WHAT WOULD MY HERO DO?
USING MORAL EXEMPLARS TO BUILD UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ CHARACTER THROUGH EMOTIONS
In this study, we are interested in how university students like you can further develop in their character, or in their moral and personal strengths. If you choose to participate, you will help scientists advance their understanding of if and how young people can “change for the better” when actively considering the actions of their personal role models and applying them to their everyday lives (e.g., “What would Gandhi do in this situation?”). Furthermore, we are especially interested in the emotions that you experience in your daily life. Therefore, we will be asking you to share your lived experiences with us by using an app on your smartphone to report on what you are thinking, feeling, and doing in real time.
This cutting-edge research is being conducted by an interdisciplinary team of philosophers and psychologists, and in collaboration with researchers around the world; it is funded by the John Templeton Foundation.
This cutting-edge research is being conducted by an interdisciplinary team of philosophers and psychologists, and in collaboration with researchers around the world; it is funded by the John Templeton Foundation.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is this study about?
In this study, we are interested in how university students like you can further develop their character, which includes their moral and personal strengths. If you choose to participate, you will help scientists advance their understanding of if and how young people can “change for the better” when actively considering the actions of their personal role models and applying them to their everyday lives (e.g., “What would Gandhi do in this situation?”). This study consists of two different types of data collection, as described below.
Who is conducting and funding this study?
This study is being conducted by an interdisciplinary team of philosophers and psychologists at Tilburg University, and in collaboration with researchers around the world. Our Principle Investigator is Bart Engelen ([email protected]) .
It is funded by the John Templeton Foundation (https://www.templeton.org/) that has a special interest in funding projects on character virtue development.
It is funded by the John Templeton Foundation (https://www.templeton.org/) that has a special interest in funding projects on character virtue development.
What will I do during this study?
The study consists of 3 parts that occur over the course of 20 weeks: You will report your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors via online surveys (Part 1) and a series of daily-diary surveys using a smartphone application (Part 2). You will also participate in a two tutorials (Part 3).
Part 1: There will be 3 questionnaires about yourself, including your emotions and your personality. These will be administered on a website and take approximately 40 minutes each. One will be administered at the start of the semester, one near the end of the semester and the final one will take place one month after the semester is finished.
Part 2: You will participate in a 10-minute daily diary (i.e., a short survey that you complete each evening). The purpose of the daily diary is to assess what you are thinking, feeling, and doing every day. This will be done via a smartphone app that you will download. These daily diary sessions will occur in two different periods. The first assessment period will take place on 28 consecutive days, the second one on 14 consecutive days. You will receive reminders on your smartphone application each evening.
Part 3: The third part of the study takes place in the course two tutorials on the role of moral exemplars in academic character building. The focus of these tutorials is on ethical reflection. The goal is to develop an understanding of how moral exemplars can influence our behavior, feelings and thoughts through written assignments, presentations and application to lessons one can take from moral moral exemplars to situations in one’s daily life.
In total, if you participate in this study, you will complete 3 online surveys, 2 daily diary sessions (in total 42 daily diary surveys) on your smartphone and 2 tutorials. You will be compensated in euros or Test Subject Hours for each part that you complete.
There is the possibility to opt out of the daily dairy part of this study and still participate in the other two parts. This would mean that you can at maximum earn 13 credits or 28 euros.
Part 1: There will be 3 questionnaires about yourself, including your emotions and your personality. These will be administered on a website and take approximately 40 minutes each. One will be administered at the start of the semester, one near the end of the semester and the final one will take place one month after the semester is finished.
Part 2: You will participate in a 10-minute daily diary (i.e., a short survey that you complete each evening). The purpose of the daily diary is to assess what you are thinking, feeling, and doing every day. This will be done via a smartphone app that you will download. These daily diary sessions will occur in two different periods. The first assessment period will take place on 28 consecutive days, the second one on 14 consecutive days. You will receive reminders on your smartphone application each evening.
Part 3: The third part of the study takes place in the course two tutorials on the role of moral exemplars in academic character building. The focus of these tutorials is on ethical reflection. The goal is to develop an understanding of how moral exemplars can influence our behavior, feelings and thoughts through written assignments, presentations and application to lessons one can take from moral moral exemplars to situations in one’s daily life.
In total, if you participate in this study, you will complete 3 online surveys, 2 daily diary sessions (in total 42 daily diary surveys) on your smartphone and 2 tutorials. You will be compensated in euros or Test Subject Hours for each part that you complete.
