Moral courage

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Moral courage is the courage to take action for moral reasons despite the risk of adverse consequences. [1]

Contents

Courage is required in order to take action when one has doubts or fears about the consequences. Moral courage therefore involves deliberation or careful thought. Reflex action or dogmatic fanaticism do not involve moral courage because such impulsive actions are not based upon moral reasoning. [2]

Moral courage may also require physical courage when the consequences are punishment or other bodily peril. [3]

Moral courage has been seen as the exemplary modernist form of courage. [4]

Parenting approach

Incorporating moral courage into parenting[ how? ] can affect the self-expression[ specify ] of the child during late adolescence. [5] The development[ specify ] of moral courage within parenting is not only affected by the parent's passed-down moral values but the children's autonomy on how to perceive and practice their moral values. [5] Those who incorporate the practice of their moral values into their everyday lives engage in moral courage to protect those values as well. [6]

Examples of moral courage

Moral courage can be shown through selfless actions aimed to diminish or eliminate discrimination. A study used qualitative research methods to analyze the process of how and why individuals become LGBT allies. [6] The study mentions how human resources development play a role to help prevent LGBT discrimination in the workplace.[ relevant? ]

Moral courage anonymity

Many different aspects can contribute to moral courage. Something that may inhibit moral courage however, is the undesirable consequences in their personal, social, and work life. A way of counteracting those adverse consequences and increasing moral courage may be by adding anonymity. [7] In a study on online moral courage, they found that moral courage and anonymity online had a positive correlation. Moral courage was also correlated with gender, age, and education levels, therefore, those who are older, male, and have lower levels of education are more likely to perform acts of moral courage when they perceive that they are acting anonymously compared to those who are young, female, and have higher levels of education. [7] Even when controlling those factors, there is still a positive correlation.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morality</span> Differentiation between right and wrong

Morality is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of conduct from a particular philosophy, religion or culture, or it can derive from a standard that a person believes should be universal. Morality may also be specifically synonymous with "goodness" or "rightness".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Courage</span> Ability to deal with fear

Courage is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in battle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parenting</span> Process of raising a child

Parenting or child rearing promotes and supports the physical, emotional, social, spiritual and cognitive development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the intricacies of raising a child and not exclusively for a biological relationship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT community</span> Community and culture of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people

The LGBT community is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality. LGBT activists and sociologists see LGBT community-building as a counterweight to heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, sexualism, and conformist pressures that exist in the larger society. The term pride or sometimes gay pride expresses the LGBT community's identity and collective strength; pride parades provide both a prime example of the use and a demonstration of the general meaning of the term. The LGBT community is diverse in political affiliation. Not all people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender consider themselves part of the LGBT community.

Heteronormativity is the concept that heterosexuality is the preferred or normal mode of sexual orientation. It assumes the gender binary and that sexual and marital relations are most fitting between people of opposite sex.

Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their race, ancestry, ethnicity, and/or skin color. Individuals can discriminate by refusing to do business with, socialize with, or share resources with people of a certain group. Governments can discriminate explicitly in law, for example through policies of racial segregation, disparate enforcement of laws, or disproportionate allocation of resources. Some jurisdictions have anti-discrimination laws which prohibit the government or individuals from being discriminated based on race in various circumstances. Some institutions and laws use affirmative action to attempt to overcome or compensate for the effects of racial discrimination. In some cases, this is simply enhanced recruitment of members of underrepresented groups; in other cases, there are firm racial quotas. Opponents of strong remedies like quotas characterize them as reverse discrimination, where members of a dominant or majority group are discriminated against.

Descriptive ethics, also known as comparative ethics, is the study of people's beliefs about morality. It contrasts with prescriptive or normative ethics, which is the study of ethical theories that prescribe how people ought to act, and with meta-ethics, which is the study of what ethical terms and theories actually refer to. The following examples of questions that might be considered in each field illustrate the differences between the fields:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bullying</span> Use of force or coercion to abuse or intimidate others

Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception of an imbalance of physical or social power. This imbalance distinguishes bullying from conflict. Bullying is a subcategory of aggressive behavior characterized by hostile intent, imbalance of power and repetition over a period of time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Applied philosophy</span> Branch of philosophy

Applied philosophy is a branch of philosophy that studies philosophical problems of practical concern. The topic covers a broad spectrum of issues in environment, medicine, science, engineering, policy, law, politics, economics and education. The term was popularised in 1982 by the founding of the Society for Applied Philosophy by Brenda Almond, and its subsequent journal publication Journal of Applied Philosophy edited by Elizabeth Brake. Methods of applied philosophy are similar to other philosophical methods including questioning, dialectic, critical discussion, rational argument, systematic presentation, thought experiments and logical argumentation.

Diffusion of responsibility is a sociopsychological phenomenon whereby a person is less likely to take responsibility for action or inaction when other bystanders or witnesses are present. Considered a form of attribution, the individual assumes that others either are responsible for taking action or have already done so.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regret</span> Negative conscious and emotional reaction to personal past acts and behaviours

Regret is the emotion of wishing one had made a different decision in the past, because the consequences of the decision one did make were unfavorable.

