Psychopathic personality and utilitarian moral judgment in college students

Purpose

Although psychopathy is characterized by amoral behavior, literature on the association between psychopathy and moral judgment pattern is mixed. Recent evidence suggests that this may be due to the moderation effect of anxiety (Koenigs, Kruepke, Zeier, & Newman, 2011). The current study aims to examine the psychopathy-utilitarian judgment association in college students.

Method

In this study, a group of 302 college students completed a moral judgment test involving hypothetical dilemmas. Their psychopathic traits were assessed by the Psychopathic Personality Inventory – Short Form (PPI-SF) (Lilienfeld & Andrews, 1996).

Results

Individuals with higher psychopathic traits were more likely to make utilitarian responses to moral dilemmas. Furthermore, the association between utilitarian responses and psychopathy was more salient for the behavioral factor of psychopathy (PPI-II), and this association was mediated by self-reported aggression. However, the moderating effect of anxiety was not found.

Conclusions

These results build upon work on utilitarian moral judgment in psychopathic individuals in a non-incarcerated, non-institutionalized sample, and have important implications for the behavioral correction system.     

Assessment of moral judgment and empathy in young sex offenders: a comparison of clinical judgment and test results

Professional decision making in forensic clinical practice may have lifelong consequences for offenders. Although information on moral development is important for prediction of reoffending and referral to adequate treatment, conclusions regarding moral development are still largely based on unstructured clinical judgment instead of assessment instruments. For this study, the authors examined to what extent unstructured clinical judgment of both moral judgment and victim empathy concurred with test results in a group of young sex offenders. Moral judgment was measured with the Sociomoral Reflection Measure-Short Form (SRM-SF), whereas victim empathy was measured with an extended version of the Basic Empathy Scale (BES). No significant associations were found between clinical judgment of moral judgment and the mean scores on the SRM-SF. However, clinical judgment of victim empathy was significantly associated with victim empathy on the Victim Empathy Scale but not consistently in the expected direction. Juvenile sex offenders, who were judged by clinicians to show little victim empathy, displayed lower mean scores on the Victim Empathy Scale than juvenile sex offenders who were evaluated to lack victim empathy or to have intact victim empathy. This study showed unstructured clinical judgment of moral development not to concur with test results. To improve decision-making processes regarding moral development, clinicians are advised to rely on instruments that assess moral development to inform clinical judgment. Further research is needed to examine which predictions are more accurate and to establish the predictive validity of moral development evaluations.     

Social role playing and moral judgment development

This study examined the relationship between social role playing and moral judgment development. Subjects were 197 students enrolled in introductory social science courses at a public junior/community college in a metropolitan area in southeast Florida. The 78 males and 119 females ranged in age from 17 to 66 years, with a mean age of 22. Rest's (1979a, 1979b) Defining Issues Test (DIT) was used to measure level of moral judgment. Social role playing was measured by the number of separate roles held by subjects in the past or present. Academic aptitude, socioeconomic status, age, and sex were included as control variables. Academic aptitude, age, and social role playing each had significant zero-order correlations with moral judgment, and social role playing added significantly to the explanation of moral judgment, controlling for academic aptitude and age. Implications of these results for the understanding of the development of moral judgment and for intervention programs are discussed.     

Correlates of moral development in juvenile delinquents

Moral reasoning and development have been the focus of considerable research in the past two decades, stimulated primarily by Kohlberg’s formulation of the stages of moral development. Studies of juvenile delinquents have indicated that youthful offenders are at lower developmental stages of moral reasoning than their nondeliquent counterparts. Some research has also examined patterns among juvenile delinquents with respect to moral judgments, as it is recognized that they are heterogeneous as a group. In order to further examine correlates of moral judgments among juvenile delinquents, a sample of 411 adolescent offenders was obtained. The sample consisted of all adjudicated male delinquents aged twelve to fifteen admitted to a state training school over a sixteen month period of time. Data was obtained on a measure of moral judgment, the Morality-Immorality Scale (Baker, Stewart, Kaiser, Brown & Barclay, 1979), along with a variety of measures of personality, behavioral, social, intellectual and educational skills. The adolescents were divided into three groups based on their scores on the MIS. The highest scoring group on MIS had better scores on a variety of behavioral, intellectual and personality indicators, while the lowest scoring group had the worst scores on such measures. Moral-religious emphasis in the home was not associated with the scores on the Morality-Immorality Scale, but a measure of family pathology was negatively related to these scores. Implications of the findings for research and for the development of moral education programs for delinquents is discussed.     

