Carmen Tanner

Protected values: No omission bias and no framing effects

Previous studies have suggested that people holding protected values (PVs) show a bias against harmful acts, as opposed to harmful omissions (omission bias). In the present study, we (1) investigated the relationship between PVs and acts versus omissions in risky choices, using a paradigm in which act and omission biases were presented in a symmetrical manner, and (2) examined whether people holding PVs respond differently to framing manipulations. Participants were given environmental scenarios and were asked to make choices between actions and omissions. Both the framing of the outcomes (positive vs. negative) and the outcome certainty (risky vs. certain) were manipulated. In contrast to previous studies, PVs were linked to preferences for acts, rather than for omissions. PVs were more likely to be associated with moral obligations to act than with moral prohibitions against action. Strikingly, people with strong PVs were immune to framing; participants with few PVs showed robust framing effects.

Moral Intelligence – A Framework for Understanding Moral Competences

In light of several corporate ethical scandals and the financial crisis many people are asking what can be done to promote moral behavior and to prevent similar transgressions in the future. In this chapter, we argue that beyond cultural and contextual influences, changes do also require agents who are skilled in how to deal with moral issues and how to turn moral standards into actions. In order to specify the abilities that facilitate moral functioning, the present work is designed to put forth a theoretical framework of “Moral Intelligence” which integrates current literature and research on moral decision-making, social cognition and self-regulation theory. The framework’s elementary concepts (which are: the moral compass, moral commitment, moral sensitivity, moral problem solving and moral resoluteness) and the underlying mechanisms are detailed. At the end, the practical value of the advocated model and the question of how to enhance moral intelligence is also briefly discussed.

Geschützte Werte Skala (GWS) Konstruktion und Validierung eines Messinstrumentes

Zusammenfassung. Geschutzte Werte (GW) sind Werte, die von Individuen oder einer Gemeinschaft als absolut, unantastbar und nicht substituierbar angesehen werden. Da es bislang noch kein Messinstrument zur Erfassung von GW gibt, besteht das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit in der Entwicklung und ersten Validierung einer Geschutzten Werte Skala (GWS). Die in Studie 1 durchgefuhrten Analysen zur Uberprufung der Skalen und der Modellgute fallen zufrieden stellend aus. Im Sinne der diskriminativen Validitat kann gezeigt werden, dass sich GW von wichtigen Einstellungen abgrenzen. Fur die Validitat spricht auch die Bestatigung mehrerer postulierter Gruppenunterschiede. Der in Studie 2 vorgenommene Vergleich zwischen zwei Extremgruppen (Befurworter und Gegner der Gentechnologie) ergibt zusatzliche Anhaltspunkte zur Validitat und konzeptuellen Differenzierung zwischen GW und Einstellungswichtigkeit. Schlusselworter: Geschutzte Werte, Werte, Entscheidungen, Moral, Validitat Sacred Value Measure (SVM): Construction and validation of an instrument to assess sacred values

How “moral” are the principles of biomedical ethics? – a cross-domain evaluation of the common morality hypothesis

BackgroundThe principles of biomedical ethics – autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence, and justice – are of paradigmatic importance for framing ethical problems in medicine and for teaching ethics to medical students and professionals. In order to underline this significance, Tom L. Beauchamp and James F. Childress base the principles in the common morality, i.e. they claim that the principles represent basic moral values shared by all persons committed to morality and are thus grounded in human moral psychology. We empirically investigated the relationship of the principles to other moral and non-moral values that provide orientations in medicine. By way of comparison, we performed a similar analysis for the business & finance domain.MethodsWe evaluated the perceived degree of “morality” of 14 values relevant to medicine (n1 = 317, students and professionals) and 14 values relevant to business & finance (n2 = 247, students and professionals). Ratings were made along four dimensions intended to characterize different aspects of morality.ResultsWe found that compared to other values, the principles-related values received lower ratings across several dimensions that characterize morality. By interpreting our finding using a clustering and a network analysis approach, we suggest that the principles can be understood as “bridge values” that are connected both to moral and non-moral aspects of ethical dilemmas in medicine. We also found that the social domain (medicine vs. business & finance) influences the degree of perceived morality of values.ConclusionsOur results are in conflict with the common morality hypothesis of Beauchamp and Childress, which would imply domain-independent high morality ratings of the principles. Our findings support the suggestions by other scholars that the principles of biomedical ethics serve primarily as instruments in deliberated justifications, but lack grounding in a universal “common morality”. We propose that the specific manner in which the principles are taught and discussed in medicine – namely by referring to conflicts requiring a balancing of principles – may partly explain why the degree of perceived “morality” of the principles is lower compared to other moral values.

