Search Results (104)

The growing presence of autonomous AI systems, such as self-driving cars and humanoid robots, raises critical ethical questions about how these technologies should make moral decisions. Most existing moral machine (MM) models rely on secular, utilitarian principles, which prioritize the greatest good for the greatest number but often overlook the religious and cultural values that shape moral reasoning across different traditions. This paper explores how theological perspectives, particularly those from Christian, Islamic, and East Asian ethical frameworks, can inform and enrich algorithmic ethics in autonomous systems. By integrating these religious values, the study proposes a more inclusive approach to AI decision making that respects diverse beliefs. A key innovation of this research is the use of large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT (GPT-5.2), to design with human guidance MM architectures that incorporate these ethical systems. Through Python 3 scripts, the paper demonstrates how autonomous machines, e.g., vehicles and humanoid robots, can make ethically informed decisions based on different religious principles. The aim is to contribute to the development of AI systems that are not only technologically advanced but also culturally sensitive and ethically responsible, ensuring that they align with a wide range of theological values in morally complex situations. Full article

Gendered media framing continues to restrict women’s political representation in Southern Africa, where news narratives often emphasise emotion and personality over policy and competence. This systematic review analysed empirical and grey literature (2000–2025) on the portrayal of women politicians in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Lesotho, and Namibia. Following PRISMA 2020 standards, 1384 records were identified from academic databases and regional repositories, with 73 records meeting the inclusion criteria. The studies were thematically analysed using feminist media theory. The review uncovers enduring stereotypes—such as motherhood, moral virtue, and emotionality—while leadership competence remains marginalised. Coverage frequently reinforces the “political glass cliff,” portraying women as suitable only during crises. Nonetheless, some evidence of resistance journalism and feminist digital counter-narratives is emerging, driven by NGOs like Gender Links and Media Monitoring Africa. Despite methodological diversity, most studies emphasise qualitative textual analysis and highlight limited audience or production research. Major limitations include reliance on English-language and secondary data, which restrict regional generalisability. Overall, the findings underscore that symbolic exclusion persists across Southern African media, emphasising the need for gender-sensitive newsroom frameworks and transformative reporting practices. This review received no external funding and is not registered in PROSPERO. Full article

Background: Moral development (MD) arises from the interaction of attachment, temperament, emotion regulation, and decision-making. Children and adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) frequently show impairments across these domains, suggesting increased vulnerability to disruptions in MD. However, the mechanisms linking ADHD to MD remain poorly understood. Methods: A systematic review was conducted according to PRISMA 2020 guidelines. PubMed was searched for studies published between January 2014 and November 2024 examining MD-related constructs, including moral reasoning, fairness, aggression, bullying, callous–unemotional (CU) traits, decision-making, and reward sensitivity, in individuals aged 0–18 years with diagnosed or subclinical ADHD. Due to substantial heterogeneity in study design, measures, and outcomes, a qualitative synthesis was performed. Results: Of the 2104 records identified, 23 studies met inclusion criteria. Insecure or disorganized attachment, difficult temperament, and emotional dysregulation consistently emerged as developmental risk factors for impaired MD. Hyperactivity–impulsivity and deficient inhibitory control were strongly associated with aggressive and antisocial behaviors. Children with ADHD demonstrated a pronounced preference for immediate over delayed rewards, altered decision-making in social contexts, and reduced sensitivity to positive feedback. CU traits and aggression were frequently identified as behavioral correlates of MD impairments, particularly in interaction with family adversity and comorbid externalizing conditions. Social dysfunction, including bullying involvement, peer rejection, and interpersonal difficulties, was common and contributed to elevated long-term psychosocial risk. Conclusions: ADHD is associated with multidimensional vulnerabilities in MD through intertwined cognitive, emotional, and relational pathways. Interventions targeting attachment security, emotion regulation, reward processing, and social skills may foster MD and reduce later social difficulties. Longitudinal and cross-cultural research is needed to clarify causal mechanisms and inform developmentally sensitive prevention and treatment strategies. Full article