网络时代条件下对高校德育工作全面创新的思考

网络在大学生德育工作方面发挥积极作用的同时,也有着诸多的负面效应。高校应当充分利用网络时代所带来的机遇和条件,让德育工作占领网络阵地,为促进大学生全面发展创造有利条件。     

儿童美德的形成与道德发展

美德是道德教育理论中的一个重要概念,它对儿童道德发展至关重要。美德有四个基本成分：优良品质、中庸之道、意志力和内在的善。美德的这四个基本成分是儿童道德社会化的基础。儿童美德形成的途径主要为：通过儿童道德习惯的养成和移情体验形成儿童优良的品质,创设适当的环境矛盾教孩子学会采用中庸之道做出正确的道德判断和选择,通过意志力的培养帮助儿童克服意志的弱点和形成自律的习惯,通过内在动机的激励帮助儿童形成为获得内在的善而工作和学习的习惯,为儿童未来的道德生活莫定发展的坚实基础。     

从他律道德到自律道德——科尔伯格的道德类型说评介

科尔伯格把道德发展中的他律与自律称为道德判断的两种类型 ,道德类型说是其后期理论的重要发展。称尔伯格对道德判断类型的探讨包括三种主要方法 ,即发展类型方法、亚阶段方法和理想类型方法。理想类型方法又包括理想类型的内涵、他律与自律类型的区分标准以及道德类型的测量方法等具体内容。     

论体育教学中的道德教育

体育中的道德教育问题，历来被教育家、体育家所推崇和重视。根据体育教学的特点、目的和任务，培养学生正确的道德评价能力和道德意识，充分发挥体育的育体、育人功能，培养学生成为完全型人格的人，是体育教学中进行道德教育的必然选择。     

当代大学生道德认知状况研究报告

本文运用问卷调查与统计分析方法探讨了当代大学生各个层面的道德认知问题。研究结果表明：对跨世纪的这一代大学生急需加强人文主义教育,而尤以对工科大学生的人文素质教育意义更加重要;大学生中,女生的道德认识水平普遍高于男生;父母的文化程度与大学生的道德素质有明显的正相关;市场经济对大学生道德认知的消极意义与积极意义并存,其消极影响有扩大和蔓延倾向;父母的职业对大学认知的消极意义与积极意义并存,其消极影响有扩大和蔓延倾向;父母的职业对大学生道德认知水平的影响没有显著差异;从总体上看,大学生道德认知的发展城乡差异不显著,这与改革开放以来,我国农村加速城市化进程有关,也与农村大学生适应城市化生活有关。     

Moral development and recidivism: a meta-analysis

A meta-analysis of 19 studies (N = 15,992 offenders) showed a significant inverse relation between more mature moral development and recidivism. Moderator analyses revealed a larger effect size for moral cognition (r = .20) than for moral emotion (r = .11). Effect sizes for production measures (r = .57) were much larger than for recognition measures (r = .16) and unstructured (clinical) judgment (r = .10). Larger effect sizes were found for female delinquents (r = .32) than for male delinquents (r = .21). Only small differences in effect sizes were found between juvenile delinquents (r = .10) and adult delinquents (r = .16). Finally, self-report measures of recidivism revealed much larger effect sizes (r = .32) than official reports of recidivism (r = .09). The discussion focuses on the theoretical and practical meaning of the magnitude of the effect size for the relation between moral development and recidivism.     

The relationship between psychopathy and moral development in young sex offenders

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between psychopathic traits and moral development (moral judgement and empathy) in 85 Dutch male sex offenders between 13 and 23 years of age. Questions were asked about general life situations, sexual situations with morally relevant features, and questions about the offender's own abuse victim. A weak negative association was found between psychopathy and mature moral judgement, but only when questions involved the offender's own abuse victim. Weak to moderate negative associations were found between psychopathy and cognitive and affective empathy in general and sexual situations, but not in the own abuse victim situations. Further analysis revealed moderate negative associations between psychopathy and affective empathy in the own abuse victim situations, but only when an unfamiliar victim was involved. This is the first study, to our knowledge, showing that juvenile sex offenders with high levels of psychopathy have context-specific moral deficits, and that in this group both cognitive and affective empathy are related to psychopathy.     

Moral Reasoning and the Use of Procedural Justice Rules in Hypothetical and Real-Life Dilemmas

The use of Leventhal's procedural justice rules in moral judgments was examined (1) in the match examples of the Colby and Kohlberg moral judgment interview manual (Study 1), (2) in hypothetical dilemmas given to a sample of 41 participants in professional ethics classes, and (3) in the real-life moral dilemmas produced by this sample (Study 2). Consistent support was found for the hypothesis that bias suppression is used more frequently at the higher moral reasoning stages. A higher number of justice rules were employed in solving a real-life than hypothetical moral problem, and most procedural justice rules were used more frequently in the real-life dilemma.     

当代国外学校道德教育状况综述

道德教育关系到国家的存亡、民族的兴衰、社会的稳定和发展,学校德育作为道德教育的重要组成部分,已为全世界各 国所重视。借鉴当代国外学校道德教育成功的经验,对于加强和改进我国学校德育工作具有重大的意义。     

从五因素交互作用论看德育的作用

从总体上看影响个体心理形成与发展的因素是遗传、成熟、环境、教育和主体性,这五个因素在个体不同成长阶段扮演不同角色.从五因素交互作用论看德育的作用可以得出三个结论:(1)德育是将自然人变成有德性的社会人的重要途径与手段;(2)在个体稳定人格形成前妥善开展德育的效果最佳;(3)紧紧抓住主体性这个重要中介变量的德育效果最佳.     

