Defining Issues Test Scores Research Articles

Are Two Heads Better Than One? Interpreting Students’ Moral Reasoning Skills

The Defining Issues Test (DIT) is an internationally used instrument that measures an individual’s moral reasoning skills—that is, how an individual explains right and just action. DIT scores are correlated with age and education, and they are also correlated with clinical performance when administered to professional practitioners. Practicing signed language interpreters’ scores, however, were not reflective of their age and education in one study, being much lower than those of practitioners from other professions. Providing communication access for individuals who do not share the same language as their service providers is grounded in social justice and equity, yet practicing interpreters’ DIT scores did not reflect higher-order justice skills. The current study investigates American Sign Language interpreting students’ DIT performance. Over the course of 3 years, different classes of third-year interpreting students in an undergraduate program in the United States took the DIT. Each year, the students’ average scores were significantly higher than those of working interpreters (n = 80). This result raises the question of whether, how, and why years of interpreting experience curtail ethical development. A follow-up study with one student class (n = 32) also found that taking the DIT as a collective, meaning that answers were negotiated among group members, resulted in higher scores than the group members’ individual median scores. This additional finding adds credence to educational approaches that focus on ethical discussion and deliberation of interpreting practice.

Ethics in University: Cognitive Moral Development and Gender

This study examines the accounting students' level of moral development at the university. In this study, we focused on the effects of ethics subject and gender on moral development. Therefore, we compare the moral development of male and female students. We evaluated 216 students in Cognitive Moral Development (CMD) from 17 universities in Indonesia. We measured CMD with the Defining Issues Test (DIT) model developed by Rest in 1986. The findings show that there is no difference in DIT scores between students who have taken the ethics subject and who have not taken. We also confirm female students have a higher DIT score than male students. Our study results show that gender plays an important role in the ethics issue. Our study strengthens the previous research about the effect of ethics study and ethics courses on CMD. This study has an implication for ethics education in university wherein the curriculum or the system should be prepared carefully. Although the results of this study did not show that ethics subject has a strong impact on students' CMD, we still believe that the ethics course plays a significant role in the accountants' morals. For that reason, we argue that morals need time to be developed, and cannot be taught in a short-term course. Future research is needed to explore more about this issue.

Describing and testing an intermediate concept measure of adolescent moral thinking

This paper describes the development and preliminary testing of an intermediate concept measure (ICM) of moral thinking for adolescent populations. First proposed by Rest and Narvaez (1994), intermediate concepts are described as more context specific than moral stages defined within the Kohlberg tradition, but are more abstract than assessments of codes of conduct. The process of developing the adolescent ICM is described and data are presented to provide initial support for the measure. Results indicate that the adolescent ICM can distinguish age educational groups across high school and individuals who are acting out in school achieved significantly lower scores than all other students. In addition, ICM scores are related to Defining Issues Test scores providing preliminary support for the claim that both measures assess the moral domain. Coupled with the respectable psychometric properties of the measure, these findings support the adolescent ICM as a measure of moral thinking in adolescent populations and as a potential outcome measure for character education programmes.

An Assessment of Moral and Character Education in Initial Entry Training (IET)

The US Army conducts extensive training on its core values beginning with Initial Entry Training (commonly referred to as basic training) in order to shape soldiers' behavior and decision making in combat and non-combat situations. This paper addresses the apparent limited empirical research on the effect of US Army Initial Entry Training on soldier's moral development. The study which is the subject of this paper employed a mixed methods quantitative/qualitative model. The Defining Issues Test was administered at the beginning and conclusion of Military Police (MP) Initial Entry Training to determine change in soldiers' moral judgment. This study also used focus groups of MP Initial Entry Training soldiers to identify key factors that soldiers said influenced changes in their moral development. Data analysis of Defining Issues Test scores revealed no significant changes in scores in scores of the overall sample or within the categories of age and educational level. Gender tests revealed a decline in personal interest scores among females, females having higher postconventional scores than males, and no change in scores among males. Focus group results revealed the relationship with drill sergeants as having a significant impact on moral development. This study provides feedback to trainers and commanders that can be used to design effective moral and character education and thereby prepare soldiers for decision making and morally consistent behavior in combat and non-combat situations.

The distinction between moral judgment development and verbal ability: some relevant data using socio‐political outcome variables

Critics of moral judgment measures question whether the obtained pattern of relationships between moral judgment scores and outcome variables might be better explained by verbal/general ability. To address this concern, we assess the degree to which moral judgment development reduces to verbal ability using the Defining Issues Test (DIT). Our findings suggest that DIT scores describe a latent variable that is distinct from verbal ability. Second, we show that verbal ability cannot account for the relationship between moral judgments and social political attitudes and actions. These results are consistent with the developmental view that moral judgment development scores are related to, but do not reduce to, cognitive and ability measures.