The concept of neuroception of psychological safety, rooted in Polyvagal Theory, offers a framework for understanding how individuals perceive safety at a physiological and psychological level. Illness may disrupt this perception and affect bodily regulation, emotional resilience, social connection, and self-compassion. This study aims to explore how experiences of being unwell, across both acute and chronic contexts, affect individuals’ neuroception of psychological safety. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven adult participants aged 20–79, including individuals with both acute and chronic illness experiences. Interview questions were informed by the Neuroception of Psychological Safety and Polyvagal Theory. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, following Braun and Clarke’s six-step process. Four key themes were identified: dysregulation and the narrowing window of tolerance (reduced emotional resilience and heightened bodily sensitivity); distrust and disappointment (a rupture in bodily and self-trust); responsibility and internalised guilt (moral and emotional burdens around illness and recovery); and illness demands attention and disrupts social connection (withdrawal, emotional depletion, and compromised compassion). Across these themes, participants described a diminished sense of psychological safety when unwell, shaped by both internal physiological changes and altered social dynamics. Illness can profoundly undermine psychological safety by disrupting neurobiological regulation, altering relational engagement, and eroding trust in one’s body and self. These findings highlight the importance of integrating psychological safety principles into models of care, particularly in how individuals experience and recover from illness. Full article

How are Pentecostal theologies, doctrines, and practices deployed in navigating urban spaces? This paper examines how covering—a concept and practice deployed in some Pentecostal and charismatic churches—is deployed and negotiated in navigating life in the city. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork initiated in Johannesburg’s vibrant yet complex urban landscape, this research investigates how covering extends beyond church walls to influence broader urban experiences through power-laden interactions. Within my case study church, Speak in Tongues International (SITI), covering refers to multilayered spiritual authority, protection, and accountability structures that create relationships between the divine and human, and between leaders and followers. This paper contributes to the affect-sensitive urban studies literature by theorising how, in contrast to the city riddled by fear, anxiety and insecurity, religious conceptions mediate how some congregants understand themselves as moving through city spaces under a protective divine canopy that shields them from moral contamination whilst simultaneously imposing behavioural and social constraints. Full article

Understanding how moral and emotional language operates in paid social advertising is essential for evaluating persuasion and its ethical contours. We provide a descriptive map of Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) language in Meta ad copy (Facebook/Instagram) drawn from seven global beverage brands across eight English-speaking markets. Using the moralstrength toolkit, we implement a two-channel pipeline that combines an unsupervised semantic estimator (SIMON) with supervised classifiers, enforces a strict cross-channel consensus rule, and adds a non-overriding purity diagnostic to reduce attribute-based false positives. The corpus comprises 758 text units, of which only 25 ads (3.3%) exhibit strong consensus, indicating that much of the copy is either non-moral or linguistically ambiguous. Within this high-consensus subset, the distribution of moral cues varies systematically by brand and category, with loyalty, fairness, and purity emerging as the most prominent frames. A valence pass (VADER) indicates that moralized copy tends toward negative valence, yet it may still yield a constructive overall tone when advertisers follow a crisis–resolution structure in which high-intensity moral cues set the stakes while surrounding copy positions the brand as the solution. We caution that text-only models undercapture multimodal signaling and that platform policies and algorithmic recombination shape which moral cues appear in copy. Overall, the study demonstrates both the promise and the limits of current text-based MFT estimators for advertising: they support transparent, reproducible mapping of moral rhetoric, but future progress requires multimodal, domain-sensitive pipelines, policy-aware sampling, and (where available) impression/spend weighting to contextualize descriptive labels. Full article

This study investigates how consumer brand trust is shaped by the interplay of sustainability disclosure valence (positive/negative), domain (social/environmental), and information source credibility (internet influencer/scientific report). Using a mixed-methods approach, combining a series of focus groups and a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects scenario experiment with a sample of 354 university students, we analyzed both the main and interactive effects of these factors on brand trust via hierarchical regression. The findings confirm that positive disclosures in both social and environmental domains significantly enhance brand trust. We observed a significant synergistic interaction, where consistent positive disclosures across both sustainability domains yield the greatest increase in trust. The study uncovers a domain-specific boundary condition for source credibility. While the source of information significantly moderates the impact of social sustainability disclosures—with influencers failing to generate the same punitive impact as scientific reports regarding social transgressions—source credibility exerts no significant influence on environmental disclosure processing. These findings suggest that consumers process environmental data as technical information (source-neutral) but social data as moral signals (source-dependent). Practically, the results suggest that brands require a holistic sustainability communication strategy and rely on highly credible sources for sensitive social messaging, especially when managing reputational risk or responding to negative disclosures. Full article

Background/Objectives: This study investigates how consumers decide to adopt alternative proteins—specifically insect-based, cultured meat, and plant-based options—as part of a transition towards environmentally sustainable diets. Building on an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), the analysis adds personal moral norms and environmental concerns to better capture the ethical and normative drivers of food choice. Methods: Survey data from 948 residents of the Campania region (southern Italy) were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to assess the relationship among classical TPB constructs, personal moral norms, environmental concerns, and behavioural intention towards alternative protein consumption. Results: Personal moral norms emerge as the strongest predictor of behavioural intention, directly and indirectly influencing attitudes and environmental concerns. Subjective norms also affect intention, primarily by reinforcing moral norms and perceived behavioural control, although their direct impact is not significant. Classical TPB constructs show limited direct effects. Conclusions: The findings suggest that consumers’ sustainable food intentions are more strongly shaped by moral identity and the surrounding social context than by attitudes alone. The evidence supports the development of culturally sensitive strategies designed to strengthen moral and normative motivations and foster the adoption of alternative proteins. Full article

