The dissertation abstract and reflection commentary present the work of Dr. Maryam Kouchaki. The abstract provides an overview of research examining the role of professional identities on ethical behavior. Across a number of studies, this work demonstrates that professionalism, either measured or manipulated, can increase individuals’ unethical behaviors. This dissertation extends prior work on professionalism by examining its psychology and shedding new light on importance of its meanings in driving individuals’ behaviors. Below, the author discusses the reasons for why (...) professionals may engage in unethical behaviors. Finally, the reflection commentary provides insights about the author’s journey as a PhD student. (shrink)

Bilinguals have been shown to perform worse than monolinguals in a variety of verbal tasks. This study investigated this bilingual verbal cost in a large-scale picture-naming study conducted in Spanish. We explored how individual characteristics of the participants and the linguistic properties of the words being spoken influence this performance cost. In particular, we focused on the contributions of lexical frequency and phonological similarity across translations. The naming performance of Spanish-Catalan bilinguals speaking in their dominant and non-dominant language was compared (...) to that of Spanish monolinguals. Single trial naming latencies were analyzed by means of linear mixed models accounting for individual effects at the participant and item level. While decreasing lexical frequency was shown to increase naming latencies in all groups, this variable by itself did not account for the bilingual cost. In turn, our results showed that the bilingual cost disappeared when naming words with high phonological similarity across translations. In short, our results show that frequency of use can play a role in the emergence of the bilingual cost, but that phonological similarity across translations should be regarded as one of the most important variables that determine the bilingual cost in speech production. Low phonological similarity across translations yields worse performance in bilinguals and promotes the bilingual cost in naming performance. The implications of our results for the effect of phonological similarity across translations within the bilingual speech production system are discussed. (shrink)

Background:Despite their negative consequences, evidence shows that futile medical treatments are still being provided, particularly to terminally ill patients. Uncovering the reasons behind providing such treatments in different religious and sociocultural contexts can create a better understanding of medical futility and help manage it effectively.Research objectives:This study was undertaken to explore Iranian nurses’ and physicians’ perceptions of the reasons behind providing futile medical treatments.Research design:This was a qualitative exploratory study. Study data were gathered through conducting in-depth semi-structured personal interviews and (...) analyzed using the conventional content analysis method.Participants and research context:Twenty-one nurses and nine medical specialists were recruited purposively from four teaching hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences.Ethical considerations:This study was approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Research Center and the Research Ethics Committee of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All participants gave informed consent for the research and that their anonymity was preserved.Findings:The main theme of the study was “having an obligation to provide medical treatments despite knowing their futility.” This theme consisted of three main categories including patients’ and family members’ request for continuing life-sustaining treatments, healthcare professionals’ personal motives, and organizational atmosphere and structure.Discussion and conclusion:Different personal and organizational factors contribute to providing futile medical treatments. Promoting the structure and the function of hospital ethics committees, establishing and developing home care facilities, increasing the number of palliative care centers and hospices, and educating healthcare professionals, patients, and family members about the services and the benefits of such centers can facilitate making wise decisions about continuing or discontinuing treatments which have been labeled as futile. (shrink)

BackgroundSexual harassment in the workplace has many negative consequences for nurses and the delivery of patient care. Appropriate policies and strategies can help to create a safe work environment for nurses. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate Iranian nurses’ strategies for preventing sexual harassment in the workplace.Materials and methodsThis qualitative descriptive-explorative study used conventional content analysis to investigate how Iranian nurses cope with sexual harassment. Participants were selected using a purposeful sampling method. Data was collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews (...) from September 2020 to April 2021. In order to obtain rich information, maximum variation was considered. The Guba and Lincoln criteria were used to increase the study’s trustworthiness, while the Graneheim and Lundman approach was used to analyze the content.ResultsOne hundred and twelve codes, one main category, four categories, and 12 subcategories were extracted. The main category, strategies to prevent sexual harassment among nurses in the workplace, includes four categories: behavioral response, working conditions adjustment, informing, and performance of hospital security guards. The most common strategy used by nurses was behavioral response.ConclusionBasic measures are required to prevent sexual misconduct against nurses, which is an obvious part of the professional organizational culture. Managers and policymakers should develop workplace ethics, legal accountability, and safety. They should also develop training programs and prevention strategies to help nurses improve their coping skills. Further quantitative and qualitative research in other healthcare groups is required to confirm the findings of this study. (shrink)

