High Achieving Students and Moral Judgment

Abstract

Research exploring the relationship of intellectual aptitude to moral judgment has indicated that, as a group, those with a high intellectual aptitude score significantly above their age peers on measures of moral judgment. These data support the contention that intelligence is a “general factor” that cuts across domains. Some theorists have advocated an alternative view, that intelligence is domain specific. In looking at high achievers, the current study offers support for both views by reporting data that indicate a dependence of moral judgment precocity upon high intellectual achievement. As a group, the high achieving students scored higher on the Defining Issues Test's Principled score. However, there was a wide variation in scores among the high achievers, indicating that apparent intellectual aptitude was not enough for high scores in moral judgment. This variance, along with the fact that no low achiever received an unusually high score, supports the “independent domains” hypothesis of intelligence.