An Investigation of Moral Suasion and Vertical Equity Arguments on Intended Taxpayer Noncompliance

A statewide telephone survey was used to obtain data on self‐reports of hypothetical prize income. One‐third of the subjects were read a moral argument, one‐third were read information on the level of taxes paid by the "wealthy," and one‐third of the subjects were treated as the control group. Both the moral and the wealthy‐pay arguments increased compliance for some of the subjects. There was no apparent backlash effect from the moral argument as suggested by Tittle and Rowe (1973). The wealthy‐pay strategy was effective for taxpayers with tax balances due rather than for those receiving tax refunds. The study also provides evidence on how college education moderates the effects of tax balances due as well as evidence on how a moral argument can negate the noncompliance effects of tax balances due.     

THE TIMING AND MECHANISMS OF THE OFFENDING‐DEPRESSION LINK*

Why is juvenile delinquency associated with depression in young adulthood? One possibility is that delinquency interferes with socioeco‐nomic attainment and disrupts entry into adult roles, perhaps because of official labeling processes or adolescent socialization into deviance, and these repercussions of delinquency lead to depression. Another possibility is that grown delinquents may show high levels of depression because they tend to offend in adulthood, and adult offenders tend to be depressed. I use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine the timing and mechanisms of the offending‐depression relationship. The results suggest that delinquency is negatively associated with later status attainment and that the status attainment deficits of grown delinquents are not fully explained by justice system contacts or by adolescent delinquent peer influence. A portion of the longitudinal delinquency‐depression link is explained by the low levels of education of grown delinquents and by their involvement with the justice system. Still, young adult depression is more closely tied to recent offending than it is to juvenile delinquency, official labeling, or the status attainment consequences of delinquency.     

Juvenile Transfers to Adult Court: An Examination of the Long‐Term Outcomes of Transferred and Non‐Transferred Juveniles

Juveniles who are transferred to adult court are more likely to recidivate than non‐transferred juveniles, but limited research has examined how transfer can impact other life outcomes like attending college and employment. To examine this issue, data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997) were analyzed from 1998 to 2011. It was found that court involvement during adolescence does not harm educational attainment. However, prosecution of juveniles in adult court significantly impairs earning potential well into adulthood. The current study provides further evidence of the long‐term harms caused by transfer and demonstrates how transfer further disrupts the desistance process.     

Empathic emotions and justice in society

Empathy is defined as an affect more appropriate to another's situation than to one's own. The paper (i) summarizes different modes of empathic affect arousal; (ii) shows how empathic affect may interact with social-cognitive development, to produce four levels of empathy development; (iii) suggests that causal attributions may transform empathic affect into sympathy, guilt, and empathic anger, which are major moral affects; (iv) discusses how these affects may influence moral judgment and behavior; (v) points up empathic morality's limitations and the need to embed empathy in relevant moral principles; (vi) discusses possible links between empathy and justice principles, with special focus on Rawls; (vii) illustrates the interplay of empathy, moral judgment, and justice; and (viii) suggests that moral principles may become hot cognitions.     

Premilitary adult sexual assault victimization and perpetration in a Navy recruit sample

Female (n = 5,226) and male (n = 5,969) U.S. Navy recruits completed a survey assessing their premilitary histories of adult sexual assault (SA), defined as attempted or completed rape since the age of 14. The survey was completed under anonymous or identified conditions. Overall, 39% of women reported premilitary SA victimization and 13% of men admitted premilitary SA perpetration. As predicted, rates were significantly higher in the anonymous than in the identified condition. For the sample of women as a whole, marital status, ethnicity, and family income were associated with SA victimization; for men, only marital status was associated with SA perpetration. Compared to previous college samples, Navy recruits were more likely to have previous SA experience. Given the negative consequences associated with SA victimization and perpetration, the present study reinforces the desirability of developing additional treatment, education, and prevention programs to reduce the occurrence of SA among military recruits.     

艺术类大学生思想道德素质状况解析——以江苏高校为例

在问卷调查的基础上,从思想政治、理想信念和道德素养三个方面对艺术类大学生思想道德素质状况进行了较为全面的调查与分析结果显示,艺术专业大学生思想道德素质的总体状况是健康向上和积极进取的,同时,值得重视的是,随着我国社会的经济成分、组织形式、就业状况、利益关系和分配方式日益多样化的态势也给一部分艺术专业大学生思想道德发展带来了不少负面影响,为此,我们应大力加强理想信念教育和爱国主义教育,进一步充实法制、诚信与合作意识教育的内容,积极建构和努力推进心理健康教育的新模式.