Background: Ethical decision-making in medical care increasingly requires balancing clinical values, professional duties, and organizational reasoning. Understanding how healthcare professionals navigate moral dilemmas necessitates examining the philosophical orientations that shape their ethical judgments. Alongside traditional medical ethics, a business ethics perspective highlights organizational and managerial dimensions of healthcare, offering a more comprehensive understanding of ethical decision-making in modern clinical contexts. Aim: This study aims to examine how healthcare professionals reason about ethical dilemmas by mapping their moral orientations and decision-making patterns across five ethical frameworks-idealism, relativism, objectivism, legalism, and Machiavellianism-integrating both medical and business ethics perspectives. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 277 participants (medical doctors and students). Two validated instruments were used: the Attitudes Toward Business Ethics Questionnaire (ATBEQ) to assess moral orientations and the Clinical Ethical Dilemmas Questionnaire (Richeux & Duquéroy) to evaluate ethical decision patterns. Data were analyzed using correlation, multiple regression, and k-means cluster analyses. Results: Among the five orientations, Legalism negatively predicted “It depends” responses (i.e., higher Legalism scores were associated with fewer indecisive responses), indicating greater decisiveness in ethically ambiguous situations. Unexpected positive correlations were also found between traditionally opposing constructs-such as Ethical Relativism and Moral Objectivism-suggesting moral pluralism. The overall regression model was not statistically significant (R² = 0.04, p = 0.08). Cluster analysis identified four distinct ethical reasoning profiles: High Machiavellian Idealists, Pragmatic Relativists, Context-Sensitive Objectivists, and Ethical Purists. Conclusions: Abstract philosophical orientations showed limited predictive power for contextual ethical decision-making, highlighting the complex and multidimensional nature of moral reasoning in healthcare. Findings inform the design of context-sensitive ethics education programs that integrate philosophical reflection with case-based learning to strengthen ethical competence among medical professionals. Full article

Violence against women remains one of the most persistent social problems in Türkiye, often reinforced by patriarchal interpretations of religion and cultural traditions. This study investigates the role of religious institutions and values-based education in preventing such violence by analyzing national curricula, mosque sermons, policy documents, and reports of the Presidency of Religious Affairs. Using a qualitative design based on document analysis and literature review, it examines how religious education reflects or omits gender-related themes and how institutional practices shape public awareness. The findings reveal that while formal and non-formal types of religious education promote moral values such as compassion, justice, and respect, they rarely address gender-based violence explicitly. Religious discourse tends to emphasize general moral development rather than specific strategies for preventing violence against women. The study concludes that integrating gender-sensitive content into religious curricula, promoting authentic Qur’anic teachings on equality and mercy, and providing professional training for religious personnel are essential to transforming societal attitudes. Strengthening cooperation between educational institutions, religious authorities, and policymakers will ensure that religion functions as a constructive moral resource rather than a tool for legitimizing inequality. Full article

The present study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the attitude–behavior link in the sphere of environmental issues by taking into account the role of moral disengagement. Pro-environmental attitudes, at both the implicit and explicit levels, were considered under the hypothesis that they may have direct and indirect effects on pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) through moral disengagement. The hypothesized relationships specified in the mediation model were tested by administering a cross-sectional online survey to a convenience sample of adult students enrolled in a digital university (N = 176; M_age = 40.54, SD_age = 14) via Millisecond Inquisit Web. The assessment included instruments measuring environmental moral disengagement and explicit attitudes toward the adoption of PEBs, together with an ad hoc Implicit Association Test designed to capture implicit attitudes toward sustainability, and the use of a pro-environmental behavior rating scale. While the sensitivity to model misfit was limited given the achieved sample size, the results from the path analysis show that implicit attitudes do not have a direct effect on PEBs, while explicit attitudes directly influence them. Moreover, as positive explicit and implicit pro-environmental and sustainability attitudes increase, moral disengagement decreases, which in turn negatively affects PEBs. Overall, the present findings confirm that moral disengagement plays a mediating role, and that attitudes can be targets for potential interventions aimed at promoting pro-environmental behaviors and addressing justificatory mechanisms that hinder their adoption. Full article

