the case for adolescents who may face additional physical, emotional and personality changes as they become adults. This study reports the findings of an investigation into the social and communication impacts of stuttering on Australian adolescents seeking treatment for stuttering and their families.

Method

A cross-sectional design utilising questionnaires assessed the self-perceived communication competence and apprehension, stigma and disclosure, and experiences of teasing and bullying of 36 adolescents who stutter. Additionally, the impact of stuttering on the families of these adolescents was investigated.

Results

Adolescents who stutter have below average self-perceived communication competence, heightened communication apprehension, are teased and bullied more often than fluent peers, and they try to keep their stuttering secret. The families of the adolescents in the study reported high levels of emotional strain, family conflict and difficulty managing their child's frustrations.

Conclusion

The findings from this study emphasise the wide-ranging impact of stuttering beyond the surface level behaviours. Clinicians working with adolescents who stutter should take note of both the outcomes of this study and the suggestions for more effectively coping with the condition in this population.Educational objectives: The reader will be able to: (a) summarise findings with regards to the impact of stuttering on an adolescent's social and communication skills; (b) summarise areas of impact on the families of adolescents who stutter; (c) compare these findings with previous reported data for this population; (d) discuss the clinical implications of the results for working with adolescents who stutter and their families.     

Subculture Theory: An Historical and Contemporary Assessment of the Concept for Understanding Deviance

Subcultures attract attention in culture, society, and the media because they have been theorized as not merely distinct from, but also in opposition to, the dominant culture. In the United States and the United Kingdom the concept of subculture has been a major explanatory tool for sociology and criminology to understand deviant behavior. For nearly a hundred years the concept has been at the center of academic struggle for superiority between rival paradigmatic approaches, which have employed different theoretical explanations. In this article I critically assess the origins and politics of the way the concept of subculture has been applied primarily to youth cultures in terms of the relationship between agency and constraint.     

Moral Credentialing and the Rationalization of Misconduct

Recent studies lead to the paradoxical conclusion that the act of affirming one's egalitarian or pro-social values and virtues might subsequently facilitate prejudiced or self-serving behavior, an effect previously referred to as "moral credentialing." The present study extends this paradox to the domain of academic misconduct and investigates the hypothesis that such an effect might be limited by the extent to which misbehavior is rationalizable. Using a paradigm designed to investigate deliberative and rationalized forms of cheating (von Hippel, Lakin, & Shakarchi, 2005), we found that when participants had credentialed themselves (versus a non-close acquaintance) via a set of hypothetical moral dilemmas, they were more likely to cheat on a subsequent math task, but only if cheating was highly rationalizable. When cheating was difficult to rationalize, moral credentialing had almost no impact on cheating.     

Parenting and Adolescents’ Academic Achievement: The Mediating Role of Goal Engagement and Disengagement

Journal of Child and Family Studies - Prior research has investigated parental behavior and students’ motivation separately as predictors of adolescents’ academic achievement. The...     

Comparing Business School Faculty Classification for Perceptions of Student Cheating

Faculty continue to address academic dishonesty in their classes. In this follow-up to an earlier study on general perceived faculty student cheating, using a sample of business school faculty, we compared three levels of faculty classification: full-time non-tenure track (NTT, n?=?86), full-time tenured/tenure-track (TT, n?=?66), and part-time adjuncts (A, n?=?71). Results showed that NTTs perceived higher levels for three different types of student cheating, i.e., paper-based, forbidden teamwork, and hiring someone to take an exam. In addition, NTTs were more likely to report a student for cheating. NTTs reported a higher course load and average class size, and average class size was positively related to all five types of cheating measured. Given the predicted increase in NTTs across all disciplines, making sure that all faculty, (but especially NTTs), have the resources needed to deter student cheating is important. All faculty have an obligation to hold students accountable for their behavior. Individual integrity is paramount; and it is what employers expect. Regardless of the chosen field or discipline, an employer’s expectations, in terms of character, is to hire individuals who possess a level of honesty that is above reproach. Addressing cheating is an obligation that all faculty need to address purposefully. Providing resources to help faculty address cheating is critical. Resources might include conflict resolution training to provide instructors with the necessary guidance so that they can better handle these difficult situations. This is important not only for the student while in school, but also for a university/college’s reputation.