There is the possibility to opt out of the daily dairy part of this study and still participate in the other two parts. This would mean that you can at maximum earn 13 credits or 28 euros.
How much time does my participation require?
In total, your participation will take approximately 810 minutes (13.5 hours).
Please note that the daily survey will take the longest the first couple of times you complete it. In our experience, participants get used to the application and questions quickly, and can complete these daily surveys in about 10 minutes or less.
Please note that the daily survey will take the longest the first couple of times you complete it. In our experience, participants get used to the application and questions quickly, and can complete these daily surveys in about 10 minutes or less.
How many credits / how much money will I receive as compensation for my participation?
If you participate in all parts of the study you will receive 20 credits or 50 euros max. You will receive financial compensation in one sum at the conclusion of your participation. In addition, you will be entering a lottery in which you can win nice gadgets such as bluetooth speakers or Netflix/Spotify vouchers. Furthermore, you will receive valuable personal feedback on your personality, values and daily life.
Please note that you will not receive any compensation if you have not completed at least the baseline survey. You have to fill in 35% of the daily diaries per session to get at least some payment and 75% to get full payment for these parts. Check out the reward schedule on this website for the details of how much you can earn per part completed.
Please give us up to 2 weeks to provide compensation to you.
As a Psychology student, you can also receive Test Subject Hours. The number of hours you get will depend on how many parts you complete. Below you can find an overview of how many questions you need to complete to get the full amount of hours. Try to complete as many surveys as you can!
For the daily diary part, you will have to complete 28 surveys within 33 days. So you get five extra days to make up for surveys you might have missed. You do not need to fill in the two extra questionnaires if you already completed 28 surveys.
The app does not track the number of surveys you have completed. You can track it yourself or make it part of your to-do system. During the daily diary part we will also send you some messages to let you know how many surveys you have completed.
For the daily diary part, you will have to complete 28 surveys within 33 days. So you get five extra days to make up for surveys you might have missed. You do not need to fill in the two extra questionnaires if you already completed 28 surveys.
The app does not track the number of surveys you have completed. You can track it yourself or make it part of your to-do system. During the daily diary part we will also send you some messages to let you know how many surveys you have completed.
How is the study integrated in my courses?
You will participate in 2 tutorials that are part of the course: Bedrijfsethiek. These tutorials are an obligatory part of the course. As a participant of the study the only thing you will do on top of these tutorials are the questionnaires. For psychology students these tutorials and assignments will be an optional part of the course: 'Professional skills: Ethics'.
Within these tutorials you will learn more about moral exemplars and how these can apply to your own (professional) life. For each of the 2 tutorials you will write a short assignment about your moral exemplar and present this to 4-5 of your fellow students. All information about the tutorials and the assignments will be provided on Canvas.
Within these tutorials you will learn more about moral exemplars and how these can apply to your own (professional) life. For each of the 2 tutorials you will write a short assignment about your moral exemplar and present this to 4-5 of your fellow students. All information about the tutorials and the assignments will be provided on Canvas.
Do I need to change any setting on my smartphone?
Yes. If it is not yet already turned on, you need to allow Ethica to send you notifications. You can find information in the phone manual.
For IPhone users: Settings > Notifications > Ethica > Allow Messaging
For Huawei users: If you use a Huawei you need to follow certain steps to make sure that the app works correctly:
Go to Android Settings > Select Apps > At the bottom of the screen select Settings > Choose Special access > Choose ignore Battery optimization > On top of the screen click Allowed to open the list and choose All apps to see the list of all apps > From this list of apps ‘Ethica’ > Choose Allow: may drain your battery more quickly > Press ok
For IPhone users: Settings > Notifications > Ethica > Allow Messaging
For Huawei users: If you use a Huawei you need to follow certain steps to make sure that the app works correctly:
Go to Android Settings > Select Apps > At the bottom of the screen select Settings > Choose Special access > Choose ignore Battery optimization > On top of the screen click Allowed to open the list and choose All apps to see the list of all apps > From this list of apps ‘Ethica’ > Choose Allow: may drain your battery more quickly > Press ok
How do I participate in this study?
Step 1: If you want to participate for Test Subjects hours you can sign up for the study here https://uvt-psy.sona-systems.com/,and look for the study called “what would my hero do?”. After signing up for the study, you will be directed to an online survey. Please read the Informed Consent form carefully, and if you agree to participate, you will be given a study code which will be used to link the different parts of the study together. Then you will be linked to an online survey to complete the sign-up questionnaire.
