TO HELP OR NOT TO HELP: CAPTURING INDIVIDUALS' DECISION POLICIES

A structural equation model for cyber academic dishonesty in higher education: Evidence from Taiwan

With the continued spread of the rise of online teaching, and the massive use of 3C products (computer, communication, and consumer electronics), the cases of academic plagiarism or using others' works as own works caused by inappropriate use of the Internet are occurring all the time. However, very little research has been conducted on the cyber ethical climate in relation to cyber academic dishonesty. This study investigates the structural relationship between cyber ethical climate, cyber self-efficacy, cyber ethical attitude and cyber academic dishonesty, among university and graduate students, and develops a multiple mediation model. A total of 812 university and graduate students from 32 universities in Taiwan completed the online questionnaire. The results of the study show that the multiple mediation model is valid and find that the cyber ethical climate creates a favorable context for organizing members to demonstrate cyber ethical behavior, demonstrating the importance of mutual influence on cyber academic dishonesty between the cyber ethical climate created by teachers and the cyber ethical climate of class peers. Based on these results, we deeply examine the practical implications and make specific recommendations to improve the cyber ethical behavior of university and graduate students.

Effects of Humor and Bystander Gender on Responses to Antigay Harassment

Individuals perceived to be LGBTQ+ are at risk for harassment. Although bystanders who confront harassers and support targets of harassment may promote inclusivity, the use of humor to express antigay harassment may inhibit prosocial bystander intervention. Non-LGBTQ+ undergraduates (N = 326) were randomly assigned to respond to a scenario in which a male peer disparaged another peer with antigay comments involving either the presence or absence of humor. Results showed that bystanders reported less intent to intervene in the presence of humor than in its absence. Bystander gender moderated perceptions of humorous harassing speech but not intent to intervene. In the presence of humor, men but not women perceived antigay harassment as more amusing; they also perceived the harassing peer more favorably. To promote ally behavior, bystander education may explicitly address critical thinking about the functions and effects of disparaging humor.

A Friend in Need Is a Friend Indeed? Analysis of the Willingness to Share Self-Produced Electricity During a Long-lasting Power Outage

Will private households owning a photovoltaic system share their electricity during a long-lasting power outage? Prior research has shown that our energy systems need to become more resilient by using dispersed energy sources-a role that could well be performed by these private photovoltaic systems, but only if their owners decide to share the produced electricity, and not consume it themselves. Considering the potential of this approach, it is indispensable to better understand incentives and motives that facilitate such cooperative behaviour. Drawing on theories of social dilemmas as well as prosocial behaviour, we hypothesize that both, structural solutions such as increased rewards as well as individual motives such as empathy-elicited altruism and norms predict cooperation. We test these hypotheses against a dataset of 80 households in Germany which were asked about their sharing behaviour towards four different recipient groups. We show that the effectiveness of motives differs significantly across recipient groups: Individual (intrinsic) motivations such as empathy-elicited altruism and altruistic norms serve as a strong predictor for cooperative behaviour towards related recipients as well as critical infrastructure, whereas higher rewards partially even reduce cooperation depending on the donor's social value orientation. For the recipient groups neighbours and public infrastructure, no significant effect for any of the tested incentives is found. Contributing to literature on social dilemmas and energy resilience, these results demonstrate the relevance of individual rather than structural incentives for electricity sharing during a power outage to render our energy provision more resilient. Practical implications for policymakers are given.

Is Policy Capturing Really More Resistant Than Traditional Self-Report Techniques to Socially Desirable Responding?

Researchers are frequently concerned that people respond to questions on sensitive topics (e.g., those involving money, criminal activity, sexual behavior) in a way that makes them look more socially desirable than they are. For decades, the technique known as “policy capturing” (or “judgment analysis”) has been recommended as a solution to socially desirable responding (i.e., “faking good”). Surprisingly, however, until now, the extent to which policy capturing actually reduces socially desirable responding had not been tested empirically in a comprehensive manner. We examined the importance respondents assigned to several job characteristics, some of which (e.g., pay, schedule flexibility) tend to be susceptible to socially desirable responding. We compared responses obtained from policy capturing to those from four traditional self-report techniques (i.e., Likert-type, forced choice, ranking, and points distribution) across four instructional sets: instructions to respond honestly, warnings not to respond dishonestly, instructions to respond in a socially desirable manner, and no specific instructions. Results from both between-subject and within-subject comparisons indicated that policy capturing was indeed much more resistant than any of the traditional self-report techniques to socially desirable responding.

Children’s reasoning about the refusal to help: the role of need, costs, and social perspective taking

Children (n = 133, aged 8–13) were interviewed about helping situations that systematically varied in recipient’s need for help and the costs for the helper. In situations where helping a peer involved low costs, children perceived a moral obligation to help that was independent of peer norms, parental authority, and reciprocity considerations. When helping a peer involved high costs this over powered the perceived obligation to help, but only in situations involving low need and when in line with reciprocity. When both need and costs were high, younger children expressed stronger moral indignation while older children were less negative and reasoned in terms of other solutions. Furthermore, stronger moral indignation was related to more advanced social perspective taking skills when need and costs were high.

