Feel good, do-good!? On consistency and compensation in moral self-regulation

Studies in the behavioral ethics and moral psychology traditions have begun to reveal the important roles of self-related processes that underlie moral behavior. Unfortunately, this research has resulted in two distinct and opposing streams of findings that are usually referred to as moral consistency and moral compensation. Moral consistency research shows that a salient self-concept as a moral person promotes moral behavior. Conversely, moral compensation research reveals that a salient self-concept as an immoral person promotes moral behavior. The present study’s aim was to integrate these two literatures. We argued that compensation forms a reactive, “damage control” response in social situations, whereas consistency derives from a more proactive approach to reputation building and maintenance. Two experiments supported this prediction in showing that cognitive depletion (i.e., resulting in a reactive approach) results in moral compensation whereas consistency results when cognitive resources are available (i.e., resulting in a proactive approach). Experiment 2 revealed that these processes originate from reputational (rather than moral) considerations by showing that they emerge only under conditions of accountability. It can thus be concluded that reputational concerns are important for both moral compensation and moral consistency processes, and that which of these two prevails depends on the perspective that people take: a reactive or a proactive approach

Being “in Control” May Make You Lose Control: The Role of Self-Regulation in Unethical Leadership Behavior

In the present article, we argue that the constant pressure that leaders face may limit the willpower required to behave according to ethical norms and standards and may therefore lead to unethical behavior. Drawing upon the ego depletion and moral self-regulation literatures, we examined whether self-regulatory depletion that is contingent upon the moral identity of leaders may promote unethical leadership behavior. A laboratory experiment and a multisource field study revealed that regulatory resource depletion promotes unethical leader behaviors among leaders who are low in moral identity. No such effect was found among leaders with a high moral identity. This study extends our knowledge on why organizational leaders do not always conform to organizational goals. Specifically, we argue that the hectic and fragmented workdays of leaders may increase the likelihood that they violate ethical norms. This highlights the necessity to carefully schedule tasks that may have ethical implications. Similarly, organizations should be aware that overloading their managers with work may increase the likelihood of their leaders transgressing ethical norms

Out of Control!? How Loss of Self-Control Influences Prosocial Behavior: The Role of Power and Moral Values

Lack of self-control has been suggested to facilitate norm-transgressing behaviors because of the operation of automatic selfish impulses. Previous research, however, has shown that people having a high moral identity may not show such selfish impulses when their self-control resources are depleted. In the present research, we extended this effect to prosocial behavior. Moreover, we investigated the role of power in the interaction between moral identity and self-control depletion. More specifically, we expected that power facilitates the externalization of internal states, which implies that for people who feel powerful, rather than powerless, depletion decreases prosocial behavior especially for those low in moral identity. A laboratory experiment and a multisource field study supported our predictions. The present finding that the interaction between self-control depletion and moral identity is contingent upon people’s level of power suggests that power may enable people to refrain from helping behavior. Moreover, the findings suggest that if organizations want to improve prosocial behaviors, it may be effective to situationally induce moral values in their employees

The role of parenteral nutrition in paediatric critical care, and its consequences on recovery

The goal of nutritional support during critical illness is to provide the appropriate amount of nutrition accounting for the acute, stable and recovery phase in order to accelerate recovery and to improve short-term and long-term outcomes. Although the preferred route to provide nutritional support during paediatric critical illness is via enteral route, reaching target intakes is often difficult due to (perceived) feeding intolerance, fluid restriction, and interruptions around procedures. Because undernourishment in these children has been associated with impaired outcome, parenteral nutrition (PN) has therefore been viewed as an optimal alternative for reaching early and high nutritional targets. However, PN recommendations regarding timing, dose and composition varied widely and were based on studies using intermediate or surrogate endpoints and observational studies. It was not until the paediatric early versus late PN in critically ill children (PEPaNIC) randomized controlled trial (RCT) that the advice to reach high and early macronutrient goals via PN was challenged. The PEPaNIC study showed that omitting supplemental PN during the first week of paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admission as compared with early initiation of PN (&lt;24 hours) reduced new acquired infections and accelerated recovery. The provision of amino acids in particular was negatively associated with short-term outcomes, probably explained by the suppression of the activation of autophagy. Autophagy is an evolutionary conserved intracellular degradation process and it is crucial for maintaining cellular integrity and function, which becomes even more important during acute stress. Results of the long-term PEPaNIC follow-up study showed that withholding early PN did not negatively affect anthropometrics and health status but improved neurocognitive and psychosocial development 2 and 4 years later. Current guidelines therefore advise to consider withholding parenteral macronutrients for the first week of PICU admission, while providing micronutrients. Although parenteral restriction during the first week of critical illness has been found beneficial, further research beyond the acute phase is warranted to determine the best role of PN in terms of optimal timing, dose and composition in order to improve short-term recovery and long-term developmental outcomes.</p

