Understanding the Dark Side of Costly Punishment: The Impact of Individual Differences in Everyday Sadism and Existential Threat

In public goods situations, a specific destructive behaviour reliably emerges when individuals face the possibility of costly punishing others: antisocial punishment, that is, costly punishing cooperative individuals. So far, however, little is known about the individual differences and situational factors that are associated with the dark side of costly punishment. This research deals with this shortcoming. We argue that antisocial punishment reflects the basic characteristics of sadism, namely, aggressive behaviour to dominate and to harm other individuals. We further argue that antisocial punishment may reflect a type of behaviour that allows for the maintenance of self‐esteem (through aggressively dominating others). Therefore, we expect that individuals who report a disposition for everyday sadism are particularly likely to engage in antisocial punishment when their self has been threatened (by thinking about one's own death). In a study (N = 99), we found empirical support for this assumption. The present research contributes to a better understanding of antisocial punishment and suggests that sadistic tendencies play a crucial role, especially when the self is (existentially) threatened. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology     

生前预嘱制度的伦理困境与化解路径

随着医疗技术在医疗领域的迅速发展,个人对医疗措施具备了更宽泛的选择权。然而,我国对生前预嘱制度的引入存在较大的伦理争议,主要表现为基于目标冲突、责任冲突和角色冲突导致的伦理困境。通过解析救死扶伤的时代理解、父权主义的时代抛弃、自然死亡的时代定位与生前预嘱的时代需求,提出我国应对救死扶伤进行重新定义、确立个人中心主义、正确对待自然死亡、推进生前预嘱制度入法的应对策略,以从根本上破解生前预嘱制度的伦理困境,促进生前预嘱制度在我国的落地实施。

     

异种器官移植技术中的伦理问题面面观

目前,有关异种器官移植技术的伦理问题讨论的既有文献大多集中于该技术试验阶段。从受体、供体及社会的维度,讨论异种器官移植技术的试验及临床应用阶段可能引发的伦理问题,这些问题包括：受体的人格同一性危机,生理不相容引发医疗安全问题;供体动物的道德权利问题,生物安全问题;异种器官利用的公平可及问题,技术的滥用问题,受体的“污名化”问题。对上述伦理问题进行深入的伦理讨论和辨析,为异种器官移植技术的研究提供科学合理的方向,也将有助于该技术成熟后,合伦理的推广应用。

     

健康本源论模型介绍及启示

基于文献分析的方法,梳理健康本源论的发展历程,重点介绍健康本源论模型及模型中的主要概念,探讨健康本源论在实践中的应用及其对健康研究的启示。国外应用健康本源论指导医学实践的经验表明,对健康领域的研究重心从疾病预防转移到健康促进,对于提高个体和社会健康水平具有一定的指导意义。未来我国健康相关研究可从健康本源论视角出发,结合国情及文化,对健康本源论进行本土化调整和发展,为健康领域研究与实践提供借鉴和理论依据。

     

关于医学人文教育改革整体设计的思考

高素质医学人才既要具备较高的医学科学素质,又应具备较高的人文素质。目前医学人文教育在我国高等医学教育体系中明显不足。实践表明,高等医学院校通过单项改革和局部调整不能从根本上解决这个问题。医学人文教育若要真正实现医疗人性化的终极目标,必须从医学与人文紧密结合这一特性出发,对医学人文教育改革进行整体设计,使人文课程多样化,扩大医学生人文视野。以医学教育改革为契机,整合医学专业课程与人文课程,医学人文教育贯穿课堂学习、临床见习、临床实习全过程,打造一支医学知识与人文知识兼备的教师队伍。     

Reproductive justice and support for young fathers

The current article addresses the interests and contributions of fathers to child development and well-being within a reproductive and social justice framework. We present an overview of research on the role of fathers in the lives of children from the prenatal period through early childhood, with an emphasis on fathers as partners and caregivers in promoting the reproductive health and safety of women and the healthy development of young children. We explore especially the challenges of young, at-risk fathers as well as system and practice opportunities that support their contributions as partners and parents. Our goal of the article is to extend the discourse on reproductive and social justice to include the shared responsibility of all parents and facilitate circumstances whereby children experience the support needed to become nurturing caregivers for the next generation.     

Influence of social context on the relationship between guilt and prosocial behaviour

While some previous researchers have found that guilt encourages prosocial behaviour towards a victim at the expense of other people, others have found the opposite, that is, people allocate resources at the expense of themselves. The present research used a hypothetical scenario method to determine which of these patterns would be replicated in the collectivistic context of Japanese society. In addition, we separated the cause of feelings of guilt into having caused harm and being at fault, and examined in more detail the effect of guilt on prosocial behaviour. Our results show that, in line with the second set of previous researchers, participants who were induced to feel guilt for having caused harm were more likely to allocate their resources to their victim at the expense of themselves than were individuals in the no‐harm condition. This suggests that differences in social context influence the effect of guilt on prosocial behaviour in different ways.     

Exploration of Mechanisms behind Changes after Participation in a Parenting Intervention: A Qualitative Study in a Low‐Resource Setting

Parenting interventions are effective for preventing psychological difficulties in children. However, their active ingredients have not been comprehensively explored. How do they work? What are the mechanisms operating behind changes? In 2012, a randomized controlled trial of a parenting intervention was conducted in low‐resource communities of Panama. Effects on child behavioral difficulties, parental stress, and parenting practices were large in the short and long term. This was an ideal opportunity to explore potential mechanisms operating behind effects found in this low‐resource setting. Twenty‐five parents were interviewed. Data were analyzed through an inductive semantic thematic analysis. Three themes emerged from the data: (a) psychological mechanisms behind changes, (b) behavioral changes in parent, and (c) changes in the children. Parents described that the intervention triggered changes in emotion regulation, self‐efficacy, and problem solving. Parents also reported behavioral changes such as praising their children more often, who in turn seemed more responsible and better at following instructions. The study offers participant‐driven insight into potential pathways of change after participation in this parenting intervention, pathways that are often overlooked in quantitative studies. Future studies should further explore these pathways, through mediator and moderator analyses, and determine how much is shared across interventions and across different cultural settings.