Development Of Moral Reasoning Research Articles

The development of moral reasoning in urban, high-social class families from Gujarat, India: A longitudinal study from middle childhood to late adolescence.

The aims of the present study were to quantitatively test hypotheses based on the cultural-developmental approach among children and adolescents in Vadodara, India, and to use qualitative analyses to examine the use of indigenous moral concepts. The study included 72 participants who were interviewed at two different age points, separated by approximately 4.5 years. At Time 1, participants were in middle childhood (Mage = 8.22 years) and in early adolescence (Mage = 11.54 years). At Time 2, the same participants were in early adolescence (Mage = 12.87 years) and late adolescence (Mage = 15.77 years). Three findings stood out: (1) As expected, the degree of use of Autonomy increased over the course of adolescence, as did the types of moral concepts. (2) The degree of use of Community significantly increased from middle childhood to adolescence. Duty, within Community was evoked prominently and consistently across all age points suggesting that aspects of social membership emerge early in Indian children's moral reasoning and remain important through adolescence. (3) The use of Divinity was prominent in middle childhood and its use decreased significantly through early adolescence; with a trend for a decrease in its use from early to late adolescence. While much of the reasoning in middle childhood was dominated by a concern for Punishment Avoidance from God, by adolescence Customary Traditional Authority and God's Authority gained prominence. Findings highlight aspects of adolescent moral reasoning that are largely missing in Western studies and point to the utility of emic, indigenous approaches to study moral development.

Are Autistic Children with Theory of Mind Delays Unexpectedly Competent at Moral Reasoning?

ABSTRACT Moral reasoning and theory of mind (ToM) are two distinct but related aspects of social cognition. While past research has clearly documented serious delays in ToM development for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) both cross-sectionally (e.g. Happe, 1995) and longitudinally (Peterson & Wellman, 2020) much less is known about the timing of ASD children’s development of moral reasoning. The present study addresses this knowledge gap with a special focus on three key research questions: (a) Is moral judgement delayed (in parallel with ToM) among children with ASD or is its timing comparable to that of typically-developing (TD) children their age? (b) Do ToM and moral reasoning significantly interconnect with one another among children with ASD? (c) If so, is the pattern of linkages the same as for TD children?

Teori Perkembangan Sosial Emosi Erikson dan Tahap Perkembangan Moral Kohlberg: Penerapan di Sekolah

Erikson's theory of social emotional development and Kohlberg's moral development can be applied in school life to determine the development of students' moral reasoning and also determine students' social interaction relationships. With Erikson's theory of social development, we can understand the stages of human development starting from our sensitivity and ability to adapt to the surrounding environment. The purpose of this article is to determine the implementation of Guidance Counseling on improving children's morals at school and to determine whether or not there is an influence of Guidance Counseling on improving children's morals. The aim of this research is also to provide a way for adolescents to find their identity and synthesize the stages of adolescent psychosocial development.

Exploring Adolescent Moral Reasoning in Middle School: Relational Systemic Paradigm Study

This study aimed to describe the level of moral reasoning of adolescents in Yogyakarta with different levels of education as a measuring tool for comparison of results and examine them using a systemic-relational paradigm. The research design was a quantitative descriptive survey of adolescents in three secondary schools using purposive sampling. There were 94 junior high school, 93 high school, and 90 vocational high school students. The instrument used in this study was Rest's Defining Issues Test (DIT2) to measure adolescent moral reasoning. The results showed that students' ethical reasoning at different levels of education was mainly at level II (conventional), with stage 4, which was oriented towards legal, social, and religious order, or law and order. The data were then analysed and reviewed using a relational systemic paradigm approach to determine the factors that influence the moral reasoning of adolescents at school. Students' moral reasoning is influenced by their interactions with their environment, family, peers, educational institutions, personal experiences, culture, religion, and perceptions of justice and truth. This paradigm recognises that moral reasoning is not only the result of individual processes but is also influenced by broader environmental factors. Therefore, moral education must focus on students' social and ecological contexts to facilitate the development of better moral reasoning.