Does moral judgement improve in occupational therapy and physiotherapy students over the course of their pre‐licensure training?

AbstractHealthcare professionals often encounter moral dilemmas in clinical practice that require increased responsibility and accountability for ethical decision‐making. This paper reports the results of a 6‐year longitudinal study that explored changes in moral judgement of five consecutive cohorts of occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) students over the course of their professional training. The training programme included an ethics education component. The Defining Issues Test (DIT) developed at the University of Minnesota was used to measure moral judgement. A total of 548 students participated in the study. At entry into their professional training, the DIT scores of the OT and PT students were similar but higher overall than the norms established for college level students or for graduates from professional programmes in the DIT standardization sample. At the time of graduation, results showed no significant differences in moral judgement scores between males and females, their chosen programme of study (OT or PT), year of entry, or previous education. Comparing entry scores to exit scores from both programmes for 288 students who provided data at both times, we found that moral judgement scores increased significantly in both OT and PT students over the 2‐year programme of study. No differences were found in scores across gender, programme, year of entry, or previous education. Implications are discussed for including a formal ethics education component in the curricula of all health professional training programmes. Recommendations for future research are outlined.

Measuring moral judgement in physical therapy students from different cultures: a dilemma

AbstractThe purpose of this cross‐cultural study was to compare the level of moral judgement between two groups of students over the period of their professional physical therapy educational programmes as measured by the Defining Issues Test (DIT). Students from two entry‐level physical therapy programmes volunteered to participate. The DIT was completed at entry and exit of their respective programmes. DIT mean scores were compared using ancova controlling for age and grade point average. Thirty‐eight female, second baccalaureate degree students of diverse religious backgrounds, living in a Western culture and 13 female, first baccalaureate degree students of Islamic religious backgrounds living in an Arabic culture participated. At both entry and exit of their programmes, students from the Western group scored significantly higher on the DIT than the Arabic group (average: 51.1 and 29.9 respectively, P < 0.001). An initial score difference was anticipated given the different levels of education between the groups. Over the period of their studies, the DIT scores of the Western group increased significantly while the scores of the Arabic group remained constant. The DIT appears to not measure moral judgement uniformly across cultures. The moral dilemmas are based in Western values and offer limited insight into Arabic, Muslim moral judgement. With increasingly diverse student populations, physical therapy programmes may need to re‐examine the nature of moral judgement and adapt their curricula.

How Morality and Religiosity Relate to Intelligence: A Case Study of Mathematically Gifted Adolescents

Summary In this article we explore the moral and religious reasoning of mathematically gifted adolescents (N = 20) who attend a special boarding school for gifted students in Finland. Th e sample consists of 11 female and 9 male fi rst-year upper secondary school students (M age = 16.25, SD age = 0.444). Th e participants’ intelligence and their moral and religious reasoning were measured by means of the following instruments: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III (WAIS-III); Defi ning Issues Test (DIT); and Religious Judgment Test (RJT) respectively. Th e research design was correlational and included the following three research questions: (1) How is intelligence related to moral thinking? (2) How is intelligence related to religious thinking? (3) How are moral and religious thinking related to each other? Results regarding the fi rst research question showed that moral reasoning was related to intelligence. However, WAIS-III scores were not positively linked to the DIT scores within this highly gifted sample. Results regarding the second research question showed that the most intelligent young adults were more opposed to the lowest and highest forms of religious reasoning than their less intelligent peers. Results regarding the last research question showed that the level of moral thinking was negatively related to both the lowest and the highest stages of religious judgement, but positively related to the third religious orientation stage (ego autonomy and one-sided self-responsibility).

Assessing the relationship among Defining Issues Test scores and crystallised and fluid intellectual indices

Differing findings exist on how Defining Issues Test (DIT) scores relate to intelligence. Further study is needed in order to address aspects of intellect not previously considered and to address how these relationships rival studies that have compared indices of intellect with constructs similar to DIT scores. In the present study, a sample of 117 participants completed the DIT and the Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test (KAIT), which assesses crystallised and fluid intelligence. Structural equation modelling offered supporting evidence that these measurements represent separate sources of information. Statistically significant paths from KAIT crystallised indices to DIT scores were seen, though there was much overlap. Negligible paths were seen from KAIT fluid indices to DIT scores in the sample overall though this relationship strengthens when advanced moral judgement development is considered. Thus, the present study affirms the DIT's construct validity and illustrates how crystallised and fluid intellectual abilities pertain to DIT scores.

