A Longitudinal Study of Moral Reasoning (original) (raw)
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Moral reasoning and behaviour in adulthood
This study aimed at assessing whether and to what extent moral judgment and behaviour were: 1. situation-dependent; 2. selectively dependent on cognitive and affective components; 3. influenced by gender and age; 4. reciprocally congruent. In order to achieve these aims, four different types of moral dilemmas were construed and five types of thinking were presented for each of them -representing five possible ways to evaluate the situation. The judgment criteria included selfishness, altruism, sense of justice, and the conflict between selfishness and the two moral issues. The participants were 250 unpaid volunteers (50% male; 50% female) belonging to two age-groups: young people and adults. The study entailed a 2 (gender) x 2 (age-group) x 5 (type of thinking) x 4 (situation) mixed design: the first two variables were betweensubjects, the others were within-subjects. Results have shown that: 1. moral judgment and behaviour are at least partially affected by the type of situations and by interpersonal variables such as gender and age; 2. moral reasoning depends in a similar manner on cognitive and affective factors; 3. there is not a gender polarity between the ethic of justice and the ethic of cure/ altruism; 4. moral reasoning and behavior are perceived as reciprocally congruent even though their congruence decreases with a more objective assessment. Such results were discussed in the light of contrasting theories on morality.
Sources of variation in moral judgment: Toward a model of real-life morality
Journal of Adult Development, 1997
To evaluate the extent to which the models of moral judgment advanced by Kohlberg (1984) and by Gilligan (1982, 1988) are able to account for real-life moral judgment, we investigated the relation of sex and type of moral dilemma to moral stage and moral orientation. Eighty young adult men and women made moral judgments about two hypothetical Kohlberg dilemmas, two real-life antisocial dilemmas, and two real-life prosocial dilemmas. We failed to find any sex differences in moral judgment. Moral stage and moral orientation varied across the three types of dilemma. Kohlberg's dilemmas pulled for justice-oriented Stage 4 moral judgments, real-life prosocial dilemmas pulled for care-oriented Stage 3 moral judgments, and real-life antisocial dilemmas pulled for justice-oriented Stage 2 moral judgments. The content of moral judgments was related to their structure. There was a positive relation between stage of moral judgment on Kohlberg dilemmas and on real-life dilemmas. The implications of these findings for a new, more interactional, model of real-life moral judgment are discussed.
A Comparison of Four Measures of Moral Reasoning
1976
Kohlberg's Moral JUdgment Scale, Gilligan, et al.'s Sexual Moral Judgment Scale, Maitland and Goldman's Objeictive Moral Judgment Scale, and Hogan's Maturity of Motal Judgment Scale were examined for reliability and inter7scale relationshiptil measures except the Objective Moral Judgment Scale had goodsrelia lities. The obtained relations between the Moral Judgment Scale and the-Sexual Mbral Judgment Scale replicated previous research. The Objective Moral Judgment Scale was not found to validly assess the Kohlberg stages. The maturity of Moral Judgment Scale scores Were strongly related to the subjects' classification on the Kohlberg stages, and thescale appears to offer a reliable, quickly scofed, and valid index of mature moral thought, although the scale's continuous scores do not permit clear stage classification. (Author)
Stage Structure of Moral Development: A Comparison of Alternative Models
This study evaluated the stage structure of several quasi-simplex and non-simplex models of moral development in two domains of moral development in a British and a Chinese sample. Analyses were based on data reported by Sachs (1992): the Chinese sample consisted of 1,005 students from grade 9 to post-college, and the British sample consisted of 60 students in grades 9-12 and adults. Subjects completed the Moral Development Test, which assesses affective (moral orientation) and cognitive (moral judgment) aspects of moral development. The alternative simplex models evaluated in the present study involved minor reversals, moderate reversals or serious reversals of stages. Ten non-simplex models considering alternate paths of development were also evaluated. The models were evaluated using goodness of fit with the Tucker Lewis Index and the Relative Noncentrality Index and the extent to which the model converged to solutions with reasonable parameter estimates. A strong alternative model would be one that was applicable to both moral orientation and moral judgment and to both cultural groups. The fit indexes and the parameter estimates revealed no strong competitor for the theoretical model. (Contains 34 references.) (KDFB)
Sex Differences in Adult Moral Orientations
Journal of Personality, 1988
hypotheses regarding sex differences m moral reasoning onentation were investigated m two samples of adults In Study 1, adults ages 18 to 75 were interviewed about both hypothetical and personal moral dilemmas Women were more likely than men overall to show Gilligan's care onentation as expected, particularly m personal reasoning However, these sex differences were not as pervasive as Gilhgan argues, and were influenced by subject age, subject stage level on Kohlberg's measure of moral reasoning, and the type of real-life dilemma content recalled by subjects for discussion Study 2 focused on the role of adult parental status as mediator of personal moral onentation differences in mid-life Consistent with the theonzing of Gutmann (1985), adult parents were shown to be sex-role differentiated in both selfconcept and moral onentation, whereas mamed nonparents were not Furthermore, sex differences m reasoning onentations were again found to be linked to differences m the dilemma content presented by men and women These studies The authors thank Tom Barrett, Sheree Bradford, Frances Flmn, Chnsta Webster, and Garth Wickens for their help with data collection and analysis, the participants of these studies for their thoughtful reflection and cooperation, and Dan Me Adams and several anonymous reviewers for their advice and comments
Generational Differences in Moral Processing Styles
2021
Moral decision-making is a core feature of human life. We explored whether generational differences exist in the preference for two types of moral processing styles (the ways in which we integrate moral information and decide to take action): moral reasoning and moral intuition. We analyzed preferences for moral processing styles by using a modified version of the Rational-Experiental Inventory (REI) scale, which was broken down into the Faith in Moral Intuition and Need For Moral Cognition subscales. Preferences for moral intuition and moral reasoning were measured by averaging Faith in Moral Intuition scores and Need for Moral Cognition scores from 120 Generation Z (born after 1996) and 50 Generation X (born between 1965 1980) participants. A mediation analysis was also conducted to see if social media usage would explain the expected differences between generations. Gen Z participants scored lower than Gen X participants on Need For Moral Cognition, but no differences emerged on ...
