In the Moment: The Effect of Mindfulness on Ethical Decision Making

Many unethical decisions stem from a lack of awareness. In this article, we consider how mindfulness, an individual’s awareness of his or her present experience, impacts ethical decision making. In our first study, we demonstrate that compared to individuals low in mindfulness, individuals high in mindfulness report that they are more likely to act ethically, are more likely to value upholding ethical standards (self-importance of moral identity, SMI), and are more likely to use a principled approach to ethical decision making (formalism). In our second study, we test this relationship with a novel behavioral measure of unethical behavior: the carbonless anagram method (CAM). We find that of participants who cheated, compared to individuals low in mindfulness, individuals high in mindfulness cheated less. Taken together, our results demonstrate important connections between mindfulness and ethical decision making

The Cheater’s High: The Unexpected Affective Benefits of Unethical Behavior

Many theories of moral behavior assume that unethical behavior triggers negative affect. In this article, we challenge this assumption and demonstrate that unethical behavior can trigger positive affect, which we term a “cheater’s high.” Across 6 studies, we find that even though individuals predict they will feel guilty and have increased levels of negative affect after engaging in unethical behavior (Studies 1a and 1b), individuals who cheat on different problem-solving tasks consistently experience more positive affect than those who do not (Studies 2–5). We find that this heightened positive affect does not depend on self-selection (Studies 3 and 4), and it is not due to the accrual of undeserved financial rewards (Study 4). Cheating is associated with feelings of self-satisfaction, and the boost in positive affect from cheating persists even when prospects for self-deception about unethical behavior are reduced (Study 5). Our results have important implications for models of ethical decision making, moral behavior, and self-regulatory theory

In the Moment: The Effect of Mindfulness 5 on Ethical Decision Making

ABSTRACT. Many unethical decisions stem from a lack 15 of awareness. In this article, we consider how mindful-16 ness, an individual's awareness of his or her present 17 experience, impacts ethical decision making. In our first 18 study, we demonstrate that compared to individuals low 19 in mindfulness, individuals high in mindfulness report that 20 they are more likely to act ethically, are more likely to 21 value upholding ethical standards (self-importance of 22 moral identity, SMI), and are more likely to use a prin-23 cipled approach to ethical decision making (formalism). 57 In this article, we explore the relationship 58 between ethical decision making and mindfulness. 59 We argue that several causes of unethical behavior, 67 Awareness of unethical behavior 68 Awareness of an ethical issue is a crucial component of 69 major ethical decision model

Mindfulness as a Path of Women’s Empowerment

The paper brings together social mindfulness as a path of empowerment for women within its concept of the interrelatedness of all beings in the web of life. The paradigm of social mindfulness is thus established as the foundation of feminist spirituality. The focus of this work is on the possibility of applying the ethics of mindfulness as a paradigm to interpersonal interrelatedness. The relations among humans, nature, reason and emotion in self-development are confronted with the paradigm of mindfulness. This paper carries out a theoretical analysis of the possibility of integrating the paradigm of mindfulness with the paradigm of feminist spirituality. In this view, the paradigm shift toward integrating spiritual and social justice and ecological balance is examined. It also examines possibility of transformation of negative gender stereotypes with the help of mindfulness, loving kindness, compassion and ethics. From this point of view, the application of mindfulness in education (especially childhood, primary and secondary schools) is considered.Pričujoči članek poskuša združiti pot pozornosti, čuječnosti in pot opolnomočenja žensk v okviru paradigme družbene čuječnosti, ki je predlagana kot temeljni kamen eko-feministične duhovnosti. Skupna nit obeh je v etiki pozornosti kot paradigmi medsebojne povezanosti, katere cilj je preseganje okov, ki posameznika in posameznico zapirajo v mrežo iluzije in (negativnih vrednostnih) sodb, in ki gradi na zavesti neškodovanja ter razvijanju ljubeče dobrote in sočutja do vseh bitij (človeških in nečloveških ter tudi do narave). Glavni fokus prispevka je teoretična analiza možnosti povezovanja paradigme čuječnosti s paradigmo eko-feministične duhovnosti. Prav tako je preučena možnost preoblikovanja negativnih spolnih stereotipov s pomočjo kultiviranja meditativne prakse čuječnosti

