EFFECTS OF GENDER AND EDUCATION ON THE MORAL REASONING OF KUWAIT UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eissa M. Al-Ansari
Keyword(s):  
Moral Reasoning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
College Of Education ◽  
Defining Issues Test ◽  
Kuwait University ◽  
Percentage Score ◽  
Gender And Education ◽  
Cross Cultural Study ◽  
Stage 4

The moral reasoning of 189 undergraduate students from the College of Education, Kuwait University was studied, using the Defining Issues Test (DIT) by Rest (1990). The subjects ranged in age from 18 to 26 years (mean age =20.83). The results revealed that the sample reasoned predominantly at stage 4. Principled Morality Percentage Score (P%-score) was found to be below the norms reported in the literature for this group. There were no gender differences in moral reasoning. However, formal education did have a significant effect on moral judgment scores. In the light of this cross-cultural study as well as of other similar studies, a series of questions related to the understanding of moral development has been raised for further examination.

A CROSS-SECTIONAL EXAMINATION OF LEVELS OF MORAL REASONING IN A SAMPLE OF KUWAIT UNIVERSITY FACULTY MEMBERS

2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 813-820 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali J. Al-Shehab
Keyword(s):  
Moral Reasoning ◽  
Defining Issues Test ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Kuwait University ◽  
Cross Cultural Study ◽  
Published Research ◽  
Time Faculty ◽  
Made In

This cross-cultural study was conducted to examine the moral reasoning of a sample of full time faculty members at Kuwait University. Eighty-six participants completed Rest's Defining Issues Test (DIT) which measures percentage of principled moral reasoning indexed as P%-score. The analysis of the results showed that the obtained P-% score was lower than the norms reported in the published research on Western subjects. Overall, the stages were not significantly related to age or discipline of the participants. Discussions of the present findings were made in line with the recent research on moral development calling for a reorientation of the psychology of morality, which has been predominantly based on the cognitive developmental paradigm for a number of decades.

scholarly journals Moral Reasoning Of Business, Nursing And Liberal Arts Students

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
George P.W. Lan ◽  
Sharon McMahon ◽  
Norm King ◽  
Fritz Rieger
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Students ◽  
Moral Reasoning ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Business Students ◽  
Defining Issues Test ◽  
Font Size ◽  
Psychometric Instrument ◽  
Liberal Arts Students ◽  
Upper Level

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;" lang="EN-CA"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">This paper presents the results of an analysis of the level of moral reasoning across different majors and between undergraduate and graduate business students at a middle-sized Canadian university. The Defining Issues Test (DIT2), a recent version of the original DIT test, a well-known and widely tested psychometric instrument, is used to measure the level of moral reasoning. The results showed that beginning nursing students scored significantly lower on the DIT2 tests than the upper level liberal arts and business students and that older students scored significantly higher than younger students and that the main variable affecting the level of moral reasoning was the level of formal education of the participants. Even after allowing for the variance caused by age and by the major field of study of the respondents, the level of education by itself is a significant predictor of the P (Principled) score, an output of the DIT2, which is an indicator of the level of moral reasoning. On the other hand, the gender and political views of the respondents did not affect the DIT2 P-scores significantly.<strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></strong></span></span></p>

scholarly journals An Empirical Cross-Cultural Study of Moral Judgment Development in Mainland China

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 228-245
Author(s):  
Qian Zhang ◽  
Stephen J. Thoma
Keyword(s):  
Moral Judgment ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Defining Issues Test ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Personal Interest ◽  
Cross Cultural Study ◽  
Stage 4 ◽  
Developmental Index

The Chinese version of Rest’s Defining Issues Test II was administered to 113 subjects in Mainland China (n=113, average age=34.7). The scores on development of moral judgment were compared with those of the online mega sample of American participants from 2011 to 2014. Results are as followings: 1. Chinese participants show the same pattern with Americans by both sex and education. 2. Chinese participants show different pattern from Americans by religious orthodoxy and humanitarian. 3. Chinese participants score higher in meaningless items than Americans. 4. Chinese participants score higher in stage 3 while Americans score higher in stage 4. The authors draw the conclusions as follows: with Chinese participants, 1. There is a significant relationship between education and moral judgment developmental index scores. 2. There is also a significant relationship between sex and moral judgment developmental index scores. 3. There shows no significant relationship between religious orthodoxy and moral judgment developmental index scores. 4. It is more difficult for them to tell the meaningless items in DIT2. 5. Since Chinese culture thinks less of laws and norms, Chinese participants favour personal interest schema more than maintaining norms schema.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN EIGHTEEN ARAB COUNTRIES: A CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY

