Executive function as a mechanism for the emergence and expression of moral knowledge.

The present study explored Kohlberg's theory of moral development in relation to Korean and British children. A total of 128 Korean and British children aged 7-16 years were interviewed individually using Kohlberg's moral dilemmas, Form A. It was thought that the children in both cultural groups would develop moral stages at a similar rate. However, they showed cultural differences in the use of moral orientations. In addition, it was not possible to match some of the responses from the Korean children to Kohlberg's manual, implying that there are some Korean traditional concepts which affect Korean children's moral reasoning that Kohlberg was not aware of. Thus, Kohlberg's system could be used to examine children's general moral stage but was insufficient to understand fully Korean children's moral reasoning. The present study suggests that the interpretation of children's moral reasoning should be made based on consideration of cultural influence.

The study was intended to explore the effectiveness of story discussion activities on children's moral reasoning development through observing children's discussion about sharing-theme stories with their peers and the teacher. One teacher and twelve children aged 5-6 were the research participants. Children were divided into two groups: story-telling (-without-discussion) group and story-(telling-with-) discussion group. Eight sessions of story-discussion activities were conducted and video-taped for the story-discussion group. Both formal and informal interviews with children and the teacher were carried out prior to and after sessions of story activities for the two groups. The research data based on the transcribed text of video and interviews were analyzed in relation to children's moral reasoning. The significant findings include: A. The children in story-telling-with-discussion group show better moral reasoning than that of the children in story-telling group in post-interview. B. Open-ended questioning, compared with non-open-ended questioning, induces better discussion and thus is more helpful to the development of children's moral reasoning. C. The stories appealing to children are helpful to encourage children's willingness to participate in story-discussion and result in better moral reasoning performance. Some practical suggestions are offered to preschool teachers, parents and researchers interested in this topic.

The study examined parents' role in their children's moral reasoning development. Parents' level of moral reasoning and interaction styles used in discussion of moral issues with their child were used to predict the child's moral development over a subsequent 2-year interval. Participants were 63 family triads (mother, father, and child) with children drawn from grades 1, 4, 7, and 10. They individually responded to a moral reasoning interview and then, as a family, discussed both a hypothetical and real-life moral dilemma. Children were reinterviewed 2 years later. Results indicated that parents did accommodate to their child's level of moral reasoning when in actual dialogue. Distinct differences in interaction styles were found between the 2 contexts (hypothetical vs. real-life dilemma discussion) and between parents and children. Children's moral development was best predicted by a parental discussion style that involved Socratic questioning and supportive interactions, combined with the presentation of higher-level moral reasoning. Implications of these findings for the understanding of parents' role in children's moral development are discussed.

With increasing computer use in classrooms, there has been a growing concern of the resulting moral dilemmas that may emanate from their use. Though theorists have conducted extensive research on children's moral development, there has been little attempt to situate this within the digital domain. It is the purpose of this article to examine children's moral reasoning in relation to their use of computers and the Internet. This study reports on interviews conducted with 48 third-grade and fifth-grade students about moral dilemmas involving computer and Internet use. Scenarios involving computer use were developed and compared to Damon's dilemmas which involved moral reasoning about everyday situations. The results indicated that children's moral understandings fell into the expected developmental levels. Significant differences were found between children's moral reasoning in everyday situations compared to those involving computer and Internet use. However, gender differences were not consistently detected for all computer and Internet scenarios. These findings are discussed in light of Turiel's (1983) postulated domain dependence of moral reasoning and the gender differences found so prevalent in children's computer use. We conclude with considerations for school's policies regulating Internet use and potential training programs.

Young children's moral development and socialization have been of increasing interest to parents, teachers, and researchers as children's social experiences in the preschool years have expanded to include many nonfamilial adults and peers. A Piagetian or structural approach to understanding heteronomous and autonomous moral reasoning in young children is discussed. The roles of cognitive maturation and social interaction with peers and adults are considered. Implications from theory and research are offered to early childhood educators for facilitating preschool children's moral reasoning and development through curriculum activities, classroom policies, and behavior management strategies.