Measuring Moral Progress – Empirical evidence for a theory of moral reasoning
2004
The paper provides an in-depth analysis of two subjects from a longitudinal study who underwent successive and significant developmental changes. Their developmental patterns, however, fail to be addressed appropriately by the Kohlberg theory. By contrast, the observed course of development can be neatly accommodated by an alternative theory of moral stages. What’s more, apart from merely matching with the observed data, this theory also explains why the subjects developed the way they did, since it reveals the inherent cognitive conflicts at each stage and how these are resolved at the following one. Although the theory stands against the Kohlberg theory as such, it is capable of absorbing the latter and can thus be taken as a further development of it, in the sense that Kohlbergian stages are differentiated, supplemented and theoretically substantiated within the new framework.
Gender Differences in Moral Development
Sixty-nine Midwestern middle-class children and adolescents were tested on justice and care orientations when reasoning abstract and interpersonal moral dilemmas. Nona Lyons" ("Two Perspectives on Self, Relationships and Morality," Harvard Educational Review, 1983, 53,125-145) scoring method was used to score subjects" responses. A 2(sex) × 2(age) analysis of variance run on the total justice and care scores, as well as each individual dilemma, supported Carol Gilligan's (In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development, Cambridge, MA" Harvard University Press, 1982) theory that two distinct ways of thinking about moral problems exist-justice and care-and are differentially related to gender. Girls emphasized the morality of care significantly more than justice. Contrary to and , however, boys in both age groups emphasized the morality o f justice and care equally. Data from the interpersonal dilemmas using L yons 's (1983) coding scheme are consistent with J. Piaget (The Moral Judgement of the Child, New York: Free Press, 1966) and Lawrence Kohlberg ['The Cognitive-Developmental Approach, " in D. A. Goslin (Ed.), Handbook of Socialization Theory and Research, Chicago: Rand McNally, 1969]: older subjects became more justice oriented and younger subjects emphasized the morality of care. Sex differences on Kohlberg's stage theory were not significant and the protagonist's gender in the Heinz dilemma had no effect on moral reasoning.
Moral Development Across Lifespan: An Inquiry into Early Beginnings and Later Variations
JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE, 2021
Moral development has its roots early in life. Children are found to be born with a primary sense of right and wrong. As they grow and socialize, the experiences train their understanding of expectations, the reward, and punitive outcomes to them and others via their intentions and actions. Several researchers have investigated the onset and emergence of morality during the early years. Theorists vary in their perspectives: those who examine morality range in their explanations from infants being born with no moral sense (social learning and behaviorist theories), to those who believe humans are self-oriented, to those who believe that human reasoning abilities separate us from the rest of creation (cognitive development theories), and finally, to those who believe that humans beings are born with potentialities for moral actions. The current article examines the past literature on morality and its bidirectional influence on childhood and adolescent experiences and behaviors.
Cognitive Development, 2007
Kohlberg's characterization of moral development as displaying an invariant hierarchical order of structurally consistent stages is losing ground. However, by applying Rasch analysis, Dawson recently gave new interpretation and support to his characterization of stage development. Using Rasch models, we replicated and strengthened her findings in a re-analysis of three sets of longitudinal socio-moral reasoning data collected in Iceland. A new application of Rasch analysis provided support for upward development. Our results supported Kohlberg's characterization of stage development and the cross-cultural stability of Dawson's findings that were exclusively based on US samples. We conclude that proposals to replace Kohlberg's characterization of moral development are premature.