Once you have completed this short questionnaire, go back to the first questionnaire and complete the baseline questionnaire. After you have finished this first part of the study, you will need to take the following steps to participate in the rest of the study.
If you want to participate for a monetary reward you can find the link to this first questionnaire on the Canvas page for Bedrijfsethiek or Professional Skills: Ethics.
Step 2 (only for students that participate as part of the course 'Professional Skills: Ethics)': After you have signed up you will soon receive an email with an invitation to a Canvas course via email. Accept this invitation. If you are not on this canvas page you will not be able to take part in the tutorials, and as such you will not be able to participate in this study.
Step 3: This will be explained to you in the first tutorial of the study, so you don’t follow these steps when you sign up. All of this information will also be made available to you in the “Ethica for Participants manual” that will be available on Canvas .
Download the Ethica application on your smartphone. Ethica is an application that researchers who are interested in everyday life can use to help conduct their research.
1. Directly download the Ethica app from Google Play (for Android users) or from the App Store (for iPhone users)
2. Create a user account
3. Enroll in the study using the Ethica app
4. Now you will need to complete a short survey in which you will need to enter your study code and a specific number that has been given during the first tutorial. Make sure you complete this questionnaire. If you do not the app will not send you any further surveys.
Once you have completed this short questionnaire, go back to the first questionnaire and complete the baseline questionnaire. After you have finished this first part of the study, you will need to take the following steps to participate in the rest of the study.
If you want to participate for a monetary reward you can find the link to this first questionnaire on the Canvas page for Bedrijfsethiek or Professional Skills: Ethics.
Step 2 (only for students that participate as part of the course 'Professional Skills: Ethics)': After you have signed up you will soon receive an email with an invitation to a Canvas course via email. Accept this invitation. If you are not on this canvas page you will not be able to take part in the tutorials, and as such you will not be able to participate in this study.
Step 3: This will be explained to you in the first tutorial of the study, so you don’t follow these steps when you sign up. All of this information will also be made available to you in the “Ethica for Participants manual” that will be available on Canvas .
Download the Ethica application on your smartphone. Ethica is an application that researchers who are interested in everyday life can use to help conduct their research.
1. Directly download the Ethica app from Google Play (for Android users) or from the App Store (for iPhone users)
2. Create a user account
- Open the application after you have downloaded the Ethica app
- Tap the Sign Up button
- Enter your name, email, address, and a password. It is important to note that researchers do not have access to these data as this information is for the use of the application only. You may use an alias if you prefer. You will be asked to provide your study code after you have enrolled in the study, and we will use your study code to link your personality questionnaire data to your application data (i.e., brief questionnaires and smartphone sensing data) at the conclusion of the study.
3. Enroll in the study using the Ethica app
- Tap the Join Study button
- When prompted to enter your registration code, enter the code that has been provided to you in the “Ethica for Participants” manual or during the tutorial . The morning after you register (at 9 am), you will begin receiving push notifications to complete brief questionnaires.
4. Now you will need to complete a short survey in which you will need to enter your study code and a specific number that has been given during the first tutorial. Make sure you complete this questionnaire. If you do not the app will not send you any further surveys.
What if something goes wrong (e.g., I am not receiving notifications; I have lost my study code) or if I have a question that is not included in this list?
Please let us know by e-mail: [email protected]. Please give us 48 hours to address your questions/concerns. Thank you!
Will I experience discomfort?
Because you will be asked to make daily ratings on your (emotional) experiences for one to two weeks, you might feel a little uncomfortable, especially if you are not used to focusing on your emotions. However, the discomfort you might experience is likely to be similar to how you might feel if you were writing about your emotions in a diary and diminishes in our experience after a couple of days. Additionally, you might experience practical discomfort due to having to complete daily surveys at the end of each day? This also decreases over time as you become faster in filling it in these daily surveys...
One possible advantage of participating in this study is that by having to reflect on your feelings more than usual, you may gain new insights into your (emotional) life. We appreciate you sharing your emotions in such detail.
Should your participation be too uncomfortable, keep in mind that your participation is voluntary. This means you have the right to decline to participate and withdraw from the research at any time, without any negative consequences, and without providing any explanation.
