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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1989

[The superego or conscience. On the difference between the 2 concepts and its significance for psychotherapy of children and adolescents].

Proceeding from the matter-of-fact equation of conscience to superego in recent psychoanalytical papers the author first describes the phenomenon of conscience which is subdivided in manifestations attributed to the good and the bad conscience. By means of the Freudian conception developing from egoideal via idealego to superego Freud's reception of conscience is examined. In this connection the author demonstrates an obvious onesidedness in Freud's use of the term of conscience which leans towards the accusing, punishing, bad conscience. Among Freud's successors, on the part of the psychology of the proprium, heed is paid to those aspects of conscience neglected by Freud, the implicit total aspect of the phenomenon of conscience, however, was lost. Finally the author discusses the double aspect of conscience, the good and the bad conscience, with respect to its impact on the psychotherapy of children and adolescents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Adoption of a pharmacist conscience clause by Professional Associations and Boards of Pharmacy in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the number of professional associations and boards of pharmacy in the United States that have adopted or are considering to adopt a conscience clause as part of their codes of ethics, rules, laws or regulations. BACKGROUND: Pharmacists are often exposed to ethical dilemmas in their day-to-day practice and their response depends on a number of factors, including the personal beliefs and values of those involved. This has lead some professional associations to address whether their members have the right to refuse to participate in procedures which are contrary to their conscience or moral convictions. The outcome of these discussions is usually the development and adoption of a conscience clause. METHODS: A one-page self-administered questionnaire was sent by Fax to the highest ranking officer of 108 pharmacy organizations in the United States. RESULTS: Thirty-five completed questionnaires were received for a 32.4% response rate. In general, it was found that there is a lack of knowledge as to what a conscience clause is. Only two state associations and one board of pharmacy responded that they have a conscience clause as part of their code of ethics or regulations. Reasons given for not having a conscience clause included lack of interest and low priority. Nevertheless, four state associations, one national association and one board of pharmacy responded that they are considering developing a pharmacist conscience clause. More professional associations than boards of pharmacy expressed interest to obtain information about conscience clauses. CONCLUSION: Although many state associations and boards of pharmacy that responded do not have a conscience clause as part of their codes of ethics, laws or regulations, this survey shows an increasing interest to learn about it. This is expected as the pharmacist assumes increasing responsibility in patient care.

Ethics, Pharmacy↗
PubMed2000

Temperament as a moderator of pathways to conscience in children: the contribution of electrodermal activity.

A longitudinal study (G. K. Kochanska, 1997) showed that temperamental fearfulness, assessed at toddler age via observational data and maternal ratings, moderated pathways to internalized conscience at age 4. For fearful children, maternal gentle discipline deemphasizing power predicted conscience development; for fearless children, attachment security predicted conscience development. Electrodermal reactivity assessed at age 4 on the same children was used as a physiological reflection of fearful temperament and was substituted for the earlier fearfulness measure to test the theoretical model. As expected, for electrodermally reactive children, maternal gentle discipline predicted conscience, whereas for nonreactive children, attachment security predicted conscience. The findings support the notions of (a) electrodermal reactivity at an early age as a correlate of temperament, (b) temperament as a moderator of socialization in early moral development, and (c) lovelessness in psychopathic individuals as an index of the failure of the alternative pathway (via attachment) to conscience in fearless children.

Arousal↗
PubMed2005

Pathways to conscience: early mother-child mutually responsive orientation and children's moral emotion, conduct, and cognition.

BACKGROUND: Associations between early mother-child mutually responsive orientation (MRO) and children's conscience have been previously established, but the mechanisms accounting for those links are not understood. We examined three such mediational mechanisms: (a) the child's enhanced enjoyment of interactions with the mother, (b) increased committed, self-regulated compliance with the mother, and/or (c) a decreased need for maternal use of power assertion. Children's conscience was seen as a complex system encompassing moral emotion (guilt), conduct, and cognition. METHODS: In a longitudinal design, MRO was observed in mothers' and children's multiple naturalistic interactions at 9, 14, and 22 months. The mediators were observed at 33 months. Children's conscience was observed at 45 months (moral emotion) and at 56 months (moral conduct and cognition). RESULTS: The mediating paths were different for the three components of conscience. MRO had a direct, unmediated effect on moral emotion. MRO influenced moral conduct through two mediational paths: by promoting the child's enjoyment of interactions with the mother and by enhancing committed compliance. MRO influenced moral cognition by promoting the child's enjoyment of mother-child interactions. Maternal power assertion did not mediate the relation between MRO and conscience once the influence of the other mediators was considered. CONCLUSIONS: The impact of the early mother-child relationship on future conscience appears to be a complex process that progresses along distinct paths.

Child↗
PubMed1997

Maltreatment, conscience functioning and dopamine beta hydroxylase in emotionally disturbed boys.

