Moral Judgment Competence Research Articles

Medical education and moral segmentation in medical students

Many studies indicate that increases in cognitive ability, maturity and educational experience lead to a general increase in moral reasoning skills. However, research has shown that moral development does not occur during medical school and that it may, in fact, plateau or even regress. There is no empirical evidence as to what might be the cause of such a result. The present study aimed to assess moral judgement competence in medical students and to investigate trends in moral judgement competence in relation to age, gender, culture, religion, year of medical course and different programmes within the medical curriculum. We employed a cross-sectional and descriptive design over two consecutive years (2011 and 2012). Students completed Lind's Moral Judgement Test (MJT), which is based on Kohlberg's stages of moral development and is used to measure moral judgement competence (C-INDEX). C-INDEX results were analysed in relation to age, gender, cultural background, religion, cohort and specific programmes within the medical curriculum. The numbers of students who completed the MJT in 2011 and 2012 were 394 and 486, respectively. The two studies showed a significant difference and negative correlations between the moral judgement competence of medical students and both age and year of medical course (p<0.001). The findings suggested the existence of a phenomenon known as 'moral segmentation', which increased significantly as students progressed through medical education, and were significantly linear between cohorts. Students show a decline in moral judgement competence during medical education. This probably reflects an increase in moral segmentation rather than an inhibition in moral development. The challenge is to develop a curriculum that will enable medical students to maintain, or better, increase their moral judgement competence.

Moral judgment competence of medical students: a transcultural study

The authors conducted a cross-sectional short-term study using Lind's Moral Judgment Test (MJT) to compare moral judgment competence (C-score) among students from a medical school in the Northeast region of Brazil and a medical school in the Northern region of Portugal. This study compares the C-scores of groups in the first and eighth semesters of study within each medical school and groups from corresponding semesters between the two medical schools. This study also evaluates the influence of such factors as age and gender on moral competence. A regression of moral judgment competence among the students in their eighth semester versus the students in the first semester of Brazilian medical school (p < 0.001) and a stagnation of moral competence among students in their eighth semester versus the first semester students in the Portuguese medical school (p = 0.06) were observed. For both the first semester and eighth semester groups, the students in the Portuguese medical school had higher C-scores than the students in the Brazilian medical school. In the analysis of the students' performances in terms of MJT dilemmas, the phenomenon of "moral segmentation" was observed in all of the groups, and the students performed better on the worker's dilemma than on the doctor's dilemma. Among students in the same semester of study, older students had lower C-scores. There was generally no significant difference between men's and women's C-scores.

Competência de juízo moral dos estudantes de medicina: um estudo piloto

Os autores realizaram estudo de corte transversal para avaliar a competência de juízo moral, com a aplicação do Moral Judgment Test (MJT) proposto por Lind, entre estudantes do primeiro e do oitavo semestre de uma escola médica na Região Nordeste do Brasil. Compararam-se as turmas do primeiro e do oitavo semestre com relação ao escore C e avaliou-se a influência de fatores como idade e sexo sobre a competência moral. Uma diferença igual ou superior a 5,0 pontos (absolute effect-size) entre os valores do escore C foi considerada significante. Observou-se regressão da competência de juízo moral entre os alunos do oitavo semestre com relação aos do primeiro semestre (escore C 20,5 x 26,2 pontos, respectivamente). Na análise do desempenho dos alunos por dilemas do MJT, observou-se o fenômeno da "segmentação moral" em ambas as turmas, com melhor desempenho dos alunos no dilema do operário com relação ao dilema do médico. Entre alunos do mesmo semestre, aqueles com idade mais avançada apresentaram níveis mais baixos de escore C quando comparados aos alunos mais jovens. Não houve diferença significante entre homens e mulheres com relação à competência de juízo moral. A constatação de que ocorre estagnação ou regressão da competência de juízo moral no transcurso da graduação médica deve ser motivo de preocupação para os professores e para os responsáveis pelo planejamento curricular, no sentido de buscar estratégias para reverter o quadro.

Moral judgment competence of nursing students in the Czech Republic

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the level of moral judgment competence in students of nursing at the University of Ostrava Faculty of Medicine, and whether it is influenced by the field of study, type of study, current year of study and age. The design of the study was cross-sectional. The survey sample comprised 662 full-time and part-time students of General Nursing and Midwifery. To measure ethical competence, Lind's Moral Judgment Test (MJT, 1995) was used. The nursing students showed low C-index scores (the mean C-index was 14.24 ± 9.56). The C-index was significantly influenced only by the type of study and age (p<0.05). Part-time students and those over 30 years of age had the lowest C-index scores. On average, the students preferred stages 5 and 6 of moral judgment, that is the post-conventional level. Due to the nursing students' lower C-index scores, methods developing ethical argumentation should be introduced into nursing ethics courses.

