The social impact of robotics applied to domains such as education, religion, nursing, and therapy across the world depends on the level of technology as well as the culture in which it is used. By studying how robots are used in Iran, a technologically-savvy country with a long history and a rich culture, we explore their possible impact on interrelated areas of religious and ethical features in education in an Islamic society. To accomplish this task, a preliminary exploratory study was (...) conducted using two social robots as teaching assistants in Islamic religion classes for 42 elementary students. More than 90% of the participants in the study absolutely preferred the robot-assisted religion class over one taught by a human. Building on the results from the students’ viewpoints and exam scores, the acceptability and potential of using social robots in the education of Islamic religious concepts in Iran are further discussed in this paper. (shrink)

The management of children born with trisomy 18 is controversial, and both providers and parents often have differing opinions. Many parents choose to terminate the pregnancy while others go forward, making decisions based on their beliefs, understanding, and physician recommendations. Physicians are similarly divided regarding treatment of these children, as some feel that aggressive treatments are futile while others defer to the parents' wishes.Interrupted aortic arch with ventricular septal defect in children with trisomy 18 presents an ethical dilemma that highlights (...) the kinds of controversies in medical decision making facing physicians on a daily basis. Repair of interrupted aortic arch with ventricular septal defect poses a high risk to newborns with or without trisomy 18. Therefore, the option for surgery should be treated as with any routine informed consent process. Parents should be counseled about the risks, benefits, alternatives, and the likelihood of success both short and long term and be should offered a choice between surgery and palliative care. (shrink)

This study examined the longitudinal associations among children’s direct aggression, prosocial behaviors, and peer group acceptance in middle childhood. Children’s co-occurring aggressive and prosocial behaviors were assessed in order to identify distinct trajectory subgroups. Subsequently, variations in the development in peer acceptance were examined for each of the identified subgroups. The sample consisted of 784 children who were ethnically and socioeconomically diverse who were followed longitudinally from Grades 1 to 4. Results revealed several distinct trajectory subgroups, including children who were (...) primarily aggressive or prosocial, as well as children who exhibited co-occurring aggression and prosocial behaviors. Comparing these subgroups, the use of co-occurring prosocial behaviors appeared to have some protective effect on aggressive children’s peer acceptance. However, aggression was nonetheless associated with lower peer acceptance. The findings provide insights pertaining to the heterogeneity among aggressive children, the protective effects of prosocial behaviors on peer acceptance, and the differential effects of moderate versus high aggression. (shrink)

Business Ethics: A European Review, EarlyView.

This research examines the necessary condition of emotions in predicting consumer ethical decision-making, using a new multiplicative method for identifying and measuring the necessary condition in data sets—Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA). Based on a sample of over four hundred individuals, and combining three different consumption scenarios involving ethical issues, our findings demonstrate that emotions are a necessary condition for consumer ethical decisions and behaviours. In addition, the results show that higher levels of consumer ethical decisions can only be achieved if (...) happiness, gladness and satisfaction increase towards a minimum level of necessity. The findings provide empirical support for the essential role of emotions in predicting consumer ethical decision-making. Furthermore, this research identifies the emotional thresholds without which ethical choices cannot occur and then explains why individuals sometimes behave ethically but other times do not. In addition, this is a first contribution applying NCA to consumer ethics. (shrink)