The association between moral identity and moral decisions in adolescents.

Abstract

The present study explores moral identity, moral emotion attribution, moral responsibility, acceptability, and moral decisions in adolescents. We hypothesized that moral identity predicts moral decisions in adolescents. Furthermore, we hypothesized that moral emotions mediate the relationship between moral identity and moral decisions and moral identity and moral responsibility/acceptability. A total of 749 adolescents were recruited. Questions regarding moral identity, moral emotion attribution, moral responsibility, acceptability, and moral decisions were answered by the participants. SPSS and AMOS wereused to analyze the data obtained.The results showed that moral identity was related positively to moral decisions and negatively to moral emotion attribution in adolescents. Mediation analysis showed that moral emotions were a significant mediator between moral identity and moral decisions. The findings indicate that moral identity plays an essential role in the moral decision-making processes in adolescents.