Bringing ethics into focus: How regulatory focus and risk preferences influence (Un)ethical behavior

In four laboratory studies, we find that regulatory focus induced by situational cues (such as the framing of an unrelated task) or primed influences people’s likelihood to cross ethical boundaries. A promotion focus leads individuals to be more likely to act unethically than a prevention focus (Studies 1, 2, and 3). These higher levels of dishonesty are explained by the influence of a person’s induced regulatory focus on his or her behavior toward risk. A promotion focus leads to risk-seeking behaviors, while a prevention focus leads to risk avoidance (Study 3). Through higher levels of dishonesty, promotion focus also results in higher levels of virtuous behavior (Studies 2 and 3), thus providing evidence for compensatory ethics. Our results also demonstrate that the framing of ethics (e.g., through an organization’s ethics code) influences individuals’ ethical behavior and does so differently depending on an individual’s induced regulatory focus (Study 4).     

Anticipatory and control processes in the interaction with secondary tasks while driving

The paper describes an experiment where anticipatory processes in the interaction with secondary tasks while driving could be explicitly identified and contrasted to control processes during the engagement in the secondary task. A special experimental set-up in a driving simulator environment was created that allows drivers to deliberately decide whether they want to be distracted or not depending on the driving situation and the expected development of that situation. As indicators for a situation-adaptive interaction with secondary tasks parameters from driving behaviour, secondary task performance and visual behaviour were analyzed. A study with 24 test drivers revealed that drivers are, in general, able to interact with a secondary task in a situation-aware manner. For example, drivers rejected more secondary tasks in already highly demanding situations or tried to delay the beginning of the task. During secondary task performance drivers observed the situational development with short control glances back to the road and adapted their speed. The analysis of driving errors revealed that rejecting a task in an already highly demanding driving situation is an effective strategy to maintain an adequate level of driving safety. However, some critical factors were identified that might hinder the driver from executing such strategies. Several recommendations for supporting the driver on this issue are given.     

The role of emotion expectancies in adolescents' moral decision making

This study investigated the impact of emotion expectancies on adolescents’ moral decision making in hypothetical situations. The sample consisted of 160 participants from three different grade levels (mean age = 15.79 years, SD = 2.96). Participants were confronted with a set of scenarios that described various emotional outcomes of (im)moral actions and needed to decide what they would do if they were in the protagonist’s shoes. Findings demonstrate that emotion expectancies differentially influenced adolescents’ hypothetical decision making in antisocial versus prosocial behavioral contexts. Whereas negatively charged self-evaluative emotions over failing to act morally (e.g., guilt) were the strongest predictor for moral choice in antisocial behavioral contexts, positively charged self-evaluative emotions over acting morally (e.g., pride) most strongly predicted moral choice in prosocial contexts. Older adolescents paid greater attention to outcome-oriented emotions that make the decision to act morally less attractive (e.g., regret). Overall, the study suggests that emotion expectancies influence moral decision making in unique and meaningful ways.     

Identifying the Distress Cues that Influence Support Provision: A Paired Comparison Approach

ABSTRACT

Just as chemistry has methods for determining the composition of unknown substances, psychology needs, but has lacked, effective methods for identifying the “active ingredients” of social stimuli. We describe such a method and apply it to identify the verbal and nonverbal distress cues that serve as signals prompting others to provide social support. This method allowed us to identify 55 such cues. Furthermore, the cues that were salient in the minds of potential support providers depended on their goals. For example, when deciding whether someone needed support, negative nonverbal cues (e.g., distressed persons' fidgeting) were more salient, but when deciding whether one was willing to provide support, cues that suggested a positive outcome for the support seeker (e.g., distressed persons' positive attitude and open-mindedness) were more salient.     