Moral reasoning entails thinking about moral and ethical issues, and is characterized by judgments of ought . Initial work on children's moral reasoning was conducted within global stage theories such as those of Piaget and Kohlberg, in which young children's moral reasoning was characterized as egocentric and dominated by concerns with authority, obedience, and punishment. Recent perspectives on moral development have shown that even young children distinguish morality from authority or simple obedience to social norms. Children develop nuanced understandings of justice and concern for others that they apply to situations of cooperation and distributive and retributive justice, and in more complex situations entailing issues such as prejudice, discrimination, civil liberties, and democracy.

The analysis of moral reasoning requires an interdisciplinary approach. Because it is central to moral theory and ethics, it is a basic concern of philosophers; but because it deals with cognition, reasoning, and moral development (and thus, more generally, human development), it is also an important area in psychology. Our paper addresses both of these disciplines as well as intersection of gender and culture by exploring ways that empirical research can help to illuminate philosophical issues about moral reasoning and its relationship to conceptions of self. In a recent lead article for Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Henrich, Heine, and Norenzayan argued that most research in psychology has been carried out on WEIRD subjects; Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich, and Democratic. (1) They assert that enough data exists to call into question generalizing those findings to status of universal psychological knowledge. Saying that Americans are the most individualistic people in world, they point out that Western cultures differ in cognition from non-Western ones. (2) Westerners prefer analytic thought while non-Westerners prefer holistic reasoning, and these differences give rise to different cognitive strategies employed in moral reasoning. In particular, Richard Nisbett also argues for this distinction, bringing empirical evidence to show that two cultures have different approaches to reasoning, and these match their independent and interdependent views of themselves. (3) In addition to these cultural studies, much research has been carried out on gender differences in moral reasoning, and increasingly research has also examined cultural differences specifically in moral thinking. In this paper we explore both parallels and intersections between gender and cultural differences in moral thinking. We bring together work from philosophy, psychology, anthropology, sociology, and women's and gender studies to analyze our recent empirical data that demonstrate both gender and cultural differences in moral reasoning, as well as their intersection. We support following claims about culture, moral reasoning, and concepts of self: 1) Concepts of self are tied to approaches to moral reasoning. 2) Concepts of self differ by gender and culture. 3) Moral reasoning differs by gender and culture. 4) Gender and culture intersect in formation of self-identity. We demonstrate above four points both through our empirical research and a discussion of growing body of literature in support of these claims in aforementioned disciplines. Furthermore, we believe that theoretical claims ought to be informed, at least in part, by empirical data when claims relate to aspects of human development, such as moral reasoning. Both theory and empirical research lends support to view that Western males are unique in their moral reasoning, overemphasizing independence and isolation over interdependence and connectedness. We find this in our data as American males consistently ranked lower on scales of interdependence and connectedness than American females, Balinese females and, interestingly, Balinese males. Given that American males are anomaly, it seems clear that theories of moral development should neither begin from nor be limited to American males. We propose that philosophy, particularly moral philosophy, follow lead of psychology and strive to be as inclusive as possible by including full range of human diversity and experience. For philosophers, this would mean embracing--indeed, starting from--a multicultural, feminist approach to moral theories and questions; this approach would not only be sensitive to gender and cultural bias, but it also offers an alternative model to paradigmatic rational, autonomous, independent agent of traditional moral theory. I. Conceptions of Self and Moral Reasoning Feminists have long questioned standard view of moral reasoning and concomitant conception of self. …

This study examined how children's moral reasoning in response to intergroup exclusion scenarios relates to inclusive attitudes and behaviors. A sample of 528 students (M age = 9.19, SD = 0.90; 264 girls) in third through fifth grade participated in the Developing Inclusive Youth (DIY) program, which provided structured opportunities for moral reasoning through varied intergroup scenarios and peer discussions. Results showed that more frequent use of moral reasoning predicted greater inclusivity across multiple measures. Children who engaged in higher levels of moral reasoning demonstrated more negative evaluations of exclusion, greater empathy toward peers from multiple racial groups, and a stronger desire to play with those peers. However, moral reasoning was not significantly associated with expectations for inclusion or with attitudes toward boys or girls. No significant interactions emerged between moral reasoning and participant demographics (race, gender, grade), suggesting broadly applicable effects. These findings highlight moral reasoning as a key mechanism for promoting inclusive orientations in childhood, particularly in contexts involving racial diversity. Future research should explore how moral reasoning interacts with other factors, such as empathy, perspective-taking, and group norms, to support inclusivity across social contexts.