Are DIT scores empirically distinct from measures of political identification and intellectual ability? A test using post‐9/11 data

Emler, Renwick, and Malone (1983) argued against a developmental interpretation of the Defining Issues Test (DIT), suggesting instead that it actually measures a social psychological phenomenon – political identification. On the other hand, Sanders, Lubinski, and Benbow (1995) have argued that DIT scores measure intellectual ability. In this study, we pitted the DIT against measures of political identification and intellectual ability in order to test its ability to incrementally predict variation in post‐9/11 attitudes. We found that both DIT‐2 scores and political identification were significant predictors of attitudes toward restricting human rights/civil liberties, while our index of intellectual ability (i.e. ACT scores) was not. DIT‐2 scores, political identification and intellectual ability each accounted for significant variation in attitudes toward President George W. Bush in our undergraduate college sample during the spring of 2004.

간호대학 졸업반 학생의 도덕성 발달 수준 평가

A study was designed to evaluate the level of moral development of 197 nursing students from five nursing schools in Korea. Data was collected through a self-reported questionnaire completed between March and April 2006. The Korean version of the DIT (Rest’s Defining Issues Test) was used to evaluate the level of moral development as measured by the score of P and stage 4. The data was analyzed by a t-test, ANOVA. The results were as follows: 1) the mean score of P and stage 4 was 41.79 and 16.31 respectively; 2) the score of P did not reveal statistically significant differences with respect to demographic variables; 3) The score of stage 4 revealed significant differences related to the level of education of each participant’s mother. These results indicate that moral development is not influenced by demographic variables. We recommend that a database of DIT scores for students in nursing and other medical fields be created. Such a database would be helpful for the further development of nursing ethics curricula.

Positive Illusions: Positively Correlated with Subjective Well-Being, Negatively Correlated with a Measure of Personal Growth

Psychologists have long debated the benefits and costs of self-deceptive enhancement or positive illusions. Accurate perception of reality is central to the definitions of mental health proposed by many personality and clinical psychologists, but Taylor and Brown have suggested that having positive illusions is associated with increased happiness and satisfaction with life. One explanation for the conflicting assertions is that mental health, broadly defined, includes both subjective well-being and personal growth, distinguishable factors which are differentially related to positive illusions. For this study, 81 college students completed measures of positive illusions (Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding Self-deceptive Positivity and How I See Myself Questionnaire), subjective well-being (Satisfaction With Life Scale and Existential Anxiety Scale), and moral reasoning (Defining Issues Test) as an index of personal growth. As predicted, positive illusion composite scores were positively correlated with scores on the subjective well-being composite (r=.40) but negatively correlated with Defining Issues Test scores (r=-.25). The quadratic relationship between these measures of positive illusion and subjective well-being composites was not significant, indicating no support for an "optimal margin of illusion."

Bridging the Divide: The role of perceived control in mediating reasoning and activism

One-hundred-and-two students, either actively or not actively involved in the pro-choice or pro-life movements, completed the Defining Issues Test (DIT) and Spheres of Control (SOC) measure. Participants also rated their degree of involvement in on-campus activities. Abortion activists more frequently endorsed principled and anti-establishment moral issues, and scored higher on sociopolitical control than did non-activists. SOC and DIT scores served to discriminate abortion activists from non-activists--more so for women than for men. Self-reported ratings of activism moderated self-reported assessments of control for abortion activists, such that more involved students rated themselves as feeling greater sociopolitical and interpersonal control than less involved students. Results are discussed in terms of the possible relationship between reasoning, control and behaviour.

What does the DIT measure?

Emler, Palmer‐Canton & St. James (1998) suggest that scores on the Defining Issues Test (DIT) of moral judgment development are in large measure a reflection of participants political identities. Although we agree that political reasoning and moral judgments overlap, we do take issue with the claim that DIT scores and the findings they produce can be explained by political identity. In three sections we first outline our view of the controversy that this, and the senior author's previous paper, raise concerning the validity of the DIT, then we note our interpretation of the current findings, and finally we draw attention to the limitations of the test manipulation methodology featured in this research and offer an alternative strategy to assess the validity of the DIT. We conclude that, although this research clearly demonstrates that DIT scores can be manipulated by altering the participant's test taking set, it provides no direct evidence on the validity of the DIT.

Does moral judgment development reduce to political attitudes or verbal ability? Evidence using the Defining Issues Test.

