What drives opposition to suicide? Two exploratory studies of normative judgments

The act of suicide is commonly viewed as wrong in some sense, but it is not clear why this is. Based on past empirical research and philosophical theorizing, we test ten different explanations for why suicide is opposed on normative grounds. Using a within-subjects design, Study 1 showed that seven out of ten manipulations had significant effects on normative judgments of suicide: time left to live, lack of close social relationships, a history of prior immoral behavior, the manner in which the suicide is committed, painful, incurable medical issues, impulsive decision-making, and the actor’s own moral-religious background. However, in all cases, the act of suicide was still considered wrong, overall. Using a between-subjects design, Study 2 tested the combined effect of the seven significant manipulations from Study 1. In combination, the seven manipulations eliminated opposition to suicide, on average. Implications for moral psychology and suicide prevention are discussed

Emission control system

Methods and apparatus utilizing hydrogen peroxide are useful to reduce SOx and mercury (or other heavy metal) emissions from combustion flue gas streams. The methods and apparatus may further be modified to reduce NOx emissions. Continuous concentration of hydrogen peroxide to levels approaching or exceeding propellant-grade hydrogen peroxide facilitates increased system efficiency. In this manner, combustion flue gas streams can be treated for the removal of SOx and heavy metals, while isolating useful by-products streams of sulfuric acid as well as solids for the recovery of the heavy metals. Where removal of NOx emissions is included, nitric acid may also be isolated for use in fertilizer or other industrial applications

Control of Emissions

Methods and apparatus utilizing chlorine dioxide and hydrogen peroxide are useful to reduce NOx emissions, as well as SOx and mercury (or other heavy metal) emissions, from combustion flue gas streams

Does Incidental Disgust Amplify Moral Judgment? A Meta-Analytic Review of Experimental Evidence

The role of emotion in moral judgment is currently a topic of much debate in moral psychology. One specific claim made by many researchers is that irrelevant feelings of disgust can amplify the severity of moral condemnation. Numerous studies have found this effect, but there have also been several published failures to replicate this effect. Clarifying this issue would inform important theoretical debates between rival accounts of moral judgment. We meta-analyzed all available studies, published and unpublished, that experimentally manipulated incidental disgust prior to or concurrent with a moral judgment task (k = 50). We found that there is evidence for a small amplification effect of disgust (d = .11), which is strongest for gustatory/olfactory modes of disgust induction. However, there is also some suggestion of publication bias in this literature, and when this is accounted for, the effect disappears entirely (d = -.01). Moreover, prevalent confounds mean that the effect size that we estimate is best interpreted as an upper bound on the size of the amplification effect. The results of this meta-analysis argue against strong claims about the causal role of affect in moral judgment and suggest a need for new, more rigorous research on this topic

Good People Don\u27t Need Medication: How Moral Character Beliefs Affect Medical Decision-Making

How do people make decisions? Prior research focuses on how people\u27s cost-benefit assessments affect which medical treatments they choose. We propose that people also worry about what these health decisions signal about who they are. Across four studies, we find that medication is thought to be the easy way out , signaling a lack of willpower and character. These moral beliefs lower the appeal of medications. Manipulating these beliefs--by framing medication as a signal of superior willpower or by highlighting the idea that treatment choice is just a preference--increases preferences for medication

Heating Houses Electrically

More and more Iowa homes are being heated with electricity. Electrical house heating differs from other heating systems in several respects. Here\u27s a situation report on this relatively new house-heating method

The Neuroscience of Trauma Supports Diminished Capacity as a Nuanced Approach to the ICC Case of an Ex-Child Soldier

The 2021 conviction of former child soldier Dominic Ongwen by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes committed as an adult commander in the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda raises questions about the ICC’s approach to mental illness.  During his trial, the defendant unsuccessfully raised defenses of insanity and duress, based on his kidnapping into the militant group as a child.  The court rejected not only those defenses, but also the claim that he had mental illness at all, in spite of his traumatic childhood.  Integrating scientific research, we argue that both the ICC and the defense failed to address the neuroscience of trauma.  But even if this evidence had been presented, the ICC’s all-or-nothing approach to mental illness would still leave outwardly functional trauma survivors in legal limbo.  On the one hand, such survivors may be too functional for the insanity defense.  At the same time, their activated fight-or-flight responses may cause them to perceive and react to threats in ways that the duress defense would not excuse as reasonable.  We propose that sentence mitigation based on diminished mental capacity provides a just and nuanced approach to the dilemma of a trauma victim turned perpetrator

Pre-commitment to Moral Values

When faced with reoccurring tradeoffs between moral values, people can address them by considering the specifics of each case or by setting policies that predetermine how they will address similar cases. Previous research on moral judgment has often focused on isolated tradeoffs, and therefore, it is unclear which decision strategies are preferred in contexts with reoccurring tradeoffs. Across our studies, participants judged people who precommitted to always prioritizing one value more positively than people who adjusted their priorities based on the specifics of each case. Our findings have important implications for understanding public perceptions of complex policies

The Social Consequences of Absolute Moral Proclamations

Across six studies (N = 3348), we find that people prefer targets who make absolute proclamations (i.e. It is never okay for people to lie ) over targets who make ambiguous proclamations ( It is sometimes okay for people to lie ), even when both targets tell equivalent lies. Preferences for absolutism stem from the belief that moral proclamations send a true signal about moral character--they are not cheap talk. Therefore, absolute proclamations signal moral character, despite also signaling hypocrisy. This research sheds light on the consequences of absolute proclamations and identifies circumstances in which hypocrisy is preferred over consistency

Typologies of stress appraisal and problem-focused coping: associations with compliance with public health recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Given prior research finding that young adults are less likely to engage in recommended public health behaviors (PHBs) than older adults, understanding who is and is not likely to engage in PHBs among young adults is crucial to mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on the Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping, this study examined how typologies of stress appraisal (SA) and problem-focused coping (PFC) among young adults were associated with compliance with public health recommendations during the pandemic. METHODS: An online sample of young adults in the United States, ages 18-35, was recruited during the early phase of the pandemic (April-May 2020). Participants reported their appraisals of how central, threatening, and uncontrollable the pandemic was, their tendencies to engage in instrumental, problem-focused coping strategies, and how frequently they engaged in three recommended PHBs (social distancing, mask wearing, and hand washing). RESULTS: Using latent class analysis, we identified three classes of individuals: Low-SA/Low-PFC, Low-SA/High-PFC, and High-SA/High-PFC. Demographics did not efficiently distinguish membership in the three classes. The former two classes reported less compliance with public health recommendations than did the latter class. Tests of measurement invariance for gender indicated trivial differences in the composition of class membership and relations to compliance. CONCLUSIONS: This research uncovered three qualitatively distinct classes of people who differed in their appraisal of the pandemic and their tendency to engage in PFC. Individuals who view the pandemic as central and threatening and engage in problem-focused coping were more likely than their peers to comply with guidelines recommending social distancing, mask wearing, and hand washing. These results contribute to our understanding of why people do and do not comply with public health guidelines and highlight the importance of attending to psychological variables in public health research. Understanding what drives poor compliance with public health recommendations can contribute to efforts promoting better compliance, and ultimately better health outcomes