BackgroundHaving moral courage is a crucial characteristic for nurses to handle ethical quandaries, stay true to their professional obligations towards patients, and uphold ethical principles. This concept can be influenced by various factors including personal, professional, organizational, and leadership considerations. The purpose of this study was to explore the predictors of moral courage among nurses working in hospitals.MethodsIn 2018, an observational cross-sectional study was carried out on 267 nurses employed in six hospitals located in the northern region of Iran. The (...) participants were selected through a simple random sampling technique. To collect data, a demographic information form was used along with two questionnaires. The first questionnaire was a standard survey on moral courage, while the second questionnaire was designed to assess the ethical climate. Linear regression was used to assess the predictors of moral courage.ResultsNurses had an average moral courage score of 87.07 ± 15.52 and an average moral climate score of 96.12 ± 17.17. The study showed that 16% of the variation in moral courage scores among nurses was explained by ethical climate and monthly overtime hours.ConclusionThis study underscores the significance of establishing an ethical work environment and minimizing overtime hours in order to enhance moral courage among nurses. These findings carry weight for both nursing practice and organizational policies focused on fostering ethical conduct within healthcare settings. (shrink)

Coronavirus disease 2019, as an infectious disease, is now prevalent in many countries around the world, which has recently led many governments to home quarantine and impose penalties for violating quarantine. Concerns and stress caused by lockdown and social isolation led to personal and interactive reactions in some families, which are also culturally important to address. This study was administrated to study the psychological well-being and the effect of home quarantine on marital satisfaction and parental burnout from parenting responsibilities during (...) the prevalence of COVID-19 in Iranian parents. A total of 213 parents voluntarily participated in the online survey in the period of February to mid-April 2020 and completed the 5-item index of the well-being of the World Health Organization, the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale, and the Parental Burnout Assessment. The results showed that the effect of home quarantine on MS and PB was not significant in parents. The interactive effect of home quarantine and gender was not significant on MS and PB. In addition, the mothers significantly reported higher PB than the fathers, but the fathers had higher scores in MS and psychological well-being. The effect of some demographic factors on the studied variables was also significant. Supportive resources in family-based culture may play an essential role to reduce the negative effects of stressful situations on family interactions. (shrink)

Recent protests in Iran have clearly shown the extent of humanism there. Whilst resistance to dictatorship and Islamism has always been in existence, the 2009 Twitter revolution in Iran gave people everywhere an insight into a social movement that is deeply humanist, modern, and secular. What it has also shown is the irrelevance and antithetical character of Islamism with people’s demands and desires. This is what many of us have been saying for a very long time. Recent events, broadcast via (...) citizen journalism, however, have given the world an opportunity to see it for itself. There are several factors contributing to this rise. (shrink)

Conflict of interests is a situation when someone is in need of other people’s trust on one the hand and has personal or general interests on the other hand, resulting in conflict with the given responsibility. In this research work, an attempt was made to find the relation between declarations of conflict of interests and reporting positive outcomes in the dental journals in Iran. In this analytical/cross-sectional study, first Health and Biomedical Information was searched and all the Persian and English (...) dental journals published in Iran were collected. Then, all the papers published in the journals from December 2000 to December 2016 were collected and categorized in terms of the year of publication, author or authors’ affiliations, Persian and English journal, type of the substance or the drug used, declarations of conflict of interests and the positive or negative conclusion of the report. Data were analyzed with the Fisher’s exact test and Chi squared test, using the program SPSS 18. In numerical analysis, the significance was set at P < 0.05. Seventeen dental journals in Persian and English were analyzed: 10 in English and 7 in Persian. Reviewing these studies showed that of 1021 articles in Persian, in 128 cases there was no mention of a declaration of conflict of interests and in 11 cases, the COI had been stated. In addition, from 1220 articles in English, in 825 cases there was no mention of declarations of conflict of interests and in 45 cases, the declarations of COI had been mentioned. There was no significant relation between the COI and ‘no’ COI and the reporting of positive outcomes in papers in Iranian dental journals in terms of the journal type, year of publication and the journals’ guarantee form. A total of 83% of studies with declarations of COI had one positive outcome, with a significant relationship in this field; however, in 73% of studies with no COI, there was one positive outcome, too. In general, the society expects that doctors would not consider any incentives except the health of the patients in the efforts made by them. The severity of the consequences of COI is of higher value when the patients’ health is endangered due to it. In addition, COI might change the attitude and approach of other doctors and peers. (shrink)