Recent critics of the Defining Issues Test (DIT) suggest that moral judgment development as currently measured is neither developmental nor moral. Instead, scores on the DIT are claimed to be the result of political attitudes or verbal ability. In making such claims, these critics raise the possibility that the validity of the DIT is suspect as well as the construct it purports to measure. We begin our response with an overview of the various claims that DIT scores reduce to political attitudes or verbal ability. Then, a relevant sample of the DIT literature is summarized in order to assess the degree to which relationships between DIT scores and criterion variables typically used to support the validity of the DIT can be explained by political attitudes or verbal ability. This summary suggests that moral judgment development as measured by the DIT provides a unique source of information that cannot be explained by general/verbal ability or political attitudes.

The Relationship Between Political Attitudes and Moral Judgment: Examining the Validity of the Defining Issues Test

Most ethics studies employing accounting subjects have utilized the Defining Issues Test (DIT), generally finding the moral judgment abilities of accounting students and accountants to be less advanced than those of the general population (Ponemon and Gabhart, 1994). This study assesses the validity of the DIT by examining whether an individual can achieve a higher moral judgment score on the DIT by responding from the role of a political liberal. Accounting undergraduates, defining themselves as liberal, moderate or conservative, completed the DIT once from their own perspective and once from either an "extremely conservative" or "extremely liberal" perspective. The results indicate that DIT scores can be influenced by an aspect of political ideology not reflecting maturation in moral judgment. Subjects decreased their moral judgment scores when responding to the DIT dilemmas from a conservative perspective. Contrary to moral development theory, subjects were able to increase their moral judgment scores when responding from the perspective of a political liberal. These results imply that, given the generally conservative political orientation of the profession, the DIT may systematically understate the moral judgment abilities of accounting students and accountants.

Auditor underreporting of time and moral reasoning: An experimental lab study*

Abstract. This paper introduces the theory of moral reasoning as a valid determinant of the underreporting of audit time. In an experimental lab design for a sample of 88 auditors from a national public accounting firm, actual underreporting on an audit task was observed. Findings show that underreporting is systematically related to the auditor's level of moral reasoning as measured by the Defining Issues Test (DIT). Here those with relatively low DIT scores were shown to underreport most severely. Results also show that although an unattainable time budget affects behavior, peer pressure has the most significant impact on underreporting. The present study makes three important contributions to the auditing and psychology literature. First, it establishes the significance of peer pressure as an antecedent to underreporting. Second, it shows that an auditor's moral reasoning explains actual underreporting behavior under conditions of work‐related pressure. Third, it reveals marked underreporting under simulated audit conditions.

Relations among Moral Reasoning, Locus of Control, and Demographic Variables among College Students

This study was conducted to examine the relationships among Rest's Defining Issues Test, Rotter's Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, and demographic variables. 205 undergraduates from two secular universities and one religious liberal arts college from the Middle Atlantic states were given the Defining Issues Test, the Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, and a demographic questionnaire. The Pearson correlations indicated significant associations between the Defining Issues Test scored for percentage of principled reasoning about moral dilemmas and five demographic variables. Analysis of variance indicated significant differences between the group means for the Defining Issues Test scores on three demographic variables and between the group means for the Internal-External Locus of Control Scale scores on two demographic variables. A stepwise multiple regression analysis using five variables predicted a significant amount of the variance (25%) in the Defining Issues Test scores and two variables that predicted a significant amount of the variance (7%) in the Internal-External Locus of Control Scale scores. The Defining Issues Test is both a developmental and cognitive measure. In addition, the Internal-External Locus of Control Scale scores showed a significant relationship with religious affiliation and with Defining Issues Test scores.

Type of Offense and Level of Moral Development Among Adult Male Inmates

The Defining Issues Test (DIT) was administered to three groups of adult male inmates in two categories to compare their levels of moral development. The distribution of DIT scores was found to be similar to those of nonfelonious samples. Implications for the treatment of offender populations are discussed.

Teaching Ethics ‐A Direct Approach

Abstract In this article it is argued that the moral dilemma discussion model usually relied upon in moral development research is not by itself an effective way to help students achieve principled moral reasoning. This goal is more effectively achieved by directly teaching in tandem the cognitive skills of logic, role‐taking, and justice operations which have been clearly identified by theory and research as the constitutive elements of moral reasoning. The argument presents statistical data on the results of pre‐ and post‐tests with the Defining Issues Test (DIT) of three variations of an ethics course design and two comparison groups over a five‐year period. The ethics course design in its most intense form integrated the study of logic, developmental theory, and classic philosophic texts directly to target, teach and exercise the constitutive elements of moral reasoning and their application to controversial social issues. Changes in pre‐ and post‐course DIT scores show effect sizes nearly double thos...