This study addressed the polarization among theoretical perspectives in moral psychology regarding the relative significance of parents and peers in children's developing moral maturity. The sample was composed of 60 target children from late childhood and midadolescence, 60 parents, and 60 friends who participated in parent/child and friend/child dyadic discussions of a series of moral conflicts. The quality of parents' and friends' verbal interactions, ego functioning, and level of moral reasoning in these discussions was used to predict the rate of children's moral reasoning development over a 4-year longitudinal interval. Results revealed that interactions with both parents and peers were predictive of children's development but that these two types of relationships influence development in rather different ways. Implications of the findings for the understanding of these socialization agents' roles in moral development are discussed.

Many nursing studies on moral reasoning and ethics have used Kohlberg's theory of moral development. The body of knowledge that resulted from these studies indicated that nurses and nursing students had consistently lower than expected levels of moral reasoning. Educational offerings were developed to assist nurses to improve their moral reasoning. This article explores the cognitive-developmental theory of moral development as one way of determining the moral development of nurses. Since this theory of moral reasoning focuses on the rational thought of the individual and does not consider the impact of the environment, it is of limited applicability in nursing. A new theory of morality needs to be developed--a more holistic one that will include both universal principles and contextual tissues.

Developmental Complexity in Student Conduct:An Extended Case Analysis of Student Board Members Joshua D. Bittinger (bio), Gabriel Reif (bio), and Ezekiel W. Kimball (bio) College students frequently serve on boards that hear cases of alleged student misconduct. These students contribute to decisions that can affect their peers' lives and make their colleges vulnerable to litigation and negative media coverage. It is critical that student board members carefully interpret all information presented in disciplinary proceedings and consistently apply institutional procedures and relevant laws in order to both protect their institutions and ensure fair outcomes for students involved in the conduct process. Existing literature provides an inadequate evidentiary base from which to conclude that student board members can maintain these crucial standards of care and consistency. Most empirical literature examining the developmental outcomes of the conduct process has focused on the responding student (e.g., Dannells, 1997; Stimpson & Stimpson, 2008). The limited empirical literature on conduct boards has focused almost exclusively on administrators, but even this literature calls into question how consistently decisions can be made (Stimpson & Janosik, 2015; Waller, 2013). For student board members, varied levels of cognitive and moral reasoning and development may further shape students' decision-making and challenge them as they organize, interpret, and evaluate voluminous, often contradictory information before rendering a judgment. For this qualitative study of the cognitive and moral development of students who adjudicate disciplinary cases, we aimed to determine these students' ability to perform their duties adequately. We utilized the extended case method to explore how well theories of cognitive development (Baxter Magolda, 1992) and moral development (Rest, Narvaez, Thoma, & Bebeau, 2000) reflected the experiences of student hearing board members. The participants in this study were drawn from an academic course intended to help train student hearing board members at a large public university (LPU). Our data analysis included observation of class activities and review of student assignments. Our findings indicated that using undergraduate students to determine the responsibility of their peers who have been accused of violating student conduct codes may be problematic. BAXTER MAGOLDA'S WAYS OF KNOWING We selected Baxter Magolda's (1992) ways of knowing as the theoretical lens by which to understand cognitive development because of its focus on context in the reasoning process. [End Page 243] Baxter Magolda suggested that there are four ways of knowing: absolute, transitional, independent, and contextual. Absolute knowers view knowledge as certain and held by authorities, such as course instructors or text-books. Transitional knowers often still rely on authorities for information, but they also seek to actively engage information and recognize the possibility of differing interpretations of what is true. In contrast, independent knowers do not believe in the certainty of knowledge and find value in many different sources of information. Finally, contextual knowers view knowledge as individually constructed in a setting established by authorities, peers, and significant others of influence. NEO-KOHLBERGIAN MORAL DEVELOPMENT We utilized the neo-Kohlbergian model of Rest et al. (2000) as the theoretical lens through which to understand moral development. These moral development theorists suggested that there are three moral reasoning schemas: personal interest, maintaining norms, and postconventional. Under the personal interest schema, individuals make decisions based on the outcomes that directly relate to themselves or their loved ones. As individuals move into the maintaining norms schema, they recognize the importance of making decisions that create and ensure social order. For those reaching the postconventional schema, decisions are viewed based on their contribution to social values and ideals. THE ROLE OF HEARING BOARDS Relevant case law has established requirements for how disciplinary panels operate. Conduct boards cannot sanction a student for violating a policy unless the student has been notified of charges concerning that policy (Fellheimer v. Middlebury College, 1994). Additionally, conduct boards are obligated to follow institutional disciplinary procedures, including providing students with safeguards listed in institutional codes of conduct (Holert v. U. of Chicago, 1990; Schaer v. Brandeis U., 2000). Legal precedent shows that courts may intervene when conduct boards act in ways that are arbitrary and capricious (Anderson v. Mass. Inst. of Tech., 1995). The case law clearly establishes that board members must operate consistently within the established parameters to protect the...

