Conferenza Prof. Leach

Mercoledì 2 Luglio ore 10.30 - aula seminari 1 del DPSS

Il Prof. Colin Wayne Leach dell'Università del Connecticut (http://intergroup.uconn.edu/leachlab/leach.html) terrà una conferenza dal titolo: “Making the most of moral failure”

Abstract

No one is perfect. In fact, we all fail, sometimes. Generally, in
psychology, failure is thought to be debilitating. It is argued that
when we fail to demonstrate competence, we feel ashamed, we frown, our
body posture constricts, our circulatory system tightens, and we want
to run away, hide, and somehow escape the fact that we have failed. In
many ways, moral failure is expected to be even more debilitating than
competence failure. This is mainly because morality is more important
to the maintenance of human relationships, and because we infer more
about people from a moral failure than from a competence failure.
Indeed, one moral failure is enough to make us question a person’s
character, whereas one competence failure can be easily dismissed. In
this talk, I will focus on what happens to our motivation and behavior
after moral failure. I will move between individual and group moral
failures because both can affect us profoundly. Although moral failure
can often be debilitating, it is not necessarily so. There must be
instances in which failing leads us to redouble our efforts to be
better. Surely there are times when failing leads us to be determined
to be more moral, by improving ourselves and improving the situation
of those harmed by our immorality. While acknowledging the potential
for moral failure to be debilitating, I will highlight the potential
for moral failure to lead to learning, growth, and improvement.