临床决策偏差中的心理效应

临床决策是临床工作的核心。科学正确的临床决策是保证医疗服务质量的重要环节。现代心理学对临床决策的研究发现,由于决策双思维系统运转模式的存在,一些心理效应常常会导致临床决策出现系统性偏差或失误,这些心理效应包括易得性、拆分效应、锚定效应、框架效应、单次-重复博弈效应和后见之明效应等。医务人员了解这些心理效应的表现,熟悉它们对临床决策的潜在影响,并在进行重大临床决策时有效避免之,将会显著提升临床决策质量。     

EVOLUTION OF RELIGIOUS CAPACITY IN THE GENUS HOMO: TRAIT COMPLEXITY IN ACTION THROUGH COMPASSION

In this third and last article on the evolution of religious capacity, the authors focus on compassion, one of religious expression's common companions. They explore the various meanings of compassion, using Biblical and early related documents, and derive general cognitive components before an evolutionary analysis of compassion using their model. Then, in taking on neural reuse theory, they adapt a model from linguistics theory to understand how neural reuse could have operated to fix religious capacity in the human genome. They present a teaching tool on “Religious Capacity in Action,” and develop an example of compassionate decision making in very early Homo sapiens in North Africa. They round out their analysis of compassion by exploring theory in neuroscience on a standard decision‐making model, and investigate what goes on in the human brain when a values‐based decision is made.     

Principled moral sentiment and the flexibility of moral judgment and decision making

Three studies test eight hypotheses about (1) how judgment differs between people who ascribe greater vs. less moral relevance to choices, (2) how moral judgment is subject to task constraints that shift evaluative focus (to moral rules vs. to consequences), and (3) how differences in the propensity to rely on intuitive reactions affect judgment. In Study 1, judgments were affected by rated agreement with moral rules proscribing harm, whether the dilemma under consideration made moral rules versus consequences of choice salient, and by thinking styles (intuitive vs. deliberative). In Studies 2 and 3, participants evaluated policy decisions to knowingly do harm to a resource to mitigate greater harm or to merely allow the greater harm to happen. When evaluated in isolation, approval for decisions to harm was affected by endorsement of moral rules and by thinking style. When both choices were evaluated simultaneously, total harm -- but not the do/allow distinction -- influenced rated approval. These studies suggest that moral rules play an important, but context-sensitive role in moral cognition, and offer an account of when emotional reactions to perceived moral violations receive less weight than consideration of costs and benefits in moral judgment and decision making.     

不同预测率的不确定决策的ERP研究

该研究采用事件相关电位技术,对不同预测率的不确定决策的加工机制进行了研究。实验条件为四种不同预测率的不确定决策任务,控制条件为确定决策任务,对两种条件下的数据进行比较,结果发现：1）反应时,随着不确定性程度的增强而逐渐增长;2）正确率,被试决策的平均正确率基本上符合数字本身的可预测率。脑电结果发现：在200～300ms的时间窗口内,不确定和确定决策任务下的预测率都诱发了一个晚期的负成分（N2）,五种任务之间（随着不确定程度的降低）存在着一个梯度的变化,其中50％和62．5％之间不存在着显著差异,其它预测率之间都存在着显著差异。这些结果表明被试在不确定决策任务中会对不同预测率进行归类表征,并会对不同的不确定程度有不同的知觉。     

临床决策：医患交流与合作的过程

一切医学实践活动都是从决策问题开始。由于我们的决策面对的是需要治疗的患者,而患者的价值观是不一样的;同时,医学知识和技术是在不断发展和进步的,所以医生需要改变传统的决策方式,重视医学证据、可用资源和患者的价值取向。医患之间的相互信任是合理决策的前提。这种信任需在充分沟通的基础上达到互相认可。促进医患共同决策,将成为21世纪医疗服务的努力方向。     

医患关系不和谐的原因

由于政府监管部门的缺位与越位导致医疗市场混乱,医疗资源配置不合理与效率低下,医院为了自身利益而鼓励医务人员多收费,医务人员成了给钱治病的经济人,再加上舆论的推波助澜,社会保障体系不健全,以及医疗需求的刚性,医患间的信息不对称,患者对医疗预期值超越了当今的科技水平,导致医患矛盾越演越烈.