The impact of Using Electronic Brainstorming ‎Strategy in a Blended Learning Environment on ‎Grade-Eleven Female Students’ in developing Moral ‎Reasoning in Islamic Education

This study aimed at identifying the effect of using an electronic ‎brainstorming strategy in a blended learning environment on ‎female eleventh-grade students’ moral reasoning development ‎in Islamic education. The study used a quasi experimental ‎design. Three groups totaling 91 students made up the study’s ‎sample. The first experimental group (n=31) received ‎instruction in a blended learning environment using an ‎electronic brainstorming strategy (70% electronic, 30% ‎traditional method). However, the second experimental group ‎‎(n=30) received instruction using the same strategies as the ‎‎30% electronic and 70% traditional methods. The control group ‎‎(n=30) received instruction via a traditional method. To achieve ‎the objectives of the study, the test of moral reasoning has been ‎used, consisting of five scenarios, each of which is made up of ‎sixteen questions. The validity of the content was investigated ‎by a group of arbitrators, and the reliability coefficient was ‎‎0.71.‎‏ ‏The results of the study showed that there were ‎statistically significant differences between students’ mean ‎scores in the three groups on the post- moral reasoning test in ‎favor of the first experimental group. In addition, the measure ‎of moral reasoning showed that there was a statistically ‎significant difference between the means of the two ‎experimental groups before and after the application. There ‎were also statistically significant differences in the levels of ‎moral reasoning among eleven-grade students in favor of the ‎first experimental group. The results of this study were ‎discussed in light of the latest reviewed literature, followed by ‎recommendations and suggestions for future studies and ‎investigations.‎ ‎(Keywords: Strategy, Electronic Brainstorming, Slended ‎Learning, Moral Reasoning, Islamic Education)‎

How the COVID-19 pandemic affects the moral reasoning of pediatric residents and the general population

BackgroundKohlberg’s theory of moral development asserts that people progress through different stages of moral reasoning as their cognitive abilities and social interactions mature. Individuals at the lowest stage of moral reasoning (preconventional stage) judge moral issues based on self-interest, those with a medium stage (conventional stage) judge them based on compliance with rules and norms, and those at the highest stage (postconventional stage) judge moral issues based on universal principles and shared ideals. Upon attaining adulthood, it can be considered that there is stability in the stage of individuals’ moral development; however, the effect of a global population crisis such as the one experienced in March 2020, when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 pandemic, is unknown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the changes in the moral reasoning of pediatric residents before and after one year of the COVID-19 pandemic and compare them with a general population group.MethodsThis is a naturalistic quasi-experimental study conducted with two groups, one comprised 47 pediatric residents of a tertiary hospital converted into a COVID hospital during the pandemic and another group comprised 47 beneficiaries of a family clinic who were not health workers. The defining issues test (DIT) was applied to the 94 participants during March 2020, before the pandemic initiated in Mexico, and later during March 2021. To assess intragroup changes, the McNemar-Bowker and Wilcoxon tests were used.ResultsPediatric residents showed higher baseline stages of moral reasoning: 53% in the postconventional group compared to the general population group (7%). In the preconventional group, 23% were residents and 64% belonged to the general population. In the second measurement, one year after the start of the pandemic, the group of residents had a significant decrease of 13 points in the P index, unlike the general population group in which a decrease of 3 points was observed. This decrease however, did not equalize baseline stages. Pediatric residents remained 10 points higher than the general population group. Moral reasoning stages were associated with age and educational stage.ConclusionsAfter a year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we found a decrease in the stage of moral reasoning development in pediatric residents of a hospital converted for the care of patients with COVID-19, while it remained stable in the general population group. Physicians showed higher stages of moral reasoning at baseline than the general population.

Moral imagination as an instrument for ethics education for biomedical researchers

Moral sensitivity and moral reasoning are essential competencies biomedical researchers have to develop to make ethical decisions in their daily practices. Previous research has shown that these competencies can be developed through ethics education. However, it is unclear which underlying mechanisms best support the development of these competencies. In this article we argue that the development of moral sensitivity and moral reasoning can be fostered through teaching strategies that tap into students’ moral imagination. We describe how moral imagination can stimulate the development of these competencies through three different merits of moral imagination. Moral imagination can help students to 1) transfer and apply abstract moral concepts to concrete situations and contexts, 2) explore the perspective of others, 3) explore and foresee the moral consequences of different decisions and actions. We explain these three merits of moral imagination in the context of biomedical research and present a theoretical model for how these merits can be used to stimulate the development of moral sensitivity and moral reasoning. Furthermore, we describe multiple teaching strategies for biomedical curricula that tap into the three merits of moral imagination. These teaching strategies can inspire teachers to design ethics education that activates students’ moral imagination for the development of moral sensitivity and moral reasoning.