Prosocial attitudes and empathic behavior in emotional positive versus negative situations: brain response (ERPs) and source localization (LORETA) analysis

The present research firstly investigated the neural correlates (ERPs, event-related potentials) of attitudes to engage in prosocial-helping behaviors, and secondly, it analyzed the relation between these brain-based potentials and personal profile (high vs. low empathic profile). It was considered the subjects' behavior in response to specific emotional situations (positive vs. negative) in case it was required a possible prosocial intervention. Thirty-one subjects were invited to empathize with the emotional contexts (videotapes that reproduced two person's exchanges) and to decide whether to intervene or not to support these persons. BEES questionnaire for empathic behavior was submitted to the subjects after the experimental session. ERP acquisition and LORETA source analysis revealed a negative ongoing deflection (N200 effect) more prefrontally distributed (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) in response to prosocial intervention options mainly for negative and positive contexts. Moreover, a significant positive correlation was found between high-empathic profiles, intervention behaviors (higher frequency of interventions) and N200 amplitude (higher peak). These results highlight the role of emotions in prosocial behavior, since the N200 effect was considered a marker of the emotional significance of the interpersonal situation. Secondly, the empathic trait may explain the prosocial decisional processes: Higher empathic trait contributes to induce subject's intervention behavior which in turn appears to be directly related to the cortical responsiveness within the prefrontal areas.

Being a positive bystander: male antiviolence allies' experiences of "stepping up"

As bystander approaches become increasingly prevalent elements of sexual and domestic violence prevention efforts, it is necessary to better understand the factors that support or impede individuals in taking positive action in the face of aggressive or disrespectful behavior from others. This study presents descriptive findings about the bystander experiences of 27 men who recently became involved in antiviolence against women work. More specifically, we describe the consistency with which respondents actively intervene in the speech or behavior of others, the strategies they use, and the factors they weigh as they deliberate taking action. Respondents report a complex and interrelated set of individual and contextual influences on their choices within bystander opportunities, which hold implications for both violence-specific models of bystander behavior and for prevention intervention development.

Rehearsing for Real Life: The Impact of the InterACT Sexual Assault Prevention Program on Self-Reported Likelihood of Engaging in Bystander Interventions

The interACT Sexual Assault Prevention Program is an interactive, skill-building performance based on the pedagogy of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. A longitudinal evaluation of this program compared pretest, posttest, and 3-month follow-up data from 509 university student participants. Results suggested that the interACT performance was successful in increasing participants’ beliefs about the effectiveness of bystander interventions and the self-rated likelihood that participants would engage in bystander interventions in the future. Differences in both overall ratings and rates of change were noted. Implications of these results for research and practice are discussed.

Toward a multi-level, ecological approach to the primary prevention of sexual assault: prevention in peer and community contexts

Although sexual assault prevention programs have been increasingly successful at improving knowledge about sexual violence and decreasing rape-supportive attitudes and beliefs among participants, reducing sexually assaultive conduct itself remains an elusive outcome. This review considers efforts to support change for individuals by creating prevention strategies that target peer network and community-level factors that support sexual violence. To this end, the article examines successful ecological prevention models from other prevention fields, identifies the components of multilevel prevention that appear critical to efficacy and discusses their application to existing and emerging sexual violence prevention strategies.

Risk tolerance and pilot involvement in hazardous events and flight into adverse weather

INTRODUCTION

According to Lopes [Lopes, L.L. (1987). Between hope and fear: The psychology of risk. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 20, 255-295] tolerance of risk may be governed by sensitivity to either the opportunities for gain or threats of loss involved.

METHODS

In the initial study, qualified pilots were presented with 36 written flight scenarios that varied in the levels of opportunity and threat present. The pilots rated the likelihood that they would undertake each flight. Pilots were largely risk averse, as their ratings were all significantly influenced by threat.

RESULTS

The pilots whose ratings were significantly influenced by opportunity had been involved in more hazardous aviation incidents than the other pilots. In the final study, 32 qualified pilots completed both the risk tolerance measure and a simulated flight into adverse weather. The pilots who continued flying into adverse weather were less risk averse compared to the pilots who diverted. This further highlighted the link between risk tolerance and risk-taking, and suggested that some pilots may fly into adverse weather because of a greater tolerance of risk.

IMPACT ON INDUSTRY

The studies provide evidence that a measure of risk tolerance can predict potential accident involvement amongst general aviation pilots.

Police Involvement in Cases of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women

The influence of perceived severity and sense of personal responsibility of police officers on their level of involvement in cases of intimate partner violence against women is analyzed. Three levels of police involvement are considered: low, medium, and high. The sample consists of 143 Spanish police officers. A 2 × 2 × 3 factorial design is conducted to test hypotheses. Effects of perceived severity and personal responsibility are found only at the highest level of police involvement. For low and medium levels of involvement, no differences in perceived severity and personal responsibility of police officers are found.