OBJECTIVE: Identify associations among early maltreatment, sufficiencies, and psychopathological interferences in the domains of conscience functioning and low serum dopamine beta hydroxylase activity. METHOD: Nineteen emotionally disturbed boys screened for maltreatment experiences were compared according to age at onset of maltreatment, enzyme activity, and their conscience functioning in the domain of moral valuation. They were also compared in conscience functions to 19 age and sex matched normal counterparts. RESULTS: Subjects who endured maltreatment prior to 36 months had developmental delays and interferences with functioning in more conscience domains than those who were either spared such experiences or who endured maltreatment later in life. Subjects with low enzyme activity had significantly more interference with authority and peer valuation than subjects with high enzyme activity. Greater interference with valuation was associated with lower enzyme activity and more frequent abuse prior to 36 months. CONCLUSIONS: Psychosocial sequelae of early maltreatment have been identified in the domains of conscience. An association has been established between pathological interference in the domain of moral valuation and a putative neurobiologic sequelae of early maltreatment. Implications for future research in the psychobiology of maltreatment are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Multiple pathways to conscience for children with different temperaments: from toddlerhood to age 5.

This research extends longitudinally findings on child temperament as a moderator of the impact of socialization on conscience development, reported previously for contemporaneous data at toddler age. Children's temperament and maternal socialization at Time 1 (n = 103, aged 2-3 years) were considered predictors of future conscience, assessed using new observational and narrative measures. The moderation model was supported for predicting conscience at Time 2 (n = 99, age 4), and, to a lesser extent, at Time 3 (n = 90, age 5). For children fearful as toddlers, maternal gentle discipline, presumably capitalizing on the optimal level of anxious arousal, promoted conscience at Time 2. For children fearless as toddlers, perhaps insufficiently aroused by gentle discipline, alternative socialization mechanisms, presumably capitalizing on mother-child positive orientation (secure attachment, maternal responsiveness), promoted conscience at Times 2 and 3. Developmental interplay of temperament and socialization in emerging morality is discussed.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Mother-child mutually responsive orientation and conscience development: from toddler to early school age.

We examined whether positive implications of mother-child mutually responsive orientation, demonstrated earlier at toddler and preschool age, extend longitudinally into early school age. The focus of the present study was on the long-term consequences of mutually responsive orientation for the development of conscience. Mutually responsive orientation encompassed shared cooperation and shared positive affect between mother and child. It was measured as a composite of those qualities observed in dyadic naturalistic interactions and reported by mothers, at toddler and preschool age. Children's conscience was assessed at early school age (N = 83) using multiple measures, including observations of moral behavior, alone and in the peer context, and moral cognition. Mother-child mutually responsive orientation at toddler and preschool ages predicted children's future conscience, even after controlling for the developmental continuity of conscience. Model-fitting analyses revealed that mutually responsive orientation at toddler age had a direct effect on future conscience, not mediated by such orientation at preschool age. The findings extend those of earlier work that revealed the importance of mother-child mutually responsive orientation for socialization, and they confirm the value of the relationship approach to social development, including long-term outcomes.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2004

Toddlers' responsive imitation predicts preschool-age conscience.

Imitation has long been considered a mechanism for the development of conscience. Despite the central role of imitation in theories of moral internalization, the prediction from imitation to moral behavior has not been tested using an individual differences approach. In a longitudinal design, we examined whether individual differences in toddlers' responsive imitation predict preschool-age conscience. Mothers modeled actions for their children to imitate, and both matching behavior and motivation were observed at 14 and 22 months of age. We also measured preschool conscience by observing children's internalized conduct and guilt at ages 33 and 45 months. Imitation measures consistently predicted conscience variables. These relations were strengthened by aggregation across measures and times of assessment. Motivation and matching behavior each contributed independent variance in predicting preschool-age conscience. Results are consistent with the claim that responsive imitation reflects a general receptive stance to parents' guidance, and with both neopsychoanalytic and social cognitive views of imitation's importance in early moral development.

Child Behavior↗
PubMed2006

Children's conscience and self-regulation.

We focus on children's conscience, an inner guiding system responsible for the gradual emergence and maintenance of self-regulation. Drawing from our research program that has encompassed three large longitudinal studies cumulatively covering the first 6 years of life, we discuss two major components of conscience: moral emotions (guilt, discomfort following transgressions) and moral conduct compatible with rules and standards. We discuss the organization of young children's conscience, focusing on relations between moral emotions and moral conduct, and the development of conscience, focusing on its early form: the child's eager, willing stance toward parental socialization. We also review research on two major sets of influences that predict individual differences in moral emotions and moral conduct: biologically based temperament and socialization in the family. We discuss two inhibitory systems of temperament-fearfulness and effortful control-and several features of socialization, including the style of parental discipline and the quality of the parent-child relationship. Early conscience is an important early personality system, coherently organized, relatively stable over time, and subject to individual differences that emerge as a result of a complex interplay between children's temperamental individuality and socialization in the family.

Child↗
PubMed1977

Personality correlates of study difficulty and academic performance in university students. II. Conscience and self-esteem.

Scales measuring self-esteem and conscience have been included in a further study of work-related symptoms in students. Two groups were tested: a group of patients attending the UCL Student Health Centre for psychological reasons, and a group of normal controls. Conscience and self-esteem were inversely related to one another. Both tests were reliable and differentiated between the groups. The patients tend to have low self-esteem, high conscience, and to score higher than controls both on neurotic symptoms as such as measured by a personality inventory (MHQ) and as assessed on work-related symptoms measured by our study difficulty questionnaire (UCLSQ). In terms of academic performance, an interesting subgroup of students was delineated who are rated highly by their tutors but who appear subjectively troubled with phobic anxiety, low self-esteem and a harsh conscience structure. The conscience and self-esteem scales, in view of their brevity, acceptable reliability, and in terms of the relationships discussed in this paper, will be retained for further research.

Achievement↗