Cognitive Moral Development Theory Research Articles

Cognitive morality and artificial intelligence (AI): a proposed classification of AI systems using Kohlberg's theory of cognitive ethics

PurposeThe widespread usage of artificial intelligence (AI) is prompting a number of ethical issues, including those involving concerns for fairness, surveillance, transparency, neutrality and human rights. The purpose of this manuscript is to explore possibility of developing cognitive morality in AI systems.Design/methodology/approachThis is explorative research. The manuscript investigates the likelihood of cognitive moral development in AI systems as well as potential pathways for such development. Concurrently, it proposes a novel idea for the characterization and development of ethically conscious and artificially intelligent robotic machines.FindingsThis manuscript explores the possibility of categorizing AI machines according to the level of cognitive morality they embody, and while doing so, it makes use of Lawrence Kohlberg's study related to cognitive moral development in humans. The manuscript further suggests that by providing appropriate inputs to AI machines in accordance with the proposed concept, humans may assist in the development of an ideal AI creature that would be morally more responsible and act as moral agents, capable of meeting the demands of morality.Research limitations/implicationsThis manuscript has some restrictions because it focuses exclusively on Kohlberg's perspective. This theory is not flawless. Carol Gilligan, one of Kohlberg's former doctoral students, said that Kohlberg's proposal was unfair and sexist because it didn't take into account the views and experiences of women. Even if one follows the law, they may still be engaging in immoral behaviour, as Kohlberg argues, because laws and social norms are not perfect. This study makes it easier for future research in the field to look at how the ideas of people like Joao Freire and Carl Rogers can be used in AI systems.Originality/valueIt is an original research that derives inspiration from the cognitive moral development theory of American Professor named Lawrence Kohlberg. The authors present a fresh way of thinking about how to classify AI systems, which should make it easier to give robots cognitive morality.

Prospects of green financing in democratic societies

<abstract> <p>Financing ecological and other grand global challenges is faced with intertwined issues at both the institutional side and the public side as elements of the tragedy of the quintuple horizons. These horizons are approached from a systemic perspective, with attention on the key players involved. Starting with (system) banks, their conservative attitude is explained in terms of the iron cage theory. Next, green challenges are pictured as 'very wicked' problems, varying in moral intensity. The conflicting roles of the public as citizens and as consumers are described in terms of Kohlberg's theory of cognitive moral development. Responsibilities for future generations are clarified by distinguishing the responsibility as accountability and the responsibility as virtue. Assignments for a green future are explored from the perspective of green financing with a focus on what should be expected from the public at large in multiparty democratic societies, keeping in mind that other societies are characterized by diverting economic and political dynamics, and hence, other modes of operating<sup>1</sup>.</p> <p><sup>1</sup> See, for instance, for China: <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="b133">Macaire & Naef (2022)</xref> and <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="b128">Liu, Wang, Zhang & Zhang (2019)</xref>.</p> </abstract>

Ethical Work Climate 2.0: A Normative Reformulation of Victor and Cullen’s 1988 Framework

Ethical work climate (EWC), introduced by Bart Victor and John Cullen, plays a central role in the business ethics literature due to its influence on employee’s ethical decision-making. Yet, the often-used framework is limited as a descriptive and prescriptive model because it lacks a normative focus and does not allow for organizations guided by (arguably) universal ethical principles. We revisit Victor and Cullen’s original conceptualization of ethical climate and propose a reformulation of the ethical criteria to be conceptually consistent with Kohlberg’s theory of cognitive moral development and to accommodate principled climates. We also describe how the locus of analysis dimension can be simplified to allow for a more parsimonious and potentially more valid theory. In doing so, we eliminate redundancy noted in the original model and clarify normative preference among the ethical climate types. We discuss implications for research, teaching, and practice.

Lawrence Kohlberg's Cognitive Moral Development Theory and the Ideal Human Developed By Religion

Morality has also existed among those who have no faith, as well as those who have a religious and moral belief throughout history. Morality can be defined as a set of attitudes, behaviors, and rules that a particular community has to adhere to the values, norms, principles, or people living in the community. Kohlberg's moral development theory, a theory that is recognized at international level and the basis for many studies. Kohlberg stated that people had six moral judicial phases. The six jurisdictions were also discussed in three levels. According to Kohlberg, people in all cultures use the same basic moral concepts as justice, equality, love, respect, authority. In addition, all individuals, regardless of cultural differences, depending on these concepts and in the same order, they go through the stages of reasoning. The difference between individuals arises only in terms of how far they move and how far they progress. On the other hand, an ideal human being is tried to be found in the religions by accepting a strong motivation source in terms of both presenting the moral principles that are appropriate to their own creation, and encouraging people to act according to these principles. Keywords: Kohlberg, Religion, Education, morality, human DOI: 10.7176/JSTR/5-12-04

