Prosociality and morality through the lens of personality psychology

Prosociality and morality are critical to the functioning and flourishing of society. There is, however, great variation in the degree to which individuals help or hinder one another, or adhere to ethical standards of “rightness.” One way to understand this variation is by drawing on theories and models within personality psychology, which may illuminate the basic individual characteristics that drive a wide range of other-regarding tendencies. In this review, we provide a snapshot of three research strands addressing these themes. The first concerns how personality traits map onto prosocial preferences for fairness and cooperation, as studied using classic social decision-making tasks called economic games. The second concerns the robust associations between personality traits and indicators of inter-group prejudice (e.g., authoritarian ideology). The third concerns the emerging concept of moral exceptionality, and the personality traits that may characterise individuals at the forefront of moral progress. These examples demonstrate the core role that personality psychology is playing in the study of prosocial and moral behaviour, as well as the critical mass emerging in the Australian context around these themes.     

Economic Disadvantage at the Intersections: Contemporary Stereotypes in the Headlines

Effective multiculturally competent treatment of economically disadvantaged clients requires an awareness of the stereotypes and biases that these clients and their families face in contemporary culture—stereotypes that are so pervasive that they can subtly influence counselors’ thinking about poor and working‐class individuals. In this article, the authors apply an intersectional perspective to profile current stereotypes and biases that exist regarding low‐income groups at the intersections of race, religion, and immigration status. Implications for educators and counselors are suggested. Un tratamiento efectivo y multiculturalmente competente de clientes e conómicamente desfavorecidos requiere una conciencia de los estereotipos y prejuicios que estos clientes y sus familias enfrentan en la cultura contemporánea; estereotipos tan arraigados que pueden influir sutilmente en la forma de pensar de los consejeros sobre las personas pobres y de clase trabajadora. En este artículo, los autores aplican una perspectiva interseccional para perfilar estereotipos y prejuicios actuales que existen acerca de grupos de bajo nivel económico en las intersecciones entre raza, religión y estatus migratorio. Se sugieren implicaciones para educadores y consejeros.     

Maternal Appraisal Styles,Family Risk Status and Anger Biases of Children

The present study investigated the relationship between maternal appraisal styles, family risk status, and anger biases in children. Participants included 90 mothers and their children between 3–6 years of age. Eighty families were followed up 1 year later. Maternal appraisal styles were assessed via a naturalistic story-reading method, and Time 1 and Time 2 emotion biases included teacher ratings of anger and aggression, peer ratings of anger, as well as classroom and playground observations of anger. While discussing ambiguous stories with their children, mothers with higher scores on the family risk index utilized more hostile appraisals and fewer prosocial appraisals in their explanations. A higher proportion of hostile-to-prosocial appraisals was also related to higher-risk family status. Prosocial appraisals by mothers were inversely correlated with childrens anger biases at school. When the appraisal balance in mothers talk favored hostile appraisals, children tended to show higher levels of anger biases evidenced at school. Finally, a hostile balance of maternal appraisals was found to predict change in childrens anger biases in the school with different effects in high- and low-risk families.     

Economic and biological influences on key pecking and treadle pressing in pigeons

Pigeons were studied on a two-component multiple schedule in which the required operant was, in different conditions, biologically relevant (i.e., key pecking) or nonbiologically relevant (i.e., treadle pressing). Responding was reinforced on a variable-interval (VI) 2-min schedule in both components. In separate phases, additional food was delivered on a variable-time (VT) 15-s schedule (response independent) or a VI 15-s schedule (response dependent) in one of the components. The addition of response-independent food had different effects on responding depending on the operant response and on the frequency with which the components alternated. When components alternated frequently (every 10 s), all pigeons keypecked at a much higher rate during the component with the additional food deliveries, whether response dependent or independent. In comparison, treadle pressing was elevated only when the additional food was response dependent; rate of treadling was lower when the additional food was response independent. When components alternated infrequently (every 20 min), pigeons key pecked at high rates at points of transition into the component with the additional food deliveries. Rate of key pecking decreased with time spent in the 20-min component when the additional food was response independent, whereas rate of pecking remained elevated in that component when the additional food was response dependent. Under otherwise identical test conditions, rate of treadle pressing varied only as a function of its relative rate of response-dependent reinforcement. Delivery of response-independent food thus had different, but predictable, effects on responding depending on which operant was being studied, suggesting that animal-learning procedures can be integrated with biological considerations without the need to propose constraints that limit general laws of learning.     