Factors of Chinese Adolescents’ Moral Judgment Competence – Findings from Hubei Province

This paper uses MJT designed by German moral psychologist Lind as a measurement tool, selects 1933 teenagers from Wuhan, Xiangfan or Hubei province. The result shows that participants’ C-sore of different age is 16.90. Character of politic lies remarkable difference, and gender, profession, education, etc., doesn’t. But the specific characters of them have something to be concerned. On this basis, the author gives some advices and countermeasures for education departments.

Moral decision-making, ToM, empathy and the default mode network

Automatic intuitions and deliberate reasoning, sourcing internal representations of our personal norms and values, contribute to our beliefs of what is right and wrong. We used fMRI to directly compare moral (M) and non-moral (NM) decision-making processes using scenarios requiring conscious deliberation, whereby the main character declared an intention to take a course of action. Furthermore, we examined the relationship between BOLD signal, associated with M>NM decision-making, and moral judgment competence, psychopathy, and empathy. We observed greater activity in various parts of Theory of Mind, empathy and default mode networks during M>NM decision-making. There was a trend for high scores on primary psychopathy to correlate with decreased M>NM BOLD activation in an area extending from dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to medial prefrontal cortex. We suggest that moral decision-making entails a greater degree of internally directed processing, such as self-referential mental processing and the representation of intentions and feelings, than non-moral decision-making.

Moral Judgment Test (MJT) in Urdu: Translation and Validation

The present study was conducted as part of a larger study that aimed to compare moral judgment competence and moral preferences among Pakistani students of public and private sector educational institutes and religious institutes and also to measure the pattern of development of moral judgment competence of students within these institutes. The validation study completed in two phases, during the 1st phase data were collected from the students of grade 8 to 16 from public sector schools and colleges of Rawalpindi city. Very low mean c-score was observed (M = 13.60, SD = 9.05), the test came out to be valid on preference hierarchy criterion but its validity on the cognitive-affective parallelism and Quasi- simplex structure criteria could not be established due to low c-scores of the sample. In the second phase an additional sample from one private sector and two public sector universities was collected. The analysis of the combined sample (N = 246) showed no significant improvement of c-scores (M = 13.94, SD = 9.53). The test meets well the preference hierarchy criterion but on the other two criteria results remain inconclusive due to low variance in the sample. The low c-scores are explained on the basis of three assumptions; (1) poor quality of education, (2) dogmatic religiosity, and (3) weak and instable political structure of Pakistani society.

P01-415 - Association between albumin and social cognition in attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder (ADHD)

IntroductionAlbumin is a protein which serves as a transporter for a variety of metabolites and as a storage for a lot of substances. Although albumin cannot pass the blood-brain-barrier and thus influence the CNS directly, a negative relation between cognitive impairment and serum albumin level has been observed in studies of normal and pathological aging.The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between albumin and social cognition in ADHD.Method20 adult patients with ADHD and 20 healthy controls participated in a double-blind within subjects crossover study. Participants completed the Moral-Judgment-Test, Tuebingen Affect Battery, the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC) and Cambridge Behaviour Scale (EQ). In addition, ADHD symptoms were assessed by the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS-K) and ADHD Self Rating Scale. Serum albumin levels were determined after blood withdrawal.ResultsIn the patient group serum albumin levels were negatively associated with ADHD pathology measured by WURS-K. In addition, a low level of albumin was related with poorer performance in theory of mind, moral judgment competence and affective prosody tasks.ConclusionsThe results suggest that albumin is related to social cognition in younger patients with ADHD. This is, to the knowledge of the authors, the first investigation, in which the association between albumin and cognition has been investigated in ADHD. Thus the findings of the present study need replication and the neural mechanisms have to be explored in future studies. Further studies are needed to exclude a possible medication effect.

Situierung oder Segmentierung?

Continuing the controverse discussion between BECK and ZABECK, which has taken place in this journal a fewyears ago, and in which the question was discussed, whether during vocational education apprentices should be supported in developing a homogenous or a heterogenous moral judgement competence, this paper is focusing on the secondly called aspect, the heterogenity in moral judgement. This heterogeneity yet was called „segmentation“, which means a moral judgement according to the circumstances in the social environment (which leads to different judgements maybe in family-life or job). In the author’s view additionally to segmentation there must be mentioned „situationalism“, another form of differentiation. Here individuals do not differ their moral judgment according to a specific environment, but to specific aspects on their actual situation. In this paper the author will at first theoretically model both, segmentation and situationism, so that there is a clear distinction. Secondly, he will show, based on a socialisational theoretical approach, how the development of both forms of moral differentiation will take place.