The role of cognitive moral development in tax compliance decision making

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the role of cognitive moral development (CMD) in tax compliance decision. In particular, the study compares tax compliance degree in two different tax systems: synergistic and antagonistic tax climates.Design/methodology/approachBuild on the CMD theory, this study uses a paper and pencil laboratory experiment that involved 157 participants to test the hypotheses.FindingsCMD has significant contribution to the tax compliance decision, especially for taxpayers at both the pre-conventional and conventional level. Taxpayers who have achieved post-conventional level, however, do not shift their compliance degree even when the tax climate changed. The present results support the CMD theory.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present study is the first to investigate the role of CMDin tax compliance decision by comparing two different tax systems: synergistic and antagonistic tax climates. This study has theoretical and practical contributions. From theoretical perspective, the findings provide evidence that CMD influence tax compliance decision-making processes. In the practical terms, this research may provide a deep insight on the important of government and tax authorities to improve the taxpayers’ moral cognitive, e.g. through any activities which aims to boost them to the level of post-conventional.

Haidt’s social intuitionist model: What are the implications for accounting ethics education?

Kohlberg’s theory of cognitive moral development has dominated ethics research for the past 50 years (Lapsley & Hill, 2008). The prominence of this theory, which focuses on moral reasoning, has brought mixed results (O’Fallon & Butterfield, 2005). The research provides an indication that not all dimensions of ethical decision-making are captured (Christensen, Cote, & Latham, 2016) and has led to a paradigm shift from moral reasoning to intuition (Maxwell & Narvaez, 2013). We introduce Haidt’s (2001) social intuitionist model (SIM) as a new approach to understanding how moral judgments are made, i.e., quickly and intuitively. Then, we explore the applicability of the SIM using an ethical case in five different accounting courses. The results of our study provide a means of improving ethics education in accounting by allowing students to exercise their intuition as the initial stage of the decision-making process.

Educação em direitos humanos e desenvolvimento moral na formação docente: a influência da religiosidade em tempos de “ideologia de gênero”

This article, resulted of an interdisciplinary research entitled, funded by the Foundation for Research Support of the State of Sao Paulo (FAPESP) has an objective, in relation to teacher formation, the counterpoints presented to the proposal of (re)education in values of the human rights education, specifically to the themes of and sexuality, amid the contemporary political conjuncture. Developed from a bibliographical review and documentary analysis, the text is divided into three parts: firstly, is discussed the affirmation of the human rights education in the brazilian educational system, addressing its historical trajectory with the articulations for the formation of professionals for exercise it. Then, briefly recalling the achievements of the Feminist and LGBT movements for formal and full recognition of their rights, is highlighted the impasses for the consolidation of the human rights education that contemplate and sexuality, given the creation of the gender ideology on the reactionary moviment that the public policies have suffered in recent years. Finally, appropriating the cognitive theory of moral development, it is proposed a reflection on the influence of religiosity when it is dogmatically and literally processed, among the various cultural aspects, in the Brazilian moral formation, which is evidenced as one of the responsible factors by the counterpoints to the human rights education and, thus, reflecting the political scenario of indifference to historical struggles, the process of empowering subjects of rights and interfering in the laic and democratic nature of the country.

Corporate social responsibility and corporate fraud

PurposeThis study aims to examine the impact of corporate culture, measured by corporate social responsibility (CSR), on the likelihood and severity of corporate fraud. CSR literature indicates that corporate managers are moral actors and are obliged to exercise their discretionary decisions according to their moral standards. Based on the moral development theory, this study argues that higher managers’ ethical values reflected by higher CSR activities are less likely to commit fraud and have lower severity of fraud.Design/methodology/approachThis study argues that at the firm level, corporate culture can be measured by firms’ CSR activities. Using probit, match-pair, propensity matching and Heckman regressions on a sample of 152 criminal corporate fraud cases in the USA from the US Department of Justice (DOJ) during 2000 and 2010, this study empirically examines the impact of CSR, CSR strengths and concerns scores on the likelihood and the severity of corporate fraud.FindingsFirms with higher CSR and CSR strengths (concerns) scores have lower (higher) likelihood and lower (higher) severity of corporate fraud. This study finds that firms with higher community, employee, environment and product-related CSR have lower likelihood of fraud, and firms with higher diversity, employee, environment and product-related CSR have lower fraud severity.Practical implicationsEstablishing a positive corporate ethical culture is essential to curb the outbreak of corporate fraud that threatens our societal norms. The findings also shed some light for investors, corporate board of directors and regulators to consider CSR as a reflection of top managers’ moral values that is negatively related to the occurrence and severity of corporate fraud.Social implicationsStrengthening moral values among top executives and employees in corporations by encouraging CSR activities aid our society to alleviate future outbreak of epidemic problem for corporate fraud.Originality/valueThis study brings a new perspective that there is a relationship between corporate ethical culture within an organization, measured by CSR activities, and corporate fraud based on the cognitive moral development theory in organization.