Moral reasoning development: norms for Defining Issue Test-2 (DIT2)

ABSTRACT This article presents normative information for the Defining Issue Test Version 2 (DIT2) schema scores and most common summary scores based on secondary data from the last 10 years DIT2 database (N = 73740, Mage = 23.11, SD = 7.87, the age range in year = 12–95) maintained by the University of Alabama’s Center for the Study of Ethical Development from 2011 to 2020. More specifically, the study provides (1) norms by education; (2) norms by gender and education; and (3) norms by gender and age for the DIT2. The norms indicate a general but not consistent trend that moral reasoning scores increase by education level. Additionally, the Personal Interest and Maintain Norms scores are higher for males than females for all education levels and age groups while Postconventional, N2, and Type indicator scores are higher for females than males for all education levels and age groups.

The Impact of Parents on Adolescent Moral Development

Development of moral reasoning and the family factors affecting adolescent moral development had been a research focus for a long time. Levels of moral reasoning increase with age, and is correlated to social interactions, and some extent is determined by the ability of internalizing moral values of the surroundings and moral authorities. A good family cohesion (close bond within the family), flexible family adaptability and effective communication styles towards moral issues is undoubtedly correlated to higher levels of adolescent moral reasoning as they open the individuals susceptible to well-accepted social norms and social rules which then shape the moral reasoning. The mother's and father’s roles in child development are not quite the same; the father’s use of transactive dialogue and comparing, and the mother’s being sensitive to the child’s moral views are more predictive of better development. However, the gender difference in parents as a factor was less researched in the past, which needs to be explored in future studies. This paper provides a general review and existing discussions on family influence on adolescence moral development.

Validating the behavioral Defining Issues Test across different genders, political, and religious affiliations

AbstractThe Defining Issues Test (DIT) has been widely used in psychological experiments to assess one’s developmental level of moral reasoning in terms of postconventional reasoning. However, there have been concerns regarding whether the tool is biased across people with different genders and political and religious views. To address the limitations, in the present study, I tested the validity of the brief version of the test, that is, the behavioral DIT, in terms of the measurement invariance and differential item functioning (DIF). I could not find any significant non-invariance at the test level or any item demonstrating practically significant DIF at the item level. The findings indicate that neither the test nor any of its items showed a significant bias toward any particular group. As a result, the collected validity evidence supports the use of test scores across different groups, enabling researchers who intend to examine participants’ moral reasoning development across heterogeneous groups to draw conclusions based on the scores.

Development of Moral Judgments in Impersonal and Personal Dilemmas in Autistic Spectrum Disorders from Childhood to Late Adolescence.

A potential underlying mechanism associated with the difficulties in social interactions in Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) concerns the abnormal development of moral reasoning. The present study examined utilitarian and deontological judgments in impersonal and personal moral dilemmas, comparing 66 individuals with ASD and 61 typically developing (TD) individuals between 6 and 18years. Utilitarian judgments decreased with age. This decline was much more gradual for personal dilemmas in the ASD than in the TD group. ASD individuals rated utilitarian judgments as more appropriate but felt less calm, consistent with the Empathy Imbalance hypothesis. Utilitarian judgments were associated with social interaction difficulties in ASD. These findings identify possible social therapeutic targets for more efficient coping strategies in individuals with ASD.

Development of Prosocial Moral Reasoning in Young Adolescents and Its Relation to Prosocial Behavior and Meaningfulness of Life: Longitudinal Study

Development of Prosocial Moral Reasoning in Young Adolescents and Its Relation to Prosocial Behavior and Meaningfulness of Life: Longitudinal Study

Differences in moral reasoning among medical graduates, graduates with other degrees, and nonprofessional adults