Teaching business ethics: the effectiveness of common pedagogical practices in developing students’ moral judgment competence

This study investigates the effectiveness of pedagogical practices used to teach business ethics. The business community has greatly increased its demands for better ethics education in business programs. Educators have generally agreed that the ethical principles of business people have declined. It is important, then, to examine how common methods of instruction used in business ethics could contribute to the development of higher levels of moral judgment competence for students. To determine the effectiveness of these methods, moral judgment competence levels for undergraduate and graduate students from three institutions were measured and compared based upon the pedagogical method used in a business class. Significant differences were found for moral reasoning and moral competence scores depending on the method used for ethics instruction. Students in classes with more highly integrated ethics coverage scored higher in moral reasoning and moral competence.

A teoria de Kohlberg sobre o desenvolvimento do raciocínio moral e os instrumentos de avaliação de juízo e competência moral em uso no Brasil

O presente artigo tem por objetivo abordar as bases, finalidades e composição de dois instrumentos de avaliação de juízo moral: a Moral Judgment Interview (MJI) e o Defining Issues Test (DIT), e um de competência moral: o Moral Judgment Test (MJT). Retoma a teoria do desenvolvimento moral de Kohlberg que fundamenta esses instrumentos, assim como os últimos estudos realizados com os mesmos. A MJI é uma entrevista semiestruturada que avalia o nível de juízo moral. O DIT é um teste objetivo que mede a proporção de respostas pós-convencionais. O MJT é um instrumento objetivo, que avalia a competência moral. Destaca-se a crescente utilização desses instrumentos em pesquisas sobre moralidade.

Seeking a multi‐construct model of morality

The present study explored a multi‐construct model of moral development. Variables commonly seen in the moral development literature, such as family interactions, spiritual life, ascription to various sources of moral authority, empathy, shame, guilt and moral judgement competence, were investigated. Results from the current study support previous research that the three moral emotions of empathy, shame and guilt interrelate. Further, it was found that the relationship one has with a higher power (spirituality) involves empathy and guilt. Implications for moral education are discussed. Future research should continue to explore a multi‐construct model of morality.

El papel del rol y el contexto en la competencia del juicio moral: estudiantes de negocios vs. burócratas

&lt;span&gt;Esta investigación presenta los resultados de la competencia del juicio moral, mediante la evaluación del índice C, entre dos roles y dos contextos diferentes, el de estudiantes de licenciatura en administración y el de burócratas. Los resultados mostraron un menor valor del índice C de los burócratas comparados con el valor de los estudiantes, lo que implica que el rol y el contexto organizacional público influyen negativamente en el valor del índice C.&lt;/span&gt;

Validation of a questionnaire on the managers’ moral judgment competence, in Hidalgo, Mexico

This article presents the validation of a questionnaire on the manager's moral judgment competence, the Questionnaire of Managerial and Entrepreneurial Socio-morals Problems. This by means of the theoretical discussion about the Rest's Defining Issues Test and the Kohlberg's interview. This paper explains the alternative of the experimental questionnaire, as effective alternative of quantification of the moral judgment competence, the Lind's Moral Judgment Test, identical procedure of design of the CPSGE. Likewise, the design of the CPSGE satisfies the theoretical fundamental precedent of the taking of the role and context, in this case the manager's role and his context. In addition, the sample to which, the CPSGE was applied, was constituted by 177 managers of the Hidalgo state in Mexico. The findings of the CPSGE application were corroborated: the precedents' hierarchy, the quasi-simplex structure, the affective-cognitive parallelism and the correlation with the education. It presents these results, besides the consequences and adjacent problems of investigation.

The features of moral judgment competence among Chinese adolescents

In this paper, we used the “Moral Judgment Test” (MJT), an instrument that was developed by German psychologist, Georg Lind in 1976, along with some additional items, administered after the standard MJT. The participants were 724 Chinese adolescents whose ages ranged from 14 to 27 years of age. The results show that there was considerable fluctuation between grades in C scores, without the regularity seen in prior studies conducted in Western cultural contexts, but with senior college students generally showing higher C scores than freshmen. No significant differences in C scores were found between male and female students, between students with various professions, between key schools and the regular schools and between the two-year and the four-year college students. The possible implications of these findings for Chinese moral education are also discussed.

