Poster Presentation International Positive Psychology Association 8th IPPA World Congress 2023

Courageous action as a potential protection from moral injury (#854)

Cindy LS Pury 1 , Rylee Bryant 1 , Jessica N Carroll 1 , Elizabeth A Crain 1 , Avery R Degennaro 1 , Aishah Khan 1 , Elsah E Napier 1 , Chloe C O'Brien 1 , Abigail L Rowell 1 , CJ Swartzwelter 1 , Mary I Thompson 1
  1. Clemson University, Clemson, SC, United States

Background

Does acting courageously protect us from moral injury? Negative psychological effects stemming from exposure to a violation of what’s right (Shay, 1995) have been linked in a variety of occupations to a variety of negative outcomes, including PTSD, depression, anxiety, and suicidality (Amsalem et al., 2021; Hall et al., 2022; Shay, 1995; Sugrue, 2020). Potentially morally injurious experiences (PMIEs; Drescher et al., 2011) lead to moral injury when there is dissonance between one’s actions during the event compared to the belief that one is a moral person (Litz et al., 2009). Courageous actions involve taking a worthwhile risk (Pury & Saylors, 2017), with the worth often representing a morally good goal (e.g., Lopez et al., 2003; Lord, 1918). 

Aims

We predict that participants describing a PMIE who tried to stop the event would rate those actions in a manner consistent with courage. Additionally, compared to participants who did not try to stop the event, those taking action would think about the PMIE it in a less negative and more positive way.

Method

We have preliminary results from 172 participants from a paid online sample. All participants were asked if they had ever experienced an event in an organization that violated their sense of right and wrong (a PMIE): 149 (87%) answered yes and were asked additional questions about the PMIE and any attempts they made to stop it. Responses to open-ended questions were analyzed using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (Boyd et al., 2022)

Results

Eighty two (55%) did something to try to stop the action or reduce the harm; 67 (45%) did not. Descriptions of actions taken to stop a PMIE are broadly consistent with the hallmarks of courageous action, and rating of courageousness correlates significantly with a more positive emotional tone when describing the PMIE.

Conclusion

Data collection is ongoing, but if our hypotheses are supported, we suggest that courageous resistance can mitigate the harm from PMIEs.

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