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Full-Text Articles in Psychology

How Relevant Is Jury Rationality?, David A. Hoffman Jul 2003

How Relevant Is Jury Rationality?, David A. Hoffman

David A Hoffman

This essay reviews "Punitive Damages: How Juries Decide" by Cass Sunstein, et al. The book provides a good example of a recent trend: the use of behavioralist research to justify surprisingly paternalistic legal reforms. While critics of behavioralism often contend that its theoretical foundations are weak, this approach is unlikely to prove an effective rejoinder in the new debate about what kinds of paternalism are made permissible by human "irrationality". A better approach: (1) notes the lack of a nexus between behavioralism and the supposed emergent necessity of paternalist reforms; and (2) suggests that juror unwillingness to apply cost-benefit formula …


Science, Identity, And The Construction Of The Gay Political Narrative, Nancy J. Knauer Jan 2003

Science, Identity, And The Construction Of The Gay Political Narrative, Nancy J. Knauer

Nancy J. Knauer

This Article contends that the current debate over gay civil rights is, at base, a dispute over the nature of same-sex desire. Pro-gay forces advocate an ethnic or identity model of homosexuality based on the conviction that sexual orientation is an immutable, unchosen, and benign characteristic. The assertion that, in essence, gays are "born that way," has produced a gay political narrative that rests on claims of shared identity (i.e., homosexuals are a blameless minority) and arguments of equivalence (i.e., as a blameless minority, homosexuals deserve equal treatment and protection against discrimination). The pro-family counter-narrative is based on a behavioral …


Understanding The Terrorist Mindset, Randy Borum Jan 2003

Understanding The Terrorist Mindset, Randy Borum

Randy Borum

No abstract provided.


Profiling Hazards: Profiling In Counterterrorism And Homeland Security, Randy Borum Jan 2003

Profiling Hazards: Profiling In Counterterrorism And Homeland Security, Randy Borum

Randy Borum

No abstract provided.


Complexes And Political Complexity: Canadian Contributions To Political Psychology, Paul W. Nesbitt-Larking Dec 2002

Complexes And Political Complexity: Canadian Contributions To Political Psychology, Paul W. Nesbitt-Larking

Paul W Nesbitt-Larking

While it remains a diffuse field of enquiry, political psychology has established itself as an important approach to the analysis of political life. In the United States, political psychology is offered as an optional programme in a number of leading graduate schools and is a recognized subfield of the American Political Science Association. Despite the existence of a number of active political psychologists in Canada, there has been relatively little curiosity about the status of the field. This article offers an account of research in the field. Central to this exploration is an evaluation of the ideological, cultural and substantive …


Mars And Venus At Twilight: A Critical Investigation Of Moralism, Age Effects, And Sex Differences, Daniel P. Aldrich, Rieko Kage Dec 2002

Mars And Venus At Twilight: A Critical Investigation Of Moralism, Age Effects, And Sex Differences, Daniel P. Aldrich, Rieko Kage

Daniel P Aldrich

Analysts have long sought to understand whether women and men have different ethical orientations. Some researchers have argued that women and men consistently make fundamentally different ethical judgments, especially of corruption; others have found no such disparities. This study considered whether an individual’s age may also play a role in determining his or her moral judgment. A statistical investigation of interactive effects between gender and age in a nationally representative data set from Japan shows that this interaction functions better as a predictor of moralism than does education or gender alone. Older individuals of both sexes were found to have …