MANAGERIAL COGNITIVE MORAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE FIRM’S OWNERS’ SALIENCE: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE

In this paper, we study the agency relationship between the firm’s owners and managers. We apply the theory of Cognitive Moral Development (CMD) to answer the question: what factors affect salience of the interests of the firm’s owners to the managers? Using a sample of Russian managers, we found that higher levels of CMD weaken the relationship between the owners’ perceived urgency and the owners’ salience and strengthen the relationship between the owners’ perceived power and the owners’ salience. We also found that managerial CMD is positively associated with the perceived legitimacy of the owners’ demands to the managers. Our results show that the higher the managers’ CMD, the less applicable are the recommendations of agency theory to incentivizing and controlling the managers.

You Good and Faithful Servant? The Presentation of Ethics in Human Resource Management Textbooks

Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings includes abstracts of all papers and symposia presented at the annual conference, plus 6-page abridged versions of the “Best Papers” accepted for inclusion in the program (approximately 10%). Papers published in the Proceedings are abridged because presenting papers at their full length could preclude subsequent journal publication. Please contact the author(s) directly for the full papers. You Good and Faithful Servant? The Presentation of Ethics in Human Resource Management TextbooksShayna Frawley and Galina BoiarintsevaShayna FrawleyYork U. and Galina BoiarintsevaYork U.Published Online:30 Nov 2017https://doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.2015.11464abstractAboutSections ToolsDownload CitationsAdd to favoritesTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail AbstractHuman Resource Management (HRM) is often thought of as the "conscience of the corporation" and a profession with special ethical responsibilities (Edwards & Bennett, 1987: 66). This study investigates the presentation of ethics in 26 HRM textbooks recommended by the Canadian Council of Human Resources Associations. Using thematic analysis, we analyzed how ethics was described, rationales for being ethical, the kinds of ethical dilemmas and issues that were highlighted, and the groups that were most likely to appear in ethically murky situations. Ethical dilemmas were also analyzed using cognitive moral development theory. The majority of textbooks incorporated content on ethics, and overall textbooks outlined a variety of ethical challenges. At the same time, ethics was described as subjective, earlier stages of moral reasoning appeared most often, and self-interested reasons to be ethical or unethical were heavily emphasized. While HRM was frequently mentioned in micro-level situations involving individual quandaries, wider discussions about ethically troubling workplace trends focused on the role of employers or the reality of the business environment and rarely mentioned HR. As a result, textbooks ultimately presented HRM’s duty to promote ethics as subservient to organizational needs. FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 2015, No. 1 Permissions Metrics in the past 12 months History Published online 30 November 2017 Published in print 1 January 2015 InformationCopyright of Academy of Management Journal is the property of Academy of Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.KeywordsEducationEthicsHuman Resource Management

The application of causality to construction business ethics

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate two causality concepts, sphere of control (SOC) and agent–action–results (AAR), and their potential applications to construction business ethics. SOC is used in ethics training, and AAR is applied to ethical decision-making (EDM). Design/methodology/approach – A framework of ethics training and a framework of EDM for construction companies have been developed. Interviews were conducted with experienced construction engineers and PhD ethicians to test the validity of the EDM framework. Findings – Literature review has been conducted in ethical issues, ethics training and EDM, leading to the developments of the frameworks. The framework of ethics training incorporates SOC to reflect the ethicality and personality traits. The framework of EDM is based on AAR, combined with a stakeholder approach and Kohlberg’s cognitive moral development theory, with a review from EDM models in business. Both frameworks include project-level component to reflect the unique feature of the construction industry. The framework of EDM showed a good practicality through the interviews on an ethical dilemma example. Research limitations/implications – For the ethics training framework, a long-term observation or survey should be accompanied to evaluate the framework in detail, tracing the improvement of ethicalness of course participants. Practical implications – The customized ethics training will be more efficient and effective, as it considers individual ethicality. The scoring system of the EDM framework is simple and practical. This is particularly relevant for construction ethics management, considering that most of construction practitioners are engineers, not philosophers or psychologists. Originality/value – Applying causality concepts, SOC and AAR, to construction ethics is a novel approach in construction management. This research has made a good advancement in construction ethics management by providing the right directions to be explored in these new areas.