The Cheater’s “High”— Harmonize Ethics, Research and Negation Behavior

(Excerpt) In the context of negotiations, how does “cheater’s high” influence our ethical behavior, decision-making and negotiation strategy? “Cheater’s high” is the term coined by behavioral ethics researchers to describe the positive feeling we experience when we cheat. Rather than feel guilty for these ethical transgressions as was previously believed, those who cheat actually experience a positive effect that further incentivizes the unethical behavior to continue. Even though some who are perched on their ivory tower may feel immune from “cheater’s high,” social scientists remind us that at times we all cheat to varying degrees. This cheating reality is problematic for us all, because it collides with a lawyer’s ethical obligation to be truthful

Evaluation of Glucose Monitoring Technologies for Cost Effective and Quality Control/Management of Diabetes

The diabetes epidemic in the United States (U.S.) has become a burden in regards to treatment, disease management, and associated costs. Key advancements in medical technology have been developed in efforts to mitigate this issue. We compare several types of glucose monitoring systems with respect to quality of care, management, and cost-effectiveness for type 1 and type 2 diabetics

Controls on ecosystem respiration of carbon dioxide across a boreal wetland gradient in Interior Alaska

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2012Permafrost and organic soil layers are common to most wetlands in interior Alaska, where wetlands have functioned as important long-term soil carbon sinks. Boreal wetlands are diverse in both vegetation and nutrient cycling, ranging from nutrient-poor bogs to nutrient- and vascular-rich fens. The goals of my study were to quantify growing season ecosystem respiration (ER) along a gradient of vegetation and permafrost in a boreal wetland complex, and to evaluate the main abiotic and biotic variables that regulate CO₂ release from boreal soils. Highest ER and root respiration were observed at a sedge/forb community and lowest ER and root respiration were observed at a neighboring rich fen community, even though the two fens had similar estimates of root biomass and vascular green area. Root respiration also contributed approximately 40% to ER at both fens. These results support the conclusion that high soil moisture and low redox potential may be limiting both heterotrophic and autotrophic respiration at the rich fen. This study suggests that interactions among soil environmental variables are important drivers of ER. Also, vegetation and its response to soil environment determines contributions from aboveground (leaves and shoots) and belowground (roots and moss) components, which vary among wetland gradient communities.Introduction -- Introduction to boreal wetlands -- Ecosystem respiration and its role in peatland function -- Brief rationale for this study -- Goals, objectives, and hypotheses -- Methods -- Description of study site and the gradient design -- Atmospheric and soil environmental variables -- Ecosystem respiration fluxes -- Root respiration fluxes and aboveground vegetation measurements -- Results -- Soil environmental variables along the gradient -- Ecosystem respiration -- Contributions of root respiration to ER -- Discussion -- Patterns of ecosystem respiration along the wetland gradient -- The role of roots in ecosystem respiration of CO₂ -- Study limitations and ideas for future research -- Conclusions

Last millennium northern hemisphere summer temperatures from tree rings: Part I: The long term context

Large-scale millennial length Northern Hemisphere (NH) temperature reconstructions have been progressively improved over the last 20 years as new datasets have been developed. This paper, and its companion (Part II, Anchukaitis et al. in prep), details the latest tree-ring (TR) based NH land air temperature reconstruction from a temporal and spatial perspective. This work is the first product of a consortium called N-TREND (Northern Hemisphere Tree-Ring Network Development) which brings together dendroclimatologists to identify a collective strategy for improving large-scale summer temperature reconstructions. The new reconstruction, N-TREND2015, utilises 54 records, a significant expansion compared with previous TR studies, and yields an improved reconstruction with stronger statistical calibration metrics. N-TREND2015 is relatively insensitive to the compositing method and spatial weighting used and validation metrics indicate that the new record portrays reasonable coherence with large scale summer temperatures and is robust at all time-scales from 918 to 2004 where at least 3 TR records exist from each major continental mass. N-TREND2015 indicates a longer and warmer medieval period (∼900–1170) than portrayed by previous TR NH reconstructions and by the CMIP5 model ensemble, but with better overall agreement between records for the last 600 years. Future dendroclimatic projects should focus on developing new long records from data-sparse regions such as North America and eastern Eurasia as well as ensuring the measurement of parameters related to latewood density to complement ring-width records which can improve local based calibration substantially