The Journal of the American College of Dentists
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Motivation is short-term focused energy. The oldest theories of motivation explain motivated activity as effort to overcome primary deficiencies, such as hunger or boredom. Such theories are difficult to apply because individuals learn idiosyncratic secondary motives as alternative ways of responding to these needs. ⋯ A second approach to motivation holds that individuals may be thought of as engaging in rational processes to maximize their self-interests. The presented examples of this approach include Vroom's expectancy theory, Adam's theory of inequality, and the Porter-Lawler model that addresses the question of whether satisfaction leads to high performance or vice versa. Finally, several theories of motivation as life orientation are developed.
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The field of dental ethics has matured to the point where it is worthwhile to summarize it. An overview is presented of the methods commonly used to present ethics in dental schools. ⋯ Each of these approaches has advantages, and each is incomplete. The general problem of converting ethical knowledge to moral conduct will be presented in a subsequent essay.
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Evidence points to commercial sponsorship and personal financial gains for researchers leading to reporting more favorable results, tainting the climate of academic integrity, and negative public perceptions. Research institutions attempt to protect their own reputations and those of their faculty through establishing thresholds for reporting financial involvement and through committee review that may suggest that the sponsoring organization impose management practices designed to reduce conflicts or declining the funding. ⋯ The degree of understanding of policies regarding conflicts among researchers is uneven, and some regard these as private matters. Differences of opinion exist in the research community over whether disclosure of financial interests, although necessary, is sufficient to ensure a reasonable level of freedom from bias and to maintain public trust.