One possible advantage of participating in this study is that by having to reflect on your feelings more than usual, you may gain new insights into your (emotional) life. We appreciate you sharing your emotions in such detail.
Should your participation be too uncomfortable, keep in mind that your participation is voluntary. This means you have the right to decline to participate and withdraw from the research at any time, without any negative consequences, and without providing any explanation.
Am I expected to complete the daily survey at a specific time?
Yes, you are expected to fill out the daily survey as soon as it is possible to safely do so upon receiving a notification:
Each daily survey expires the next morning at 8 am. Because of this, we strongly recommend that you do not wait until the last minute of the notification period to complete the survey. For example, if you receive your 7 pm notification do not wait until 7 am to complete your questionnaire.
Each daily survey expires the next morning at 8 am. Because of this, we strongly recommend that you do not wait until the last minute of the notification period to complete the survey. For example, if you receive your 7 pm notification do not wait until 7 am to complete your questionnaire.
When will the study begin?
The first part of the study (i.e., the baseline survey) can be completed as soon as you sign up for the study. The second part of the study (i.e., the brief end-of-day surveys, up to 28 days) will begin after the day after the first tutorial.
I'm traveling to a different time zone during the study period. Is that going to be a problem for participating in the study?
No, the application should send notifications at the times above in the time zone you are in. In other words, the application adjusts to whatever time zone you happen to be in.
What if I miss a daily survey?
We encourage you to complete the daily survey when you receive a notification from us, and if you were to do so, you would be able to complete each daily survey at each of 28 - 14 day-periods (in total 42 surveys). However, we understand that unexpected things happen. Therefore, you only have to complete 75% (29) of these daily surveys to receive full payment. Keep in mind though that the more you fill in, the more detailed will be your personal feedback about your daily experiences and emotions.
In the event that you do not complete 42 daily surveys, your compensation will be prorated so that you receive an amount that is proportional to your actual participation. Check out the compensation scheme above for the exact amounts.
To conclude, if you miss a survey, simply wait for the next notification. Please note that each daily survey expires within 13 hours of each notification.
In the event that you do not complete 42 daily surveys, your compensation will be prorated so that you receive an amount that is proportional to your actual participation. Check out the compensation scheme above for the exact amounts.
To conclude, if you miss a survey, simply wait for the next notification. Please note that each daily survey expires within 13 hours of each notification.
How can I keep track of my participation in the second part of the study?
You may keep track of your participation by visiting the Ethica website (http://www.ethicadata.com) and logging in with the email address and password you provided to register using the Ethica application. You should be able to see how many surveys you’ve responded to under the Overview tab.
We will also send you periodical updates on how you are doing via email.
We will also send you periodical updates on how you are doing via email.
What should I do after completing the final daily survey?
Once the study is completed, you do not need to do anything else to receive compensation. The notifications will stop automatically after each daily assessment period. Within 3 weeks after the study is completed, you will be compensated for your participation. You will also receive confidential, personalized feedback that visualizes your personality traits, values and emotion data over time and across contexts to better understand your emotional lives.
I have completed the NUMBER OF SURVEYS REQUIRED, but I keep receiving notifications. What should I do?
It is unlikely, but possible. Because we do not have an automated way to stop sending notifications based on each individual’s progress, you will receive notifications for the full daily assessment period. If you have completed the 14 or 28 daily surveys, you can ignore the additional notifications that you receive. We apologize for any inconvenience.
I am getting two surveys a day. What should I do?
This problem usually occurs in IPhones. We can’t change this for you. Only complete one questionnaire a day. When you are ready tap on the other survey and click quit. The app will ask you whether you want to complete it later and say no.
The app keeps notifying me that they haven’t received any data from ME. What should I do?
It is possible that the app will send you messages that they haven’t received any data from you even if you have been completing the surveys.
There are a few reasons that this happens, but the solution is the same. Your data is most likely not uploaded to the server until you open up the app again, so:
Open the app > Click on settings in the right upper corner > Click on the button that says ‘synchronize data’ , your data will be manually uploaded to the server.
There are a few reasons that this happens, but the solution is the same. Your data is most likely not uploaded to the server until you open up the app again, so:
Open the app > Click on settings in the right upper corner > Click on the button that says ‘synchronize data’ , your data will be manually uploaded to the server.
I have a question/concern not addressed in this FAQ. What should I do?
If you have any further questions and/or concerns, you can contact us by email: [email protected]. Please give us a couple of days to e-mail you back. Thank you!