BackgroundReasoning and moral action are necessary to resolve day-to-day moral conflicts, and there are certain professions where a greater moral character is expected, e.g., medicine. Thus, it is desirable that medical students develop skills in this field. Some studies have evaluated the level of moral reasoning among medical students; however, there are no comparative studies involving other types of populations. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare the moral reasoning among medical graduates with that of a group of young graduates with other degrees and of a group of nonprofessional adults.MethodsAn exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted. Pediatric residents and pediatric subspecialty residents at a pediatric hospital were invited to participate, forming the group of “medical graduates”. A group of young people from a social program and students with a master’s degree in a science from the same pediatric hospital were also invited to participate, comprising the group of “graduates with other degrees”. Finally, a group of beneficiaries of a family clinic was invited to participate, which we categorized as “nonprofessionals”. To evaluate the differences in moral reasoning between these 3 groups, we applied the Defining Issues Test (DIT), a moral reasoning questionnaire designed by James Rest using Kohlberg’s theory of moral development.ResultsThe moral reasoning of 237 subjects—88 from the “medical graduates” group, 82 from the “graduates with other degrees” group and 67 from the “nonprofessionals” group— was evaluated. We found differences in the profiles of moral development of the groups. The profile of the “nonprofessionals” showed a very high predominance of subjects at the preconventional level, 70%, but only 4.5% at the postconventional level. Among the “medical graduates”, we observed 37.5% at the preconventional level and 34% at the postconventional level (X2p < 0.001); this group had the highest percentage in this category. This large difference could be because the differences in the ages and socioeducational levels of nonprofessionals are much wider than those among medical graduates. However, significant differences were also found when the profiles of medical graduates were compared with those of graduates with other degrees, since the latter demonstrated 56% at the preconventional level and 18% at the postconventional level (X2 test, p = 0.02).ConclusionsSignificant differences were found in moral reasoning among the groups that we evaluated. Among the group of medical graduates, there was a higher percentage of subjects at the postconventional level than among the group of graduates with other degrees and a much higher percentage than among the group of nonprofessionals. Our conclusions give the first evidence that studying medicine seems to influence the development of moral reasoning in its students. Therefore, we consider it relevant to develop educational strategies where the student is involved in simulated but realistic decision-making situations, where there are moral dilemmas to resolve from their early years of training.

Emotion or Evaluation: Cultural Differences in the Parental Socialization of Moral Judgement.

Moral reasoning develops rapidly in early childhood. Recent evidence from cognitive neuroscience literature suggests that the development of moral reasoning is supported by an integration of cognitive and affective components. However, the role of culture in the development of moral reasoning in young children is under-investigated. Previous cross-cultural research suggests that culture shapes how people interpret other’s behaviors. In particular, people raised in independent cultures, such as the United States, tend to form impressions of others and attribute others’ behaviors to their personal dispositions more quickly than people raised in interdependent cultures, such as Japan. In the present cross-cultural study, we examined parents’ discourse with children in Japan and the United States. Parents and their 3- to 4-year-old children were asked to view and discuss cartoon characters depicting prosocial and antisocial acts. Results indicated that in both cultures, parents discussed about moral actions (e.g., helping, harming) of characters. Furthermore, United States parents were more likely to evaluate dispositional characteristics of characters based on their pro-social and anti-social acts, whereas Japanese parents were more likely to refer to emotion of the characters who got hurt. We discuss implications of cross-cultural differences and similarities in parental moral socialization and the development of moral reasoning in young children.

Online dilemma discussions as a method of enhancing moral reasoning among health and social care graduate students

Dilemma discussions have been proven to be one of the most effective methods to enhance students’ moral reasoning in ethics education. Dilemma discussions are increasingly arranged online, but research on the topic has remained sparse, especially in the context of continuing professional education. The aim of the present paper was to develop a method of dilemma discussions for professional ethics. The method was based on asynchronous discussions in small groups. Health and social care students raised work-related dilemmas from their experiences and discussed them in terms of professional values, ethical guidelines and theories. Participants in this quasi-experimental study were 87 first-term graduate students at a Finnish university of applied sciences. Health and social care students in two consecutive ethics courses constituted two experiment groups, whereas health and social care students and business students in other programmes served as control groups. Students filled in a Defining Issues Test (DIT2) at the beginning of their studies and three months apart. Statically significant increase in moral reasoning was evidenced for experiment group 2, when discussion groups were purportedly composed to maximise differences in initial levels of moral reasoning. Findings suggest that online dilemma discussions can advance students’ moral reasoning development, especially when students’ exposure to higher-level arguments is ensured through complementary means, such as instructions, examples and plenary discussions. Online real-life dilemma discussions may also serve other important goals of ethics education, especially acquiring ethical concepts, and they can promote other components of ethical decision making: ethical sensitivity and motivation, and acquisition of implementation skills.