A. EInleitung B. CArl Schmitt und die Hinterfragung der Politikwissenschaft Die Frage nach der modernen Politikwissenschaft - Der Begriff des Politischen - Pluralismus- und Liberalismuskritik C. POlitische Theologie und der Prozess der Sakularisierung Politische Theologie - Monotheismus und Reichstheologie - Sakularisierungsprozess der Neuzeit D. DIe aus dem politischen Willen hervorgehende Jurisprudenz Der moderne Staat - Legalitat und Legitimitat - Verfassungslehre - Menschheitsdemokratie vs. MAssendemokratie E. DAs Gleichgewicht der Machte als Aufhalter der Globalitat Nomos vs. UNiversalismus - GroSSraum als Alternative der (...) globalen Welt - Feindlichkeit und Menschenrechte - Das Problem des Burgerkriegs F. GLobalisierungskritik in den Kategorien von Carl Schmitts Gedankengut Die Entmachtigung des Nationalstaats - Die Verrechtlichung der zwischenstaatlichen BeziehungenFazit Literaturverzeichnis, Personen- und Sachregister. (shrink)

BackgroundThere are numerous challenges in the consultation services of the Hospital Ethics Committees (HEC) that can impact the means of providing healthcare. This review aimed to identify the main challenges in the application of consultation services of the HEC and propose possible solutions.MethodsThis systematic review was conducted through searching electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, ProQuest, and Embase. Inclusion criteria included studies published in English language in a peer-reviewed journal, from 2000 to 2019 were identified, which clearly defined the (...) design, method, and results of the study. Study selections, quality assessments, data extraction, and analysis were completed by two researchers, independently. The thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.ResultsThe search yielded 1204 articles and 6 of these, included the analyses. Challenges were categorized into 9 themes: (a) personal views and believes in healthcare professionals, (b) sense of fear in the healthcare professionals, (c) medical culture, (d) environmental factors, (e) managerial and structural factors, (f) characteristics of the HEC members, (g) factors related to the HEC, (h) problematic process for HEC consultations, and (i) weakness of knowledge about HEC. Accordingly, proposed solutions were organized according to five themes: reforming the HEC executive processes, creating the appropriate communications, developing awareness about HEC, improving the competencies of HEC members, and (e) receiving support from HEC consultations.ConclusionsThis review highlights that proposed solutions serve as examples of strategies, which attempt to solve challenges related to the application of the consultation services of HEC by healthcare professionals. (shrink)

The goal of most scientific research published in peer-review journals is to discover and report the truth. However, the research record includes tongue-in-cheek papers written in the conventional form and style of a research paper. Although these papers were intended to be taken ironically, bibliographic database searches show that many have been subsequently cited as valid research, some in prestigious journals. We attempt to understand why so many readers cited such ironic science seriously. We draw from the literature on error (...) propagation in research publication for ways categorize citations. We adopt the concept of irony from the fields of literary and rhetorical criticism to detect, characterize, and analyze the interpretations in the more than 60 published research papers that cite an instance of ironic science. We find a variety of interpretations: some citing authors interpret the research as valid and accept it, some contradict or reject it, and some acknowledge its ironic nature. We conclude that publishing ironic science in a research journal can lead to the same troubles posed by retracted research, and we recommend relevant changes to publication guidelines. (shrink)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference between the performance of Iranian male and female EFL learners on the five dimensions of the California Critical Thinking Skills Test.88 learners, out of 120, who were selected through convenience sampling method, participated in this study. The researcher used a quantitative research method with one-group pretest posttest design. This group received some treatment in the form of “the Meeting-House Debate” strategy. Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics. Result (...) showed that there was no significant difference in the performance of males and females on the sub-scales measured; i.e. evaluation, analysis, inference, deductive reasoning, and inductive reasoning. It was concluded that gender did not have a significant effect on the students’ critical thinking skills. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: Note.