Genç Yetişkinlerin Ahlaki Kimliklerinin İncelenmesine Yönelik Nitel Bir Araştırma

AbstractMoral 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. …

Business Ethics Perceptions of Working Adults

Businesses nowadays face urgent demands to act ethically and socially responsibly. Some believe that ethically responsible companies design and use corporate governance that serves all stakeholders' interests to achieve competitive advantage and maintaining ethical behavior is very important through corporate governance. Thus, an ethical business environment is critical and ethical behavior is expected of everyone in the modern workplace. Companies devote many resources and training programs to make sure their employees live according to the high ethical standards. This study used Clark and Clark's (1966) Personal Business Ethics Scores (PBES) measure to examine the relationship between gender, age, management experience, ethics course taken, and ethics training to ethical maturity of Thai working adults. This research surveyed 236 Thai working adults to measure their Personal Business Ethics Scores (PBES). Statistically significant differences were found in the variables of ethics course taken and ethics training. Gender, age, and management experience, however, did not lead to any significant differences. Consequently, Kohlberg's Cognitive Moral Development theory regarding ethical maturity is partly supported since respondents with more ethics education and training have higher business ethics scores than those without ethics education and training. In this study, Thai background and cultural dimension, as well as literature on moral development and ethics, are presented along with practical applications, suggestions and implications for educators, managers, and employees.

"Creative Accounting, Measurement And Behavior "

The purpose of this research is to discuss creative accounting limitation through ethical developments, focusing on features as: measurement and behavior. In this respect we turn to an original search in the literature that comprise together estimation segment in accounting and theoretical developments from behavioral accounting, all with the scope of creating awareness regarding ethics role. After assessing the areas approached, our goal was further to discuss a possible development of a theoretical framework comprising cognitive structures. Important aspects of decision making process were approached and in correlation we discussed the implications that Machiavellian behavior, moral action model and cognitive moral development theory have upon creative accounting measurement and behavior. The originality of the paper consists in the manner we assess the ethics role as the tone of the top in the business sector and its implications to measurement and behavior in the area of creative accounting. The findings of our paper indicates that ethics as a solution used for limiting opportunistic behavior in accounting can have an unlimited potential as long term solution.

Is Ethics Education Necessary? A Comparative Study Of Moral Cognizance In Taiwan And The United States

Ethical development, cognizance, and maturity, as well as ethical behavior, are a primary concern of all managers, government officials, and educators. These moral values are even more important in Asian economies where some aspects of the economy seem to go underground without any due taxation afforded to the government or proper credit accorded to the property owners or copyright or other intellectual property holders. This article examines morality and ethics from a cross-cultural perspective. The article examines works using Kohlbergs Cognitive Moral Development theory and the Defining Issues Test (DIT), in order to ascertain the moral cognizance of workers and students, with particular attention to the variables of age, education, ethics education, and gender. United States samples are compared with studies of Taiwanese managers and Taiwanese students. The purpose was to see if there is relationship between any of these variables and moral maturity and cognizance, as well as whether any of these relationships were culturally influenced.

Ethics And Executives: A Cross-Cultural Comparison Of Japan, Taiwan, And The United States

Globalization has facilitated the interaction of people from diverse cultures. As more firms now operate internationally, ethical issues tend to increase, and thus managers nowadays face more complicated situations that challenge their ability to reason morally. In the previous studies, cultural difference is often used to explain the ethical conflicts between home and host country. This research investigates the moral reasoning abilities of top-level business managers of three cultural groupsthe U.S. and Japanese expatriate managers in Taiwan, and local Taiwanese managers. Kohlbergs (1969, 1976, 1984b) theory of cognitive moral development (CMD) and Rests Defining Issues Test Version Two (DIT-2) were used to access the level of ethical reasoning of these business practitioners. Hofstedes (2001) theory of cultural dimensions was used to describe differences among these managers. A DIT-2 survey packet was sent to 750 managerial and executive level employees at a variety of organizations in Taiwan. Results indicate that personal characteristics (gender, age, education level) and organizational factors (ethics code, ethical training) may not significantly affect ones ethical perception. Conversely, cultural difference may be diminished and possible ethical convergence may appear through acculturation to local business environment.

