Study Guide for PSY 355 FINAL EXAM The topics below are likely to be included in the exam Consider using all available resources e g textbook lecture slides study groups office hours in combination when studying Morality Religion Justice Chapter 13 Class 27 28 29 1 What constitutes a moral concern In other words something is a moral concern vs a matter of social convention or personal preference when Objectively right and wrong Apply to everyone Not easily changed over time Based on basic needs and important values Goes beyond personal preference and social convention People believe they have an obligation to act a certain way even if there is no official rule or law Legitimately regulated 2 Know the difference between the universalism relativism and evolutionism perspectives Universalism The perspective that sees people from different cultures as largely the same and that any observed cultural variability exists only at a superficial level Maintains that a more careful analysis will reveal common underlying processes They assume that peole are the same wherever you go and the differences we see across cultures are largely differences in terms of conventions and are of little significance Relativism Maintains that cultural diversity in ways of thinking is not superficial but reflects genuinely different psychological processes The relativistic perspective maintains that culture and thought are mutually constituted Relativists expect thinking to vary because cultural practices vary widely across cultures Evolutionism Similar to relativism the evolutionist perspective maintains that cultural variability reflects genuine differences in psychological processes This perspective maintains that there is really is only one way that the mind has evolved to think Interprets cultural differences in ways of thinking as reflecting increasing stages of development Some ways of thinking are more mature or advanced and people of all cultures would think the same way once they reached certain points of maturity 3 Know the characteristics of Kohlberg s three stages of moral reasoning Level I The Preconventional Level Individuals understand the cultural rules and labels of what is good and bad but interpret these levels in terms of either the physical or hedonistic consequences of their actions Preconventional moral reasoning suggest that people interpret morality based on a calculation of how much better or worse off they would be for acting a certain way What determines whether something is good or bad is whether it satisfies ones own needs and occasionally those of others Level II The Conventional Level People are able to identify themselves with a particular group or social order and show loyalty to that group Social order of that group is actively maintained supported and justified by individuals efforts to live up to the groups standards Actions are seen as morally wrong if they violate any rules or laws that the social order has maintained regardless of what those rules or laws are about Level III The Postconventional Level Moral values and principles are seen to exist separately from the authority of social groups that hold them Based on consideration of abstract ethical principles of what is right and wrong and moral decisions are reached based on the logical extensions of those principles Whether others agree with you or whether there are rules that contradict you are independent of whether the action is viewed to be moral Good behavior is seen as that which is consistent with a set of universal ethical principles that emphasize justice and individual rights 4 What is the cross cultural evidence for Kohlberg s model of moral reasoning 45 studies of moral reasoning in 27 different cultural areas from around the world Some universality in moral reasoning In all cultural groups there were adults that functioned at level II and in none did they reason at the preconventional level Some children did Evidence on postconventional reasoning was not universally found Data indicate Kohlberg s developmental trajectory was good at capturing reasoning of Westerners 5 Know the ethics of autonomy community and divinity Can you identify examples of behaviors that violate these ethics What are the findings from the cross cultural research on the ethic of community conducted by Miller and colleagues Ethic of autonomy This ethic views morality in terms of individual freedom and rights violations Emphasis on personal choice right to engage in contracts and individual liberty Ethic of community Emphasizes that individuals have duties that conform with their roles in a community or social hierarchy According to this code there is an ethical principle to uphold one s interpersonal duties and obligations toward others Actions seen as wrong when people fail to uphold their duties Ethic of divinity concerned with the sanctity and perceived natural order of things Code contains the ethical principle that one is obligated to preserve the standards mandated by a transcendent authority Belief that God or gods has created a sacred world and everyone s obligation is to respect and preserve the sanctity of this world Actions are seen as immoral if they cause impurity to self or others 6 Know the distinction between orthodoxy and progressivism How do these perspectives relate to the three ethics What did you learn from the Jensen 1997 study Orthodox Committed to the idea of a transcendent authority This authority is viewed to have existed long before humans and as operating independently of people Furthermore this authority is perceived to be more knowledgeable and more powerful than all of the human experience Moral code should not be altered Progressive emphasize the importance of human agency in understanding and formulating a moral code Reject the view that a transcendent authority reveals itself and its will the humans They believe that because social circumstances change so should moral code 7 Know the three strategies for distributing resources discussed in the book and in class How does culture affect how resources are distributed Principle of need dictates that resources are directed toward those who need them most Principle of equality dictates that resources should be shared equally among the members of a group Principle of equity states that resources are distributed based on an individual s contributions Values are shaped by cultural practices Interpersonal Attraction Close Relationships and Groups Chapter 9