This thesis explores the minority anti-hero on television as it relates to concepts of race and behavioral justification. Previous studies have addressed the ways in which whiteness functions advantageously for popular criminal anti-heroes on television, yet little is known regarding the effects of race for similar characters of color. I hypothesized that accessibility of the criminal stereotype does not allow men of color to inhabit the same immoral status as white characters without penalty. I subsequently analyzed the first season from the Starz series Power and conducted a textual analysis using theories of race and hegemonic masculinity to compare the behavioral justification of Ghost and Tommy, the minority and white anti-heroes featured in the show. Results show that Power develops a dichotomous relationship between the minority and white anti-hero based in work priorities, attitude towards violence, and public image. This relationship ultimately serves to distance Ghost from stereotype and deflect the characteristics onto Tommy, whose whiteness allows him to absorb criminality with less cultural consequence. While this strategy broadens the palatability of the show, I find that it is ultimately harmful for minority representation on television. Implications of media representation and directions for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine psychological processes that can contribute to religiously motivated violence from a psychology of religion perspective in relation to the collective meaning-system of the Christian militant anti-abortion movement the Army of God. The study applied a single-case design and the data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 3 prominent figures within Army of God, as well as through 43 qualitative documents and 4 autobiographical books. The collected data was analyzed through a deductive approach, implementing the concept of sanctification, social identity theory, selective moral disengagement, and the Staircase to Terrorism model. The results show that the collective meaning-system of the Army of God can be understood as a form of religious fundamentalism that acts as a frame that binds the members together, and from which social categorization and group identification can induce acts of violence. The results also demonstrate that abortion is perceived as a grave injustice and destruction of something sacred, and how it leads to a moral outrage and aggression by constituting a threat towards one’s social identity. This threat moves the individuals towards a ‘black-and-white’ and ‘the ends justify the means’ mentality. The act of violence is further prompted by a perceived duty from God and facilitated by a dehumanization of the perceived enemy. The findings of the study address the need of primary empirical data in the psychological research of violent extremism. Furthermore, it brings further knowledge regarding religiously motivated violence and leaderless resistance by taking into account the search for significance and sacred values. In contrast to previous research the current study also demonstrates that a leader or a well-structured group is not necessarily a key factor when explaining religiously motivated violence from a social psychological perspective. This can contribute to the theoretical understanding regarding social identity and a collective meaning-making in relation to violent extremism and lone-wolf terrorism.

Despite advances gained by LGBTQIA+ people the issue of discrimination against the queer population continues. Recent events surrounding comments made by alt-right leaders have continued the conversation regarding homophobia and transphobia. The followed study built on previous understandings of moral disengagement theory and communication. 15 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with queer students were conducted in order to explore the role of self-cognitive mechanisms and their potential justifications for anti-queer communication. Findings suggested that not only were mechanisms of moral disengagement present in incidents surrounding anti-queer communication, but the carried with them a range of personal and societal implications. This study offered new understandings in moral disengagement theory, its application to interpersonal communication and its possible explanation for discriminatory behavior.

White collar corporate corruption continues to be prevalent in the United States, costing shareholders billions of dollars annually. This study of the collapse of Coudersport, PA firm, Adelphia Communications, explored how and why leadership of this prominent and successful company made unethical decisions, created an atmosphere of moral disengagement, and led to the downfall of the company. Taped interviews with 10 executives who were employed at the company during the years of its rise and demise (1996-2006) were transcribed, hand coded, and analyzed to explore the ethical culture and leadership practices at Adelphia. These insights offer a possible explanation for the behavior that resulted in the collapse of the company. The theoretical framework for this qualitative case study included ethical work climate, moral cognitive theory, and the theory of moral disengagement. Results showed that the collapse of Adelphia was enabled by intense family control, low empowerment, and extreme greed and entitlement on the part of the founders who never made a clear business transition from being family-owned to a publicly-traded corporation. Additionally, proper oversight by the board and outside auditors was lacking. These findings may contribute to positive social change in the areas of ethical training and in creating and operationalizing corporate values in day-to-day decision making in the corporate environment. These findings also suggest further need for new legislative issues beyond existing law to hold external consultants involved in fiduciary responsibility more accountable.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka om bedömning av negativa beteenden, tortyr och mobbing, påverkas av mekanismerna moraliskt rättfärdigande, språklig omskrivning samt förskjutning av ansvar enligt Banduras (1986) teori om moraliskt frikopplande. Ett flerfaktoriellt experiment utfördes på 195 deltagare. Deltagarna ombads bedöma hur acceptabla negativa beteenden var, genom att läsa texter där det förekom skriftliga manipulationer av studiens oberoende variabler moraliskt rättfärdigande, språklig omskrivning samt förskjutning av ansvar. Resultatet visade att moraliskt rättfärdigande samt förskjutning av ansvar hade en effekt. Tortyr bedömdes mer acceptabelt då texten manipulerats med moraliskt rättfärdigande samt förskjutning av ansvar. Även mobbing bedömdes mer acceptabelt vid manipulation av moraliskt rättfärdigande. Dock bedömdes mobbing mindre acceptabelt vid förskjutning av ansvar än vid ingen manipulation i texten. En interaktionseffekt visades i tortyrfallet, tortyr blev mer acceptabelt när moraliskt rättfärdigande och språklig omskrivning kombinerades, än vid manipulation var för sig.