Algorithmic systems are increasingly used by state agencies to inform decisions about humans. They produce scores on risks of recidivism in criminal justice, indicate the probability for a job seeker to find a job in the labor market, or calculate whether an applicant should get access to a certain university program. In this contribution, we take an interdisciplinary perspective, provide a bird’s eye view of the different key decisions that are to be taken when state actors decide to use an (...) algorithmic system, and illustrate these decisions with empirical examples from case studies. Building on these insights, we discuss the main pitfalls and promises of the use of algorithmic system by the state and focus on four levels: The most basic question whether an algorithmic system should be used at all, the regulation and governance of the system, issues of algorithm design, and, finally, questions related to the implementation of the system on the ground and the human–machine-interaction that comes with it. Based on our assessment of the advantages and challenges that arise at each of these levels, we propose a set of crucial questions to be asked when such intricate matters are addressed. (shrink)

Background Moral distress has negative effects on physical and mental health. However, there is little information about nurses’ coping strategies reducing moral distress. Aim The purpose of this study was to investigate the coping strategies of intensive care unit nurses reducing moral distress in Iran. Study design This is a qualitative study with a content analysis approach. Participants and research context The research sample consisted of nurses working in intensive care units of teaching hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical (...) Sciences. Samples were selected among eligible nurses by purposive sampling. Data were obtained through 17 in-depth, individual, and semi-structured interviews with 17 nurses. Graneheim and Lundman’s (2004) 6-step content analysis method was used to analyze the data. Data management was also performed by MAXQDA software version 20. The COREQ checklist was used to report the study. Ethical considerations This project was approved by the Ethics Committee of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All ethical guidelines in research were followed. Finding The data analysis resulted in the formation of two main categories of desirable coping strategies (with two subcategories of compensation and rejuvenation) and less desirable coping strategies (with three subclasses of indifference over time, escape and concealment). Discussion The intensive care unit nurses in dealing with ethical problems first try to solve the problem through discussion, but when they fail to resolve it peacefully, they resort to several coping strategies. Factors, such as increasing experience, lack of support from hospital managers and officials, poor communication between colleagues, the need to maintain hierarchy, fear of reprimand, and a sense of powerlessness, changed the nurses’ preferred strategies. It is important for managers to provide a blame/punishment-free atmosphere for expression of ethical experiences; a supportive atmosphere in which staff can engage in ethical discussions without fear of punishment. They should also provide opportunities for rest, rejuvenation, and adequate training for their employees. (shrink)

Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900--Criticism and interpretation. ; Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900--Views on ethics.

Social reality of a group emerges from interpersonal perceptions and beliefs put to action under a host of environmental conditions. By extending the study of fast-and-frugal heuristics, we view social perceptions as judgment tools and assert that perceptions are ecologically rational to the degree that they adapt to the social reality. We maintain that the veracity of both stereotypes and base rates, as judgment tools, can be determined solely by accuracy research.

In this review we deal with open quantum systems within the Bohmian mechanics framework which has the advantage to provide a clear picture of quantum phenomena in terms of trajectories, originally in configuration space. The gradual decoherence process is studied from linear and nonlinear Schrödinger equations through Bohmian trajectories as well as by using the so-called quantum-classical transition differential equation through scaled trajectories. This transition is governed by a continuous parameter, the transition parameter, covering these two extreme open dynamical regimes. (...) Thus, two sources of decoherence of different nature are going to be considered. Several examples will be presented and discussed in order to illustrate the corresponding theory behind each case, namely: the so-called Brownian–Bohmian motion leading to quantum diffusion coefficients, dissipative diffraction in time, dissipative tunnelling for a parabolic barrier under the presence of an electric field and stochastic early arrivals for the same type of barrier. In order to simplify the notations and physical discussion, the theoretical developments will be carried out in one dimension throughout all this wok. One of the main goals is to analyze the gradual decoherence process existing in these open dynamical regimes in terms of trajectories, leading to a more intuitive way of understanding the underlying physics in order to gain new insights. (shrink)