The fast advancement of artificial intelligence presents ethical challenges that exceed the scope of traditional moral theories. This paper proposes a value-centered framework for AI ethics grounded in axiology, which distinguishes intrinsic values like dignity and fairness from instrumental ones such as accuracy and efficiency. This distinction supports ethical pluralism and contextual sensitivity. Using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), the framework translates values into structured evaluations, enabling transparent trade-offs. A healthcare case study illustrates how ethical outcomes vary across physician, patient, and public health perspectives. The results highlight the limitations of single-theory approaches and emphasize the need for adaptable models that reflect diverse stakeholder values. By linking philosophical inquiry with governance initiatives like Responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Digital Humanism, the framework offers actionable design criteria for inclusive and context-aware AI development. Full article

Universalism, as defined in Schwartz’s theory of basic human values, reflects a motivational orientation toward understanding, appreciation, and protection of all people and nature. This study examines the psychological foundations of ethical concern and ecological sensitivity among university students, focusing on the role of transcendence strengths. A cross-sectional correlational design was employed and a total of 1240 students from five Spanish universities participated in the study, completing validated instruments designed to assess both transcendence strengths—spirituality, gratitude, hope/optimism, humor, and appreciation of beauty—and universalism. Stepwise regression analysis identified four strengths—gratitude, appreciation of beauty, hope/optimism, and spirituality—as significant predictors of ethical concern for others and nature, explaining 20.1% of the variance. These findings contribute to the growing body of research linking positive psychological traits with ethical engagement and environmental responsibility. They also suggest that fostering transcendence-related strengths in educational settings may enhance students’ capacity for global empathy and moral development. Moreover, rather than functioning in isolation, spirituality interacts dynamically with other transcendence strengths. The study highlights the importance of integrating transcendental dimensions into sustainability discourse. Future research should explore these relationships across cultures and developmental stages to inform policy and educational practice. Full article

Japanese narcissism refers to a culturally embedded form of narcissistic personality that emerges within collectivist societies, particularly in Japan, where self-worth is maintained through emotional over-adaptation, perfectionism, self-sacrifice, and conformity to internalized moral obligations. Within the framework of Schema Therapy, this construct is characterized by dominant coping modes, such as Armor mode and Demanding Community mode, that suppress vulnerable emotional states and promote socially sanctioned compliance. Although narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) has been extensively studied in individualistic Western cultures, its manifestation in collectivist cultures remains underexplored. Japanese narcissism offers a culturally contextualized model that integrates psychoanalytic and Schema Therapy perspectives to explain thin-skinned narcissistic vulnerability, disguised as adaptive functioning. Clinical observations and case analyses indicate that patients often develop Armor mode (fusing Detached Protector and Perfectionistic Over-controller functions) and Demanding Community mode (internalizing collective moral expectations). These adaptive-appearing modes mask core maladaptive schemas—Emotional Deprivation, Defectiveness/Shame, Enmeshment, and Self-Sacrifice—while being mistaken for mature or healthy functioning. Historically, such patterns have been reinforced by moral-collectivist ideals, exemplified by the Imperial Rescript on Education, which valorized loyalty, endurance, and self-denial. Japanese narcissism may therefore represent a culturally specific clinical configuration, suggesting the need for contextually adapted Schema Therapy interventions that recognize both the harmony-preserving and narcissism-reinforcing functions of adaptive behavior. This framework contributes to the cross-cultural extension of Schema Therapy by theorizing how narcissistic structures manifest in collectivist societies, and highlights the need for empirical validation of culturally sensitive treatment protocols. Full article

This study explores how individual moral philosophies influence accountants’ ethical perceptions of earnings management risk, addressing the broader question of how moral reasoning interacts with the cultural environment in shaping financial reporting decisions. Although accounting standards such as IFRS/IAS aim to harmonize reporting, cultural, and institutional factors can lead professionals to interpret and apply them differently, making ethical perceptions context-dependent. Building on positive accounting theory and Forsyth’s model of personal moral philosophy, we conducted a scenario-based survey among Polish accounting professionals, using an extended set of earnings management scenarios developed by Bruns and Merchant and modified by Jooste. Our results indicate that subjectivists demonstrate greater ethical sensitivity to earnings-altering behavior, while absolutists exhibit the least. We also examined ethical evaluations across different types of earnings management practices, including income-increasing versus income-decreasing, accrual-based versus real earnings management, and multi-year versus single-year manipulations. Understanding how different moral orientations influence the perception of managerial interventions in reported figures can help executives foster an organizational culture that promotes the provision of reliable and accurate information to stakeholders. Study limitations include sample size and scope, suggesting the need for future research incorporating broader demographics and contextual variables. Full article