Kohlberg’s theory of moral cognitive development is temporarily the most influential theory in moral development psychology in the west and is still applied into practice and proved effective by moral theorists and educators all over the world. This paper takes this theory as the basis to analyze some problems existing in college moral education in China. It also suggests effective strategies to improve college moral education in China, i.e. Chinese colleges should reform the mode of moral education to increase students’ moral judgment competence, respect the developmental rules of moral cognition, make full use of the “Zone of proximal development” theory for moral education to develop students’ moral autonomy, attach great importance to “moral regression” period, and guide the Chinese moral education to transit from “teach how to obey” to “teach how to choose.”

Little has been done to assess veterinarians' moral judgment in relation to animal ethics issues. Following development of the VetDIT, a new moral judgment measure for animal ethics issues, this study aimed to refine and further validate the VetDIT, and to identify effects of teaching interventions on moral judgment and changes in moral judgment over time. VetDIT-V1 was refined into VetDIT-V2, and V3 was developed as a post-intervention test to prevent repetition. To test these versions for comparability, veterinary and animal science students (n=271) were randomly assigned to complete different versions. The VetDIT discriminates between stages of moral judgment, condensed into three schemas: Personal Interest (PI), Maintaining Norms (MN), and Universal Principles (UP). There were no differences in the scores for MN and UP between the versions, and we equated PI scores to account for differences between versions. Veterinary science students (n=130) who completed a three-hour small-group workshop on moral development theory and ethical decision making increased their use of UP in moral reasoning, whereas students (n=271) who received similar information in a 50-minute lecture did not. A longitudinal comparison of matched first- and third-year students (n=39) revealed no moral judgment development toward greater use of UP. The VetDIT is therefore useful for assessing moral judgment of animal and human ethics issues in veterinary and other animal-related professions. Intensive small-group workshops using moral development knowledge and skills, rather than lectures, are conducive to developing veterinary students' moral judgment.