生命伦理与制度伦理冲突的终结--"非典"事件的伦理学审读

SARS事件可以为生命伦理与制度伦理历史冲突的终结提供佐证;公民享有的健康权必须平等。应大力矫正医疗与预防的关系,必须重视发展公共卫生事业;应重新思考中国的卫生事业改革,中国医疗改革不能实行市场化,卫生经济伦理学的研究证明,中国的卫生制度改革重点在农村,“适者生存”的原则不适用于卫生事业。创构灾疫伦理学是生命伦理学的一项使命。     

论中国古代德性主义经济伦理思想的萌芽

周代的“敬德保民”思想中包括了三个方面的经济伦理思想内涵：一、“无逸”的劳动伦理观和“孝养父母”的生产观;二、反对“独专于利”,主张利益分配的公正性;三、在生活方式上,主张“恭俭惟德”的消费观。这些思想具有德性主义的性质。     

How living in economically unequal societies shapes our minds and our social lives

In recent decades, the economies of many countries have produced increasingly unequal outcomes for the rich and poor. This economic trend has attracted interest from members of the media, public and political classes as well as researchers who are interested in its societal implications. While this research has traditionally been the purview of economists and sociologists, there has been a burgeoning growth in research that has sought to understand the psychology of economic inequality. In this review, we summarize this work, focusing on two major themes: (1) how people perceive the scale of economic inequality and appraise its significance, and (2) how living in an economically unequal environment shapes people's social lives. Together, this work affirms claims that economic inequality is ‘the defining issue of our time’ (Obama, 2013) with a great deal of destructive potential. We identify important questions that await further research attention.     

Multinational data show that conspiracy beliefs are associated with the perception (and reality) of poor national economic performance

While a great deal is known about the individual difference factors associated with conspiracy beliefs, much less is known about the country-level factors that shape people's willingness to believe conspiracy theories. In the current article we discuss the possibility that willingness to believe conspiracy theories might be shaped by the perception (and reality) of poor economic performance at the national level. To test this notion, we surveyed 6723 participants from 36 countries. In line with predictions, propensity to believe conspiracy theories was negatively associated with perceptions of current and future national economic vitality. Furthermore, countries with higher GDP per capita tended to have lower belief in conspiracy theories. The data suggest that conspiracy beliefs are not just caused by intrapsychic factors but are also shaped by difficult economic circumstances for which distrust might have a rational basis.     

轻工企业组织行为与经济绩效的实证研究

为了探索中国轻工企业组织行为与经济绩效的因果关系和操作模式,我们参考英、荷、日三国有关企业组织行为的态度量表,设计了一套涵盖企业对市场竞争、文化理念和管理情景的“三模块”总量表,在轻工行业抽取八个样本企业,实施现场实验,采集有关企业组织行为的态度指数,然后与其经济绩效进行关联分析．结果表明,轻工企业组织行为的态度指数与其经济绩效总体趋势呈正相关,但个案分析提示两者间关系复杂,不仅有正相关,也有负相关现象;究其规律尚须扩大样本行纵贯式追踪研究．     

Luther's Challenge: The Power of Greed in Our Common Home

When faced with growing poverty, corrupt business practices, and the power of banking houses and lobbyists, Luther drew on his theological anthropology in order to discern the devastating power of greed in human relationships. And yet, as he admitted, greed was and is a clever master of human ambition, accepted by leaders in church, commerce, and government. His teaching on the power of greed was in continuity with the Christian tradition and yet broke new ground in his recognition that this vice possesses a social, institutional nature.