To Act or Not to Act: Nonconsequentialism in Environmental Decision-Making

Research on environmental-decision making is usually based on utilitarian models, which imply that peoples decisions are only influenced by the outcomes. This research provides evidence for values and moral positions that reflect nonconsequentialist rather than consequentialist views. In doing this, this article refers to “sacred values,” which are values that are seen as not-substitutable and nontradable. Two studies were designed to examine evidence for sacred values and their role on act versus omission choices within the environmental domain. The studies revealed that sacred values were closely associated with preferences for actions, trade-off reluctance, deontological focus, and position of moral universalism. The results suggest that it is important to account for sacred values and nonconsequentialist views in environmental decision-making research.

Training moral sensitivity through video games: a review of suitable game mechanisms

The goal of this study is to support game designers in the selection and implementation of game mechanisms to promote players’ moral sensitivity (MS). A lack of MS may lead people to behave unethically, without awareness for their actions’ moral implications. In this study, we conduct a theory-based evaluation of 20 distinct game mechanisms in view of their potential to promote MS. MS is thereby operationalized in terms of three learning outcomes (LOs): empathic concern for relevant groups, alertness to values/principles, and awareness for one’s vulnerability to biases. This study suggests that MS is best promoted through a careful combination of game mechanisms, addressing all three LOs.

Measuring value sensitivity in medicine

BackgroundValue sensitivity – the ability to recognize value-related issues when they arise in practice – is an indispensable competence for medical practitioners to enter decision-making processes related to ethical questions. However, the psychological competence of value sensitivity is seldom an explicit subject in the training of medical professionals. In this contribution, we outline the traditional concept of moral sensitivity in medicine and its revised form conceptualized as value sensitivity and we propose an instrument that measures value sensitivity.MethodsWe developed an instrument for assessing the sensitivity for three value groups (moral-related values, values related to the principles of biomedical ethics, strategy-related values) in a four step procedure: 1) value identification (n = 317); 2) value representation (n = 317); 3) vignette construction and quality evaluation (n = 37); and 4) instrument validation by comparing nursing professionals with hospital managers (n = 48).ResultsWe find that nursing professionals recognize and ascribe importance to principle-related issues more than professionals from hospital management. The latter are more likely to recognize and ascribe importance to strategy-related issues.ConclusionsThese hypothesis-driven results demonstrate the discriminatory power of our newly developed instrument, which makes it useful not only for health care professionals in practice but for students and people working in the clinical context as well.

Using thesauruses as a heuristics for mapping values

Value differences across cultures or social groups are usually framed in terms of different emphases a particular group puts on specific values. For example, Western cultures typically prioritize values like autonomy and freedom, whereas East-Asian cultures put more emphasis on harmony and community. We present an alternative approach for investigating such cultural differences based on thesaurus databases that reflect the use of value terms in everyday language. We present a methodology that integrates empirical value research with linguistics and novel computer visualization tools to map and visualize value spaces. The maps outline variations in the semantic neighborhood of value terms. Based on 460 value terms both for US-English and German, we created for each language a map of 78 value classes that were further validated in two surveys. The use of such maps could inform research in three ways: first, by allowing for a controlled variability in the usage of value terms when generating vignettes; second, by indicating potential difficulties when translating value terms that display considerable differences in their semantic neighborhood; and third, as heuristics for better understanding value plurality.

Ethical Leadership – How to Integrate Empirical and Ethical Aspects for Promoting Moral Decision Making in Business Practice

Corporate ethical scandals, the financial and economic crisis of the past several years, and examples of misuse of power by prominent leaders have shocked the business world. They have not only called into question the role of the economic system design at large, but have also raised questions about the role of leaders in influencing ethics and ethical behavior in organizations. It is hardly controversial to state that aspects of management and leadership are crucial in determining the strategical direction and daily operations of an organization. Few would doubt that leaders are key figures in shaping ethical conduct. However, little is known about what constitutes ethical leadership. What are the relevant competencies leaders should acquire? The behavior of leaders and the extent to which they behave with moral integrity has also become a topic of high interest in the media and public discussion. Yet, many people believe that ethical leadership is simply a matter of having good character or having the “right values. “Although character and values are obviously important, the concept of ethical leadership is far more complex than those factors and there is little consensus on what precisely characterizes ethical leadership.In our contribution, we first want to highlight some typical features of the empirical and normative approaches to exploring ethical decision-making and behavior, and to sketch out how ethics and psychology can learn and benefit from each other. Second, based on previous empirical research and our own perspectives, we wish to shed light on some important components and competencies of ethical leaders. While discussing important characteristics of ethical leaders, we also aim to discover some unresolved key questions about ethical leadership. We argue that these questions reflect important points of intersection between empirical and normative approaches, and points where it appears beneficial that normative reflection comes in. These questions and their implications for the practice of moral behavior and leadership will be discussed in the final section.