Moral perfectionism and moral values,virtues, and judgments: A preliminary investigation

Moral perfectionism has a long tradition in philosophical inquiry, but so far has been ignored in psychological research. This article presents a first psychological investigation of moral perfectionism exploring its relationships with moral values, virtues, and judgments. In three studies, 539 university students responded to items of the Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Frost et al., 1990) adapted to measure personal moral standards (PMS) and concern over moral mistakes (CMM) and completed measures of moral values, virtues, and forgiveness, gratitude, and wrong behavior judgments. When partial correlations were computed controlling for the overlap between PMS and CMM, PMS showed positive correlations with moral values, virtues, reciprocal helping, forgiveness, and condemnation of wrong behaviors. In contrast, CMM showed a positive correlation only with indebtedness and a negative correlation with self-reliance. The present findings, while preliminary, suggest that moral perfectionism is a personality characteristic that may help explain individual differences in moral values, virtues, and judgments.     

Comparing natural and abstract categories: A case study from computer science

In order to address the issue of whether abstract and concrete objects are categorized similarly, this paper looks at how computer scientists categorize the common concepts of their field. Using the methodology of Rosch, Mervis, Gray, Johnson, and Boyes-Braem (1976) and of Rosch and Mervis (1975) to identify the categorizations used by computer scientists, this study found that the categorization phenomena reported for concrete objects are quite general, operating over a wider range than was previously thought.     

Utility of Model of Human Occupation Screening Tool in Sweden

abstract

Occupational therapists in Sweden are expected to use evidence-based practice. To meet this expectation, a helpful tool could be the Model of Human Occupational Screening Tool (MOHOST). The aim of this study was to examine the utility of the Swedish version of MOHOST. Thirty-seven occupational therapists were invited to take part in the examination. A questionnaire covering transferability, feasibility and clinical relevance was developed. The results show that MOHOST-S seems to have suitable utility. The study supports its implementation potential and clinical relevance. It gives a broad picture of the client’s occupational participation and it supports the treatment planning process.     

Attitudes,norms and driving behaviour: A comparison of young drivers in South Africa and Sweden

Culture is increasingly recognised among traffic psychologists to be a factor influencing driving behaviour. This study examines whether a cultural background characterised by rapid social change and high levels of violence and aggression, as in the South African context, has any discernible influences on driving standards or the behaviour of individual drivers. The experiences and attitudes of young drivers in South Africa are compared with a group of young drivers from Sweden, a country whose society has exhibited high levels of stability and where road user behaviour is renowned for its restraint and compliance with regulations.The two cohorts provide information about their exposure to traffic injuries, their attitudes to other drivers and to a range of traffic offences, and to the types of behaviour they personally engage in. Among the South African respondents the notion of a declining standard of driving emerges very clearly, and specific new norms of driving are identified. Such norms are explained to be a consequence of new social values or challenges inherent within contemporary South African society.     

Big Five personality traits and allostatic load in midlife

Objective: To examine the cross-sectional associations of Big Five personality traits with midlife allostatic load, including the role of sex, socio-demographic factors and health-related behaviours.

Design: Cross-sectional analyses of 5512 members of the Copenhagen Aging and Midlife Biobank, aged 49–63 years, 69% men.

Main outcome measure: Allostatic load (AL) based on 14 biomarkers representing the inflammatory, cardiovascular and metabolic system.

Results: Due to significant sex?×?trait interactions, analyses were stratified by sex. Openness and Conscientiousness were inversely associated with AL in both sexes, and Extraversion was positively associated with AL in men. Adjusting for socio-demographic factors significantly attenuated the association of Openness in both sexes and of Extraversion in men, for whom the inverse association of Agreeableness with AL was strengthened. Further adjusting for health-related behaviours, the Conscientiousness-AL association was attenuated but remained significant, and Agreeableness remained significantly associated with AL in men.

Conclusion: Results imply that higher levels of Agreeableness (in men) and Conscientiousness are associated with lower levels of AL above and beyond socio-demographic factors and health-related behaviours. The study further contributes by demonstrating the relevance of sex?×?trait and trait?×?trait interactions in the personality-health literature.     

Occupational Identity,Competence, and Environments Among Adults With and Without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Exploring occupational adaptation among adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is essential due to associated occupational difficulties. Occupational Performance History Interview scales—identity, competence, and environments—were compared between 51 adults with and 50 without ADHD who participated in occupations. Internal and external resources supporting occupational participations were represented by the competence and environment scales, respectively. The group with ADHD reported fewer internal and external occupational resources compared to the group without ADHD, despite occupational identity similarities. Study findings suggest that occupational interventions aimed at increasing internal and external occupational resources may support occupational adaptation among adults with ADHD.     

The role of occupational standards in workplace religious literacy

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the UK National Occupational Standards to identify the breadth of occupations for which it has been determined that workers need some degree of religious literacy. A total of 465 standards documents which mention religion and beliefs relating to a diverse range of occupations were retrieved, of which 13 had a primary focus on religion and beliefs. Approximately 60 percent of these standards noted the need for knowledge about religion and beliefs, though only a quarter of these specified actual performance criteria. With some exceptions, most of the standards were vague as to what is meant by religion and its proxies, with very few attempts to define their terms. A lack of specificity renders the inclusion of references to religion largely tokenistic rather than reflecting a measure of religious literacy which could be practically operationalised.     

从《战国策》看战国时期社会风气与思想倾向

《战国策》中的思想极其复杂，被称作“畔经离道之书”。《战国策》暴露出人类最原始、最本能的一面——追求物质利益的最大化。仁义廉耻等儒家通常所谓的美德，跟很多战国策士的价值观格格不入。但是，也正是在这样宽松自由的时代背景下，人们的思想与意识由百家争鸣渐渐向儒家的标准合拢，价值观由多元化向一元化靠拢。儒家的价值观正在悄然地受到尊重。汉代“罢黜百家，独尊儒术”有着一定的社会背景和思想意识基础。