In ethics and social sciences, value denotes the degree of importance of some thing or action, with the aim of determining which actions are best to do or what way is best to live, or to describe the significance of different actions. Value systems are prospective and prescriptive beliefs; they affect the ethical behavior of a person or are the basis of their intentional activities. Often primary values are strong and secondary values are suitable for changes. What makes an action valuable may in turn depend on the ethical values of the objects it increases, decreases, or alters. An object with "ethic value" may be termed an "ethic or philosophic good".

Social cognitive theory (SCT), used in psychology, education, and communication, holds that portions of an individual's knowledge acquisition can be directly related to observing others within the context of social interactions, experiences, and outside media influences. This theory was advanced by Albert Bandura as an extension of his social learning theory. The theory states that when people observe a model performing a behavior and the consequences of that behavior, they remember the sequence of events and use this information to guide subsequent behaviors. Observing a model can also prompt the viewer to engage in behavior they already learned. Depending on whether people are rewarded or punished for their behavior and the outcome of the behavior, the observer may choose to replicate behavior modeled. Media provides models for a vast array of people in many different environmental settings.

The online disinhibition effect refers to the lack of restraint one feels when communicating online in comparison to communicating in-person. People tend to feel safer saying things online which they would not say in real life because they have the ability to remain completely anonymous and invisible when on particular websites, and as a result, free from potential consequences. Apart from anonymity, other factors such as asynchronous communication, empathy deficit, or individual personality and cultural factors also contribute to online disinhibition. The manifestations of such an effect could be in both positive and negative directions. Thus online disinhibition could be classified as either benign disinhibition or toxic disinhibition.

Workplace aggression is a specific type of aggression which occurs in the workplace. Workplace aggression is any type of hostile behavior that occurs in the workplace. It can range from verbal insults and threats to physical violence, and it can occur between coworkers, supervisors, and subordinates. Common examples of workplace aggression include gossiping, bullying, intimidation, sabotage, sexual harassment, and physical violence. These behaviors can have serious consequences, including reduced productivity, increased stress, and decreased morale.

Workplace harassment is the belittling or threatening behavior directed at an individual worker or a group of workers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education and the LGBT community</span>

Historically speaking, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people have not been given equal treatment and rights by both governmental actions and society's general opinion. Much of the intolerance for LGBT individuals come from lack of education around the LGBT community, and contributes to the stigma that results in same-sex marriage being legal in few countries (31) and persistence of discrimination, such as in the workplace.

Moral development focuses on the emergence, change, and understanding of morality from infancy through adulthood. The theory states that morality develops across a lifespan in a variety of ways and is influenced by an individual's experiences and behavior when faced with moral issues through different periods of physical and cognitive development. Morality concerns an individual's reforming sense of what is right and wrong; it is for this reason that young children have different moral judgment and character than that of a grown adult. Morality in itself is often a synonym for "rightness" or "goodness." It also refers to a specific code of conduct that is derived from one's culture, religion, or personal philosophy that guides one's actions, behaviors, and thoughts.

An intention is a mental state in which the agent commits themselves to a course of action. Having the plan to visit the zoo tomorrow is an example of an intention. The action plan is the content of the intention while the commitment is the attitude towards this content. Other mental states can have action plans as their content, as when one admires a plan, but differ from intentions since they do not involve a practical commitment to realizing this plan. Successful intentions bring about the intended course of action while unsuccessful intentions fail to do so. Intentions, like many other mental states, have intentionality: they represent possible states of affairs.

LGBT psychology is a field of psychology of surrounding the lives of LGBTQ+ individuals, in the particular the diverse range of psychological perspectives and experiences of these individuals. It covers different aspects such as identity development including the coming out process, parenting and family practices and support for LGBTQ+ individuals, as well as issues of prejudice and discrimination involving the LGBT community.

References

  1. Vesilind, P. Aarne (2006). "The Courage To Do The Right Thing". The right thing to do: an ethics guide for engineering students (2nd ed.). Woodsville, N.H.: Lakeshore Press. ISBN   9780965053969.
  2. Walton, Douglas N. (1986). "Moral Deliberation and Conduct". Courage, a philosophical investigation. University of California Press. ISBN   9780520054431.
  3. Putman, Daniel A. (2004). Psychological Courage. University Press of America. ISBN   9780761828204.
  4. Shippey, T. A. (1992). The Road to Middle Earth. pp. 72–73.
  5. 1 2 Bronstein, Phyllis; Fox, Barbara J.; Kamon, Jody L.; Knolls, Michelle L. (30 May 2007). "Parenting and Gender as Predictors of Moral Courage in Late Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study". Sex Roles. 56 (9–10): 661–74. doi:10.1007/s11199-007-9182-8. S2CID   21740863.
  6. 1 2 Brooks, A. K.; Edwards, K. (5 January 2009). "Allies in the Workplace: Including LGBT in HRD". Advances in Developing Human Resources . 11 (1): 136–49. doi:10.1177/1523422308328500. S2CID   145066844.
  7. 1 2 Pan, Xinyu; Hou, Yubo; Wang, Qi (November 2023). "Are we braver in cyberspace? Social media anonymity enhances moral courage". Computers in Human Behavior. 148: 107880. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2023.107880. ISSN   0747-5632.

Further reading