Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, USA.
Department of Psychology, Rice University, Houston, USA.
Sci Eng Ethics. 2024 Aug 29;30(5):39. doi: 10.1007/s11948-024-00499-9.
The ethical decision making of researchers has historically been studied from an individualistic perspective. However, researchers rarely work alone, and they typically experience ethical dilemmas in a team context. In this mixed-methods study, 67 scientists and engineers working at a public R1 (very high research activity) university in the United States responded to a survey that asked whether they had experienced or observed an ethical dilemma while working in a research team. Among these, 30 respondents agreed to be interviewed about their experiences using a think-aloud protocol. A total of 40 unique ethical incidents were collected across these interviews. Qualitative data from interview transcripts were then systematically content-analyzed by multiple independent judges to quantify the overall ethicality of team decisions as well as several team characteristics, decision processes, and situational factors. The results demonstrated that team formalistic orientation, ethical championing, and the use of ethical decision strategies were all positively related to the overall ethicality of team decisions. Additionally, the relationship between ethical championing and overall team decision ethicality was moderated by psychological safety and moral intensity. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
研究人员的伦理决策历来都是从个人主义的角度进行研究的。然而，研究人员很少单独工作，他们通常在团队环境中遇到伦理困境。在这项混合方法研究中，美国一所公立 R1（非常高的研究活动）大学的 67 名科学家和工程师对一项调查做出了回应，该调查询问他们在团队合作中是否经历过或观察到伦理困境。其中，30 名受访者同意使用出声思维协议接受关于他们的经历的访谈。在这些访谈中总共收集了 40 个独特的伦理事件。然后，通过多名独立裁判对访谈记录的定性数据进行系统的内容分析，以量化团队决策的整体道德性以及几个团队特征、决策过程和情境因素。结果表明，团队形式主义倾向、道德捍卫和使用道德决策策略都与团队决策的整体道德性呈正相关。此外，道德捍卫与整体团队决策道德性之间的关系受到心理安全和道德强度的调节。讨论了对未来研究和实践的影响。