This thesis deals with two constructs - social desirability and integrity. The main aim of this thesis is to create an interview which will allow to distinguish people by their level of integrity and their tendency to respond in a socially desirable manner. The interview can serve as a face-to-face variant of questionnaire methods. Theoretical foundations of both social desirability as well as integrity are presented in the theoretical part of the thesis. Complexity of both constructs is considered. Therefore, approaches of various authors are presented. Methods for assessing socially desirable responding in self- reports as well as integrity are also presented as part of the theoretical section of this thesis. The effects of social desirability on integrity assessment is discussed, as well. In the empirical part of the thesis the development of the semi-structured interview is described. The interview was developed based on original Czech test battery focusing on personal integrity at the workplace. Specifically, questionnaire Integrita v pracovním a běžném životě alongside with questionnaire assessing social desirability was used. The semi-structured interview contains a total of eight questions. Each question includes short story, and the respondent is asked to judge his / her behavior in this...

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2018-05-17T15:41:45Z No. of bitstreams: 0 / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2018-05-22T11:40:07Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-22T11:40:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2018-02-26 / O desengajamento moral (DM) é um processo psicossocial que desativa o padrão moral interno de condutas desumanas, silenciando a autocondenação. Assim, três estudos foram conduzidos para analisar o DM por diferentes prismas. Especificamente, os objetivos foram: analisar o estado atual da arte das pesquisas sobre DM (Estudo 1); obter uma versão traduzida e adaptada para o Brasil da principal medida de DM, a Multifaceted Scale of Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement - MSMMD, buscando evidências de validade e estimativas de fidedignidade (Estudo 2); e investigar as relações entre DM e variáveis demográficas e educacionais (Estudo 3). O Estudo 1 revelou que este fenômeno tem sido relacionado a um número bastante grande de comportamentos transgressivos que variam em termos de gravidade, que o DM se manifesta em diversos contextos e em diferentes fases do curso de vida, que predominam estudos correlacionais e que são escassos os estudos sobre DM no Brasil, bem como que há carência de medidas com evidências de validade e fidedignidade para esse contexto. O Estudo 2 denotou que a versão brasileira da MSMMD parece ser multidimensional, sendo o modelo teórico – quatro conjuntos de mecanismos que agrupam oito mecanismos e dão origem a um total – a estrutura interna mais adequada para a medida. A escala apresenta boa consistência interna para o total de itens, porém, a maioria dos fatores e componentes apresentou Alfas de Cronbach inferiores ao esperado. Também foram encontradas evidências de validade para a MSMMD baseadas na relação com outras variáveis, mais precisamente empatia, comportamentos prossociais e atos infracionais. Embora não esteja isenta de limitações, a versão brasileira da MSMMD pode ser considerada um recurso útil para pesquisas brasileiras sobre DM. Ademais, recomenda-se que mais estudos sobre suas propriedades psicométricas sejam realizados. O Estudo 3 identificou que meninos, alunos com menor idade e com menor número de anos estudados, estudantes de instituições de ensino públicas e com histórico de reprovação escolar apresentaram maior DM. Religião não se associou ao DM de forma geral, porém os mecanismos Justificação Moral e Linguagem Eufemística foram menos utilizados pelos participantes que possuem e são praticantes de religião. Neste estudo, Justificação Moral foi o mecanismo mais utilizado pelos estudantes e Comparação Vantajosa o menos utilizado. Não obstante as limitações, as três pesquisas que compõem a presente dissertação abrem, ainda que modestamente, caminhos para futuras pesquisas sobre DM no contexto brasileiro. / Moral disengagement (DM) is a psychosocial process that deactivates the internal moral standard of inhuman conduct, silencing self-condemnation. Thus, three studies were conducted to analyze DM by perspectives different. Specifically, the objectives were: to analyze the current state of the art of researches on DM (Study 1); to obtain a translated and adapted version for Brazil of the main measure of DM, the Multifaceted Scale of Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement - MSMMD, seeking evidence of validity and reliability estimates (Study 2); and to investigate the relationships between DM and demographic and educational variables (Study 3). Study 1 revealed that this phenomenon has been related to a fairly large number of transgressive behaviors that vary in severity, that DM manifests itself in several contexts and in different phases of the life course, that predominate correlational studies and that are scarce the studies on DM in Brazil, as well as that there is a lack of measures with evidence of validity and reliability for this context. Study 2 denoted that the Brazilian version of MSMMD appears to be multidimensional, with the theoretical model - four sets of mechanisms that group eight mechanisms and give rise to a total - the most adequate internal structure for the measure. The scale presents good internal consistency for the total of items, however, most of the factors and components presented Cronbach's Alphas lower than expected. Evidence of validity for MSMMD was also found based on the relationship with other variables, more precisely empathy, prossocial behavior and infractional acts. Although not exempt from limitations, the Brazilian version of MSMMD can be considered a useful resource for Brazilian research on DM. In addition, it is recommended that further studies on MSMMD psychometric properties be performed. Study 3 identified that boys, students with lower age and with less number of years studied, students of public institutions with a history of school failure showed higher DM. Religion was not associated with DM in general, but the Moral Justification and Euphemistic Language mechanisms were less used by participants who have and are practicing religion. Moral Justification was the mechanism most used by students and Advantageous Comparison less used. Despite the limitations, the three researches that compose this dissertation open, albeit modestly, ways for future researches on DM in the Brazilian context.