Moral identity can orient one's behaviors when exhibiting any kind of moral behavior. In this study, the moral identities of young adults are analyzed to a certain extent. For this purpose, the 'interpretative phenomenological pattern' and 'grounded theory' models are used as qualitative survey models. The study group for this survey consists of 10 young adults, ages 20 through 25, who have been studying in a university. The semi-structured interview tool was used in the survey. The analytical process of gathered data was compiled into the Maxqda 2 computer program. The purpose of the study is to find information about the moral identities of young adults and the variables which form these identities. In the moral identities of young adults, self-assessment, personality traits, purpose and responsibilities, sense of self, self-control and moral emotions are variables affecting the ego and moral reasoning. Personality traits are formed by former, current and possible personality traits. Self-control consists of will and consciousness, whereas moral emotions consist of empathy, guilt, shame and anger. On the other hand, the variables affecting the self are formed by family, friends, other individuals, society, the place where one lives, culture, beliefs, university and law.Key WordsMoral Emotion, Moral Identity, Moral Reasoning, Young Adult.The moral identity of individuals can orient their behaviors. Therefore, examining the moral identity which is thought to lead exhibited behaviors is important. In this respect, it is seen that studies carried out on the moral development of individuals exist in great variety. These studies mainly express the moral development of individuals by focusing on the cognitive aspects of their development (Kohlberg, 1973, 1976, 1977; Piaget, 1932; Rest, Narvaez, Thoma, & Bebeau, 2000). One of the first and most important moral theories regarding moral development was put forth by Lawrence Kohlberg (1977). Kohlberg examined the corporeal morality by acknowledging the Piagetian paradigm. In his theory of Cognitive Moral Development, Kohlberg answered the question of what motivates the moral behavior by focusing on the role of the cognitive process (Kohlberg, & Candee, 1984; Rozin, Lowery, Imada, & Haidt 1999). Kohlberg (1977) explained moral reasoning by dividing it into levels as PreConventional Morality, Conventional Morality, and Post-Conventional Morality and then classifying these levels into various stages. When the levels and stages concerning this theory are examined, it can be seen that moral reasoning progresses towards autonomic reasoning away from the forms of external oriented judgment (Kohlberg, 1973, 1976, 1977). Individuals perceive themselves responsible for carrying out moral principles and this perception plays a motivational role on moral behavior (Colby, Kohlberg, Gibbs, & Lieberman, 1983). Reasoning concerning responsibility regulates what is good or right in moral aspects, moreover what is exactly necessary for the self. Even though Kohlberg did not explain this function of judgments concerning responsibility by using a conventional name, it is stated that the role of the self on moral behavior is emphasized through this specific function (Bergman, 2004). Another approach which has an important role on moral development is the Neo-Kohlbergian Approach, which was theorized by Rest et al. (2000) and within this context, moral judgement is conceptualized within the cognitive concept but rather than stage concepts, schema concepts are used to express moral reasoning. In this approach, schema indicate that mental structures such as religion or cultural ideology are permitted to interact with moral structures in cases where individuals encounter a need to make moral decisions. In later studies conducted on moral development, it can be seen that along with cognition, attention was turned towards emotions (Eisenberg, 2000; Ekman, 1992; Greene & Haidt, 2002; Prinz, 2006; Rozin et al. …

Moral development has been a noticeable social issue. The holy Quran as the most complete guiding book for humankind endorses deep teachings regarding morality. On the other hand because of importance of ethical issues, many theorists and philosophers have been trying to develop ethical and moral theories, according to their ideological and cultural back grounds. But most of them could not go beyond institutional life of human beings and failed to consider spiritual and motivational underpinnings of morality, which are deeply rooted in God creation and human nature. Although studying moral development in Quran view required a wide and deep reflection in various dimensions, this paper tries to open the discussion as an introduction for future works by analyzing the Kohlberg’s theory of moral development from Quran point of view. Method: This is a review article, which is done using library and web-based sources and deriving relevant references. Results: According to Quran, human beings pass through some stages during their lives. A similar step wised approach to moral development has been discussed in theories such as Kohlberg and Pageant’s. According to Kohlberg, steps and levels of moral development are fixed and unchangeable. In addition he mentioned that moral arguments and judgments are related to cognitive properties. But from Islamic and Quran viewpoint, moral regulations and principles are factual and abstract (Not-relative). Therefore in some dimensions views of western Theorists is completely different and even contradictory with Islamic tradition. One of These major differences is lack of a holistic approach to human moral development and lack of enough attention to spiritual and supererogatory moral ideals. Conclusion: The most important critique against Kohlberg’s theory is its relative weakness in explaining multi-dimensional nature of moral development because of its theoretical and experimental limitations. Using such western theories and instruments for evaluating moral development is not completely compatible with our religious and national culture. Although there are a number of works that try to explain moral development from Islamic (Shi’a) point of view, but very few works have used a comparative approach toward this issue. We recommend more detailed future studies about this issue.