Indications and clinical outcome in pediatric tracheostomy:Lessons learned

Objective: Indications for tracheostomy have changed over the last decades and clinical outcome varies depending on the indication for tracheostomy. By gaining more insight in the characteristics and outcome of the tracheostomized pediatric population, clinical care can be improved and a better individual prognosis can be given. Therefore, we studied the outcome of our pediatric tracheostomy population in relation to the primary indication over the last 16 years. Methods: We retrospectively included children younger than 18 years of age with a tracheostomy tube in the Erasmus Medical Center, Sophia children's hospital. The primary indication for tracheostomy, gender, age at tracheostomy, age at decannulation, comorbidity, mortality, closure of a persisting tracheocutaneous fistula after decannulation, surgery prior to decannulation and the use of polysomnography were recorded and analyzed. Results: Our research group consisted of 225 children. Reasons for a tracheostomy were first divided in two major diagnostic groups: 1) airway obstruction group (subgroups: laryngotracheal obstruction and craniofacial anomalies) and 2) pulmonary support group (subgroups: cardio-pulmonary diseases and neurological diseases). Children in the airway obstruction group were younger when receiving a tracheostomy (3.0 months vs. 31.0 months, p &lt; 0.05), they were tracheostomy dependent for a longer time (median 21.5 months vs. 2.0 months, p &lt; 0.05) and they required surgery more often (74.5% vs. 8.3%, p &lt; 0.05) than the children in the pulmonary support group. The decannulation rate of children with a laryngotracheal obstruction is high (74.8%), but low in all other subgroups (craniofacial anomalies; 38.5%, cardio-pulmonary diseases; 34.6% and neurological diseases; 52.9%). Significantly more children (36.7%) died in the pulmonary support group due to underlying comorbidity, mainly in the cardio-pulmonary diseases subgroup. Surgery for a persisting tracheocutaneous fistula was performed in 34 (37.8%) children, with a significant relationship between the duration of the tracheostomy and the persistence of a tracheocutaneous fistula. No cannula related death occurred during this study period. Conclusion: Main indications for a tracheostomy were airway obstruction and pulmonary support. Children in the airway obstruction group were younger when receiving a tracheostomy and they were tracheostomy dependent for a longer period. Within the airway obstruction group, the decannulation rate for children with laryngotracheal stenosis was high, but low for children with craniofacial anomalies. In the pulmonary support group, the decannulation rate was low and the mortality rate was high. Surgery for a persisting tracheocutaneous fistula was frequently needed.</p

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Site manual for radar intelligence system capable of precise missile trajectory measurement

Ceramic-faience hybrids were used to recycle bronze in North-Western European Iron Age egg-shaped crucibles

We investigated the characteristics of a group of 13 Middle Iron Age egg-shaped crucibles and crucible fragments from Tilburg (The Netherlands). We used a combination of optical and chemical analyses, including hand-held XRF, microCT scanning and 3-D printing polarizing light microscopy and SEM-EDX. The chemical analyses confirmed that the crucibles were used for copper alloy metallurgy. Impressions in the lids of the crucibles turned out to be imprints of copper alloy scrap, including fragments of twisted wire and fibulae. Most remarkable, however, is the large proportion of sheet metal among the scrap.In order to make crucibles from the local, non-refractory clays, a hitherto unknown ceramic-faience hybrid was used: A combination of clay and halophytic plant ash was mixed with silt into a paste, and this was used to construct the crucible. During firing, the flux would promote melting of the clays and probably prevent catastrophic failure of the crucibles. The resulting glassy groundmass – in which silt grains are embedded and partially dissolved – is rich in Al2O3 as well as in Na2O, K2O, CaO, MgO and Fe2O3.It is likely that this technique of crucible manufacture was widespread in Late Prehistory in areas where no refractory clays were available

The impact of decision timing on the effectiveness of leaders’ apologies to repair followers’ trust in the aftermath of leader failure

Purpose The aim of the present research was to investigate how a negative decision outcome generated by a leader in a hasty, timely, or delayed manner impacts upon the need for, and the effectiveness of apologies to restore followers’ trust. Design/Methodology/Approach Data were collected using five studies in which the effects of timing of an incorrect decision on the trust repair process were investigated. Findings In the aftermath of a leader’s failure, followers experienced a delayed incorrect decision as a more severe transgression than a hasty or a timely incorrect decision. This effect was mediated by procedural fairness concerns (Study 1). The present findings also revealed an interesting paradox. Specifically, in the delayed condition followers expressed the highest need for an apology (Studies 2 and 3), but at the same time expected an apology to be less effective for enhancing trustworthiness than in the timely and the hasty condition (Study 3). Moreover, we also showed that the actual provision of an apology was effective for restoring both trustworthiness (Study 4) and trust (Studies 4 and 5) in the timely and the hasty condition, but ineffective in the delayed condition. Implications The present research shows that when the outcome of a decision is uncertain, it is better to make a decision (too) soon rather than (too) late. Originality/Value Despite the ubiquity of timing errors in daily life, our studies are the first to focus on the role of timeliness of decisions in the trust repair process