The quest for logia psyche in business leadership: An empirical study of cognitive moral development in construction industry dyads

AbstractThis research study examines the ageless human debate of the body versus the soul, testing leadership in the industry of building constructors. Based on Kohlbergian theory of cognitive moral development, the multidisciplinary literature review advances the proposition that moral development proceeds in waves of egoism, leading to altruism that is couched in power—“the apple of the eye.” The results from respondents of the Iowa Architects Institute of America (n = 93) indicated that, despite their higher education and aesthetic interests, the sample of architects ranked low on moral maturity level compared to the average of the Defining Issues Test data bank as a whole. Principled scores were 36.4 for architects and 39.1 for the data bank. This research also compared the moral maturity of intra‐industry groups in marketing dyads consisting of architects, contractors, and suppliers using analysis of variance. Again, it was expected that architects with higher education and aesthetic interests would rank highest. Findings of post hoc comparisons revealed no significant difference in moral maturity level between architects and contractors engrossed in the same power paradigm (p = 1.00), yet a significant difference existed between architects and suppliers (p = 0.024). This implication is consistent with the teleological ethical pattern that is prevalent in research studies of salespeople.

What levels of moral reasoning and values explain adherence to information security rules? An empirical study

It is widely agreed that employee non-adherence to information security policies poses a major problem for organizations. Previous research has pointed to the potential of theories of moral reasoning to better understand this problem. However, we find no empirical studies that examine the influence of moral reasoning on compliance with information security policies. We address this research gap by proposing a theoretical model that explains non-compliance in terms of moral reasoning and values. The model integrates two well-known psychological theories: the Theory of Cognitive Moral Development by Kohlberg and the Theory of Motivational Types of Values by Schwartz. Our empirical findings largely support the proposed model and suggest implications for practice and research on how to improve information security policy compliance.

Professional ethics in pharmacy practice: developing a psychometric measure of moral reasoning

To develop and validate a psychometric measure of cognitive moral development in professional ethics in pharmacy. Pharmacy practice in Australia. A psychometric instrument, the Professional Ethics in Pharmacy (PEP) test, was developed and validated following a systematic procedure. The theoretical foundation of the instrument was based on a hypothesised theory of cognitive moral development in professional ethics, which was integrated into a selection of scenarios experienced in practice by pharmacists in NSW, Australia. The PEP, along with the well established DIT test, was mailed in the form of a questionnaire to a randomly selected sample of 1,500 practising pharmacists. Data collected from returned questionnaires were statistically analysed to establish validity and reliability of the instrument. The P-score calculated for each participant from DIT and PEP data and defined as a measure of principled moral reasoning, represented the main outcome measure for statistical testing. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to determine the strength of the relationship of the PEP with the DIT (regarded as the "gold standard") in order to establish criterion and concurrent validity. Factor analysis was used to investigate construct validity. Cronbach's Alpha, a measure of reliability of the instrument, was used for indicating internal consistency. Linear regression models further investigated construct validity in relation to predictors of moral reasoning. Face and content validity were established by pilot and peer review. Pearson's coefficient of 0.53 indicated an acceptable level of concurrent validity. Factor analysis yielded factors closely related to the theoretical stages of cognitive moral development hypothesised, which indicated construct validity. Cronbach's alpha of 0.75 demonstrated the reliability of the instrument, and linear regression models provided further evidence of construct validity. The PEP was established as a robust instrument on several dimensions of validity and reliability. The validated PEP test has the potential to provide the pharmacy profession with valuable information for use education and research. The validation process also provided evidence supporting the hypothesis that moral reasoning in professional ethics in pharmacy is a developmental process, which has profound implications for furthering the understanding of professional behaviour.

The effects of moral judgment and moral identity on moral behavior: An empirical examination of the moral individual.

Recognizing limitations in classic cognitive moral development theory, several scholars have drawn from theories of identity to suggest that moral behavior results from both moral judgments and moral identity. The authors conducted 2 survey-based studies with more than 500 students and managers to test this argument. Results demonstrated that moral identity and moral judgments both independently influenced moral behavior. In addition, in situations in which social consensus regarding the moral behavior was not high, moral judgments and moral identity interacted to shape moral behavior. This interaction effect indicated that those who viewed themselves as moral individuals pursued the most extreme alternatives (e.g., never cheating, regularly cheating)--a finding that affirms the motivational power of a moral identity. The authors conclude by considering the implications of this research for both theory and practice.