Neuroarchitecture uses neuroscientific tools to better understand architectural design and its impact on human perception and subjective experience. The form or shape of the built environment is fundamental to architectural design, but not many studies have shown the impact of different forms on the inhabitants’ emotions. This study investigated the neurophysiological correlates of different interior forms on the perceivers’ affective state and the accompanying brain activity. To understand the impact of naturalistic three-dimensional (3D) architectural forms, it is essential to perceive (...) forms from different perspectives. We computed clusters of form features extracted from pictures of residential interiors and constructed exemplary 3D room models based on and representing different formal clusters. To investigate human brain activity during three-dimensional perception of architectural spaces, we used a mobile brain/body imaging (MoBI) approach recording the electroencephalogram (EEG) of participants while they naturally walk through different interior forms in virtual reality (VR). The results revealed a strong impact of curvature geometries on activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Theta band activity in ACC correlated with specific feature types (rs (14) = 0.525, p = 0.037) and geometry (rs (14) = - 0.579, p = 0.019), providing evidence for a role of this structure in processing architectural features beyond their emotional impact. The posterior cingulate cortex and the occipital lobe were involved in the perception of different room perspectives during the stroll through the rooms. This study sheds new light on the use of mobile EEG and VR in architectural studies and provides the opportunity to study human brain dynamics in participants that actively explore and realistically experience architectural spaces. (shrink)

Background:Privacy is a complicated and obscure concept, which has special meanings in the healthcare environment; therefore, it is essential for healthcare providers to fully understand this conce...

In Allamah Tabatabaee’s works there are found at least three apparently different views about the relation of Divine essence and His attributes of act: 1. the unity of God’s essence and His attributes of act; 2. the ontological distinction between His essence and His attributes of act and 3. the impossibility of attribution of such properties to God’s essence. In this paper we try to establish that these three views are essentially consistent. Our analysis shows that each one of the (...) above-mentioned positions can be considered from a special aspect. The first view is based on considering the mere reality of such attributes while in the second view we are just concerned to the appearance of them. The third view, however, is a result of a pluralistic analysis of the attributes of act. (shrink)

Background: Professional commitment is an important factor in employee performance. COVID-19 outbreak has seriously affected the nurses working conditions. Numerous factors can affect nurses' professional commitment in this situation. Aim: To explore the nurses' lived experiences, attitudes, views and perceptions toward professional commitment and factors affecting it in the Covid-19 crisis. Method, Setting and Participants: This qualitative study was conducted using phenomenological approach and content analysis method. Twenty-five nurses were interviewed using semi structured in-depth interviews. Conventional content analysis was used (...) to analyze collected data. Ethical considerations: Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences. Results: Five themes were extracted as follows: “Collaborative empathetic commitment”, “Loyal commitment”, “Sacrificial commitment”, “Commitment with doubt and concern” and “humanistic commitment”. Discussion and Conclusion: The Covid-19 crisis has caused major changes in nurses' working conditions, which have also affected the concept of professional commitment to the nursing profession and revealed new concepts. Identifying internal and external factors that can enhance nurses' commitment to the profession in critical situations such as the Covid-19 outback is of particular importance. (shrink)

Greater numbers of women are entering workplaces in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries. Structural features of patriarchy are changing in Middle Eastern societies and workplaces, but women’s experiences of gendered segregation, under-representation and exclusion raise questions around the feminist politics and ethics mobilized to respond to them. Building on and extending emerging research on feminism, gender, resistance, feminist ethics and the Middle East, we use data from an interview study with 58 Saudi Arabian women to explore their attitudes (...) toward gender-segregated and mixed workplaces. We develop a novel conceptualization of how gender is experienced through patternings of resistance and conformity shaped by the ethicopolitical, religiopolitical and sociocultural webs of meaning in Saudi society that permeate workplaces. Saudi women’s attitudes and actions in the workplace are neither entirely individual and private nor entirely collective and public, but made up of nuanced commitments and resistances to context-relevant identity issues. We discuss implications of our findings for the feminist ethics and politics of gendered resistance and conformity to working practices and norms in Islamic and Middle Eastern settings. (shrink)