Individual differences in moral judgment competence influence neural correlates of socio-normative judgments

To investigate how individual differences in moral judgment competence are reflected in the human brain, we used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging, while 23 participants made either socio-normative or grammatical judgments. Participants with lower moral judgment competence recruited the left ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the left posterior superior temporal sulcus more than participants with greater competence in this domain when identifying social norm violations. Moreover, moral judgment competence scores were inversely correlated with activity in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during socio-normative relative to grammatical judgments. Greater activity in right DLPFC in participants with lower moral judgment competence indicates increased recruitment of rule-based knowledge and its controlled application during socio-normative judgments. These data support current models of the neurocognition of morality according to which both emotional and cognitive components play an important role.

Moral Judgement Competence and Moral Attitudes of Medical Students

A cross-sectional study explored the moral judgement competence and moral attitudes of 310 Czech and Slovak and 70 foreign national students at the Medical Faculty of Charles University in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic. Lind's Moral Judgement Test was used to evaluate moral judgement competence and moral attitudes depending on factors such as age, number of semesters of study, sex, nationality and religion. Moral judgement competence decreased significantly in the Czech and Slovak medical students as they grew older; in medical students from other countries it did not significantly increase. The influence of other factors (sex, nationality and religion) on moral judgement competence was not proven in either the Czech and Slovak or the foreign national medical students. Moral attitudes do not change; the Czech and Slovak as well as the foreign students preferred the post-conventional levels of moral judgement (Kohlberg's 5th and 6th stages). The fact that the Czech and Slovak students' moral judgement competence decreased with age and number of semesters of study completed is not an optimistic sign: medical students who had undergone a lower number of semesters of study were morally more competent.

Neural correlates of individual differences in moral judgment competence

Normative judgment – the evaluation of actions with respect to social norms and values – entails a number of processes represented by a distributed network of brain regions. People differ with respect to their competence to make moral judgments. In this study we investigated how individual differences in this domain modulate neural correlates of simple normative judgments. Sentences including violations of social norms and grammatical rules were presented visually in a mixed blocked/ event-related design. Social norm violations were designed not to create emotional arousal. 23 participants decided whether sentences were normatively or grammatically correct while their brain activity was monitored using functional magnetic resonance imaging. To assess emotional arousal skin conductance was recorded. Individual differences in moral judgment competence were assessed using the Moral Judgment Test (C-score; Lind, 2001). Normative judgments compared to grammatical judgments resulted in activation of temporal poles, left ventromedial prefrontal cortex, left orbitofrontal cortex, and left posterior Sulcus temporalis superior (mixed effects, p<0.001, uncorr.). There was no correlation between C-scores and response times during either task, however changes in brain activity in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC, BA 45/46) during normative as compared to grammatical judgments covaried with C-scores. A region of interest analysis showed that C-scores correlated negatively with blood oxygen level-dependent responses in right DLPFC during normative (rNORM=-0.47, p<0.05) but not during grammatical judgments (rgram=-0.05, p=0.41). In this study we contrasted normative judgments devoid of emotional arousal with grammatical judgments. Our data are in line with previous studies which found a similar functional neural network contributing to a number of tasks ranging from simple moral decisions to complex dilemmatic moral judgments. Moreover, we provide first evidence that individual differences in moral judgment competence modulate neural correlates of normative judgments. When making normative judgments, participants with higher competence recruited the right DLPFC less than those with less ability in this domain. This might indicate lower processing demands of participants with higher moral judgment competence.

The Impact of Business Education on Moral Judgment Competence: An Empirical Study

This study uses theories of moral reasoning and moral competence to investigate how university codes of ethics, perceptions of ethical culture, academic pressure from significant others, and ethics pedagogy are related to the moral development of students. Results suggest that ethical codes and student perceptions of such codes affect their perceptions of the ethical nature of the cultures within these institutions. In addition, faculty and student discussion of ethics in business courses is significantly and positively related to moral competence among students. Our results point to the need to further examine the connections among academic institutional structures, ethics pedagogy, and students’ moral development.

The Moral Judgment Test: Comments on Villegas de Posada's Critique

The Moral Judgment Test is an operationalization of Kohlberg's notion of moral judgment competence and Piaget's two-aspect model of behavior and thus differs from tests of preferred moral orientations and Kohlberg's own Stage measurement. As this best presents counter-arguments to be rated in regard to their moral quality, it is a difficult task for many, and the C score reflects the respondents' competence to cope with the task. Validation studies of 27 language versions and thirty years of use in research and evaluation studies have indicated the Moral Judgment Test is valid and useful for assessing affective and cognitive aspects of moral behavior for research and evaluation.