Development Of Santri Moral Reasoning (Study At Pesantren Al Ihya 'Ulumaddin Kesugihan-Cilacap)

Reality shows that learning has only been limited to teaching, not yet aimed at improvement, enrichment activities, increased learning motivation, and the development of effective learning attitudes and habits. In the process of education these three domains should receive balanced attention so as to produce quality graduates. This study aims to describe and analyze the development of moral reasoning in pesantren. The approach used in this study cannot be separated from the research objective, which is to describe the development of students' moral reasoning. To explore the data researchers used observation, interview, and documentation techniques. While in determining respondents, researchers used a purposive sampling technique. This technique is a technique for determining the sample with certain considerations or criteria. As for the respondents in this study are the caregivers of the pesantren, boarding kyai boarding school, head of the boarding school, and Santri. Data analysis techniques use the stages of data reduction, data presentation, and data verification. The results of the study showed that the moral reasoning of the santri was done through hasanah mau'idzah, uswah hasanah, and hasanah da'wah. Mau'idzah hasanah is done by a nurse, a kyai council, and a cleric through the study of the yellow book, the study of Selasan, and briefings. Uswah hasanah is performed by caregivers, clerics, and religious teachers to strengthen knowledge about morals / morals. The proselytizing of hasanah is done by the santri and the kyai by means of respect to Allah SWT. These three activities can be mapped into outward efforts (dzahiran) and inner efforts (inner).

The Development of Moral Reasoning in the Law Curriculum - An Exploration of Various Teaching Activities

The Development of Moral Reasoning in the Law Curriculum - An Exploration of Various Teaching Activities

Effects of Integrated Moral Reasoning Development Intervention for Management of Violence in Schizophrenia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Moral cognition is an important and multidimensional, but often overlooked, determinant of violence. Very few interventions have systematically examined the role of moral reasoning, anger management and problem-solving together in violence. A randomized controlled trial was conducted to comprehensively evaluate the sustained effects of an integrated Moral Reasoning Development Intervention (MRDI) in the management of repetitive violence in schizophrenia. This study placed special emphasis on essential components related to moral reasoning and violence in patients with schizophrenia. Evaluations, including measures of violence, moral reasoning, ethical valuation and judgement, decision-making, conflict management style, and personality traits, were performed at baseline, end of intervention, and 1-month follow-up after intervention. We found that MRDI was superior to treatment-as-usual, in improving moral reasoning and related variables and violence outcomes (p < 0.05). In comparison with the treatment-as-usual group (n = 22), patients in the MRDI group (n = 21) showed improved levels of moral reasoning, with decreased levels of violent behaviors. The MRDI participants also experienced significantly greater improvements or changes (p < 0.05) in their ethical valuation and judgement, decision-making style and preferences, and conflict management style. Our findings provide important implications for risk assessment and violence management and prevention.

Validation of the Moral Reasoning Questionnaire against Rasch Measurement Theory

To support teachers in facilitating students’ moral reasoning development as specified within the Singapore Ministry of Education Character and Citizenship Education curriculum, the Moral Reasoning Questionnaire (MRQ) was developed and underwent preliminary validation. Based upon expert reviews, cognitive interviews and a classical test theory-based factor analytic approach, the development and preliminary validation found evidence (i.e., content appropriateness, response processes and internal structure) to support the validity and reliability of the MRQ. This study aims to extend the validation by examining the purported MRQ items and scale at a deeper level on the Rasch Measurement Theory, given that it is the only model that presents appropriate properties of interval measurement on a log-linear scale. The Rasch analysis found anomalies including differential item functioning and disordered thresholds in the initial set of items. Upon remediation and a second Rasch analysis, the MRQ responses were consistent with that expressed by the Rasch model (i.e., an item with an endorsability higher than what a respondent would tend to endorse would have a lower probability of being endorsed than an item exhibiting an endorsability below what that respondent would tend to endorse) and hence, there was sufficient evidence to support measurement invariance, and that MRQ scores could be concluded to characterise persons invariantly across a continuum.

Development and Preliminary Validation of the Moral Reasoning Questionnaire for Secondary School Students

Moral reasoning is a key element of the Singapore Ministry of Education’s Character and Citizenship Education curriculum, and educators in Singapore are currently encouraged to facilitate growth in students’ moral reasoning based on the Stages of Moral Development established by Lawrence Kohlberg. To monitor students’ progress in this area, however, a validated test of moral reasoning is needed. A review of existing moral reasoning assessments indicated that none provide a practical means by which large numbers of students in Singapore classrooms can be assessed in this area. In this study, the Moral Reasoning Questionnaire (MRQ) was developed and validated to assess moral reasoning development in Singapore secondary classrooms. The MRQ presents moral dilemmas that integrate prosocial, anti-social, and social pressure elements within situations that would be familiar to Singapore secondary (grades 7–12, aged between 12 and 18) students. Evidence supported the reliability and validity of the MRQ. The MRQ could be applicable as a practical means to assess moral reasoning on a broad-scale basis.