Anthropology in psychology under the title of "personality theories" has been able to be effective in the field of behavioral studies and interpersonal relationships. The need to explain and analyze the true nature of man in the field of "being" - contrary to psychological personality theories that generally identify human nature in the field of "appearance" - caused this article based on Sadra's anthropological opinions and view According to Allport's trait theory, which is one of the pioneers of the trait (...) approach, it should be organized by descriptive-analytical method. The individualistic approach based on traits is the main feature of Allport's and Mulla Sadra's personality theory. The foundation of personality in both theories is based on the most profound characteristics of person; However, in the analysis of Mulla Sadra's philosophical texts, the quality of the appearance of these traits and why they influence the structure of personality and, accordingly, human behavior, have been explained. "Self" or ego, contrary to its abstract concept in Alport's view, is a real and existential thing in Sadrai's system. The dynamism and unity of Alporti's personality can be rationally explained by the rule of "unity of the known and the known" and "intrinsic volitional movement". (shrink)

We define a class of first-order formulas $\mathsf{P}^{\ast }$ which exactly contains formulas $\varphi$ such that satisfaction of $\varphi$ in any classical structure attached to a node of a Kripke model of intuitionistic predicate logic deciding atomic formulas implies its forcing in that node. We also define a class of $\mathsf{E}$-formulas with the property that their forcing coincides with their classical satisfiability in Kripke models which decide atomic formulas. We also prove that any formula with this property is an $\mathsf{E}$-formula. (...) Kripke models of intuitionistic arithmetical theories usually have this property. As a consequence, we prove a new conservativity result for Peano arithmetic over Heyting arithmetic. (shrink)

The expansion and transformation of Asian economies is producing class structures, roles and identities that could not easily be predicted from other times and places. The industrialisation of the countryside, in particular, generates new, rural middle classes which straddle the worlds of agriculture and industry in complex ways. Their class position is improvised on the basis of numerous influences and opportunities, and is in constant evolution. Enormous though its total population is, meanwhile, the rural middle class remains invisible to most (...) scholars and policymakers. Contested Capital is the first major work to shed light on an emerging transnational class comprised of many hundreds of millions of people. In India, the 'middle class' has become one of the key categories of economic analysis and developmental forecasting. The discussion suffers from one major oversight: it assumes that the middle class resides uniquely in the cities. As this book demonstrates, however, more than a third of India's middle class is rural, and 17 per cent of rural households belong to the middle class. The book brings this vast and dynamic population into view, so confronting some of the most crucial neglected questions of the contemporary global economy. (shrink)

Publication date: 30 November 2016 Source: Author: Akram Sadat Hosseini, Esmaeil Zohdi Racism is a worldwide matter that is based on the physical characteristics of people's division into different categories on which some people become superior and some inferior. Racism and ethnicity are usually considered as the same concepts while in fact ethnicity is a sub-class of racism. In every nation, there are some ethnic groups with the same origin and similar customs that may or may not be judged (...) equally by the power-handler ethnic groups. An example of such country is Afghanistan which is severely an ethnic country. This study explores the social, cultural, and scientific investigations done on the people's races and ethnical characteristics by using Afghan types as examples. Racism is not the result of scientific observation, but it is due to the human differences that happened between 16th and 19th century when people began differentiating among themselves. This aspect of racism is well expressed by the American sociologist "Feagin". In his view, the natural superiority of some people over others is rejected. The novel The Kite Runner depicts the two major Afghan ethnical populations, Pashtun and Hazara, and their social, cultural, and religious conflicts. Accordingly, this article will try to examine the root of ethnic prejudices and oppression among the Afghan people in the novel and the reasons for their ethnic conducts are explained and analyzed based on the Feagin’s denial of human difference. Moreover, by providing some evidence it is proved that the biological difference is just some excuses for the powerful section to gain their egotistic goals. (shrink)