Albert Bandura’s construct of moral disengagement has been recognized as theoretically useful for the study of self-destructive behaviors and moral disengagement, and to provide a unique criterion for empirical investigation of United States combat veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The purpose of this project is to better understand predictors related to the disengagement of moral self-sanctions in order that self-destructive behaviors related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, such as drug and alcohol abuse, and the ultimate self-destructive behavior of suicide, might be mitigated. Charles Snyder’s hope construct, Harold Koenig and Arndt Büssing’s concept of intrinsic religiosity and Corey Keyes’ notion of psychological flourishing are chosen as viable predictor variables. Hope and intrinsic religiosity are found to be significant and to be correlated with moral disengagement. Inferences regarding the results are postulated and suggestions are made for research regarding other possible predictors of moral disengagement. Agentive moral reinforcement is discussed and proposals offered related to increasing psychological resilience and decreasing the agent’s risk associated with moral disengagement.

This thesis is a moral disengagement theory approach to CSR improvements in Swedish companies. The purpose is to investigate what and how justifications are a barrier for middle managers’ contributions to a firm's CSR improvements in Swedish companies. There is a shift towards a need for a new CSR and on a more personal bases where individual contributions are crucial. Bandura, Bero and White’s (2009) moral disengagement mechanisms will be used to explain how and why middle managers justify avoiding CSR initiating and improvements. The main purpose with this thesis is to answer the questions of what justifications are used and how they are barriers for middle manager’s contribution to CSR improvement in companies? This has been conducted through qualitative semi-structured individual interviews with middle managers in 10 Swedish companies. The findings show that only six of Bandura et al’s. (2009) moral disengagement mechanisms were used by middle managers, Moral Justification, Euphemistic Labelling, Advantageous Comparison, Displacement of Responsibility, Diffusion of Responsibility, Distortion of Consequences, together with one new justification unique to these findings, Lack of Demand. Findings shows that the more justifications used, the weaker CSR the firm shows, both through their own records/publications and during the interview. It is clear that one barrier for CSR improvements can be the thought about barriers itself. Middle managers easily identify material, strategic and financial barriers but fail to acknowledge that their thoughts on barriers can actually be a barrier. Findings show that justifications used by middle managers appear to be a key factor in why companies do not pursue ambitious CSR improvements. This thesis has contributed to existing literature by expanding the research field regarding new CSR approaches and Bandura et al.’s (2009) moral disengagement mechanisms. These findings could be of value for companies with the need to improve CSR since our findings show that justifications are barriers in the development of CSR within a company.

The population of older adults with chronic disease is increasing, yet little is known about their perception of chronic disease and self-management. To develop successful and sustainable chronic disease self-management interventions in the older adult population, health care providers must first understand older adults’ attitudes toward health status and behavior change. This pilot study was conducted to determine the feasibility of the study design. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the appropriateness of using a mixed-methods research design to investigate Appalachian older adult’s attitude toward the chronic disease experience and health behavior change. A convergent, parallel mixed-method design included a quantitative questionnaire and qualitative focus groups in churches in northeast Tennessee. The aim of the study was met, and the methodology of the study was found to be feasible for larger studies. Divergence of data was found when evaluating qualitative and quantitative data. The study instrument was found to be reliable for future use. The implications of the results suggest that the study design is appropriate for the purpose of the study.