2005 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 503-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bader M. Alansari
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Study ◽  
Beck Depression Inventory ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Arab Countries ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Kuwait University ◽  
Cross Cultural Study ◽  
The Relationship

To gain more understanding of the relationship between anxiety and depression, the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale (KUAS; Abdel-Khalek, 2000) and the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II; Ghareek, 2000) were administrated to 9168 participants (4230 males and 4938 females) in 18 Arab countries, their ages ranging from 18–25 years. Findings indicate that depression is positively significantly correlated with anxiety (mdn= 0.66 p< 0.01). This finding may be because anxiety and depression are often found correlated positively with depression even in nonclinical samples. Findings are discussed in terms of previous research.

scholarly journals Validity study using factor analyses on the Defining Issues Test-2 in undergraduate populations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youn-Jeng Choi ◽  
Hyemin Han ◽  
Meghan Bankhead ◽  
Stephen J. Thoma
Keyword(s):  
Moral Reasoning ◽  
Moral Judgment ◽  
Internal Structure ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Weighted Least Squares ◽  
Defining Issues Test ◽  
Model Fit ◽  
Stage Model

Introduction The Defining Issues Test (DIT) aimed to measure one’s moral judgment development in terms of moral reasoning. The Neo-Kohlbergian approach, which is an elaboration of Kohlbergian theory, focuses on the continuous development of postconventional moral reasoning, which constitutes the theoretical basis of the DIT. However, very few studies have directly tested the internal structure of the DIT, which would indicate its construct validity. Objectives Using the DIT-2, a later revision of the DIT, we examined whether a bi-factor model or 3-factor CFA model showed a better model fit. The Neo-Kohlbergian theory of moral judgment development, which constitutes the theoretical basis for the DIT-2, proposes that moral judgment development occurs continuously and that it can be better explained with a soft-stage model. Given these assertions, we assumed that the bi-factor model, which considers the Schema-General Moral Judgment (SGMJ), might be more consistent with Neo-Kohlbergian theory. Methods We analyzed a large dataset collected from undergraduate students. We performed confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) via weighted least squares. A 3-factor CFA based on the DIT-2 manual and a bi-factor model were compared for model fit. The three factors in the 3-factor CFA were labeled as moral development schemas in Neo-Kohlbergian theory (i.e., personal interests, maintaining norms, and postconventional schemas). The bi-factor model included the SGMJ in addition to the three factors. Results In general, the bi-factor model showed a better model fit compared with the 3-factor CFA model although both models reported acceptable model fit indices. Conclusion We found that the DIT-2 scale is a valid measure of the internal structure of moral reasoning development using both CFA and bi-factor models. In addition, we conclude that the soft-stage model, posited by the Neo-Kohlbergian approach to moral judgment development, can be better supported with the bi-factor model that was tested in the present study.

Moral Reasoning Among Croatian Students of Different Academic Orientations

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 208
Author(s):  
Andrea Tokić ◽  
Matilda Nikolić
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Nursing Students ◽  
Social Studies ◽  
Moral Reasoning ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Law Students ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Social Sciences And Humanities ◽  
Humanities Students ◽  
Health Care Law

Previous studies demonstrated that different academic contexts could have different effects on moral development, i.e. in most cases formal education enhances moral reasoning, but sometime erodes it (for example for medical students). The aim of this study was to examine differences in moral reasoning among students of different academic disciplines (health care, law, social sciences and humanities). In research participated 386 students (Mage=23,12): 154 law students, 55 nursing students, 123 other social sciences students, a 53 humanities students. Participants took Test of Moral Reasoning (TMR) (Proroković, 2016) which measures index of moral reasoning (in range from 0 to 1), and idealistic orientations (humanistic and conservative). The results showed that there was no difference in the moral reasoning index among students of different academic orientations. Furthermore, students of different academic disciplines differed in the humanistic orientation in a way that students of social studies were more humanistically oriented than law students. Some of the possible explanations for the lack of differences with regard to academic orientations is that overall stimulating environment that college provides is perhaps more important for moral reasoning development than specific academic contexts. Findings of this study are consistent with the findings of some of the previous studies.

A Blueprint for Undergraduate Students to Work on Medical Cases (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alhad Mulkalwar
Keyword(s):  
Case Report ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Medical Literature ◽  
Medical Problem ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Medical Progress ◽  
Based Medicine ◽  
Publishable Case Report

UNSTRUCTURED A case report is a detailed narrative that describes the symptoms, signs, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of a medical problem of an individual patient. They usually describe an unusual or novel occurrence and although they lie at the bottom of the hierarchy of the Evidence Based Medicine Pyramid, they still remain one of the cornerstones of medical progress and provide key additions to the existing medical literature. Unfortunately, abysmally few physicians-in-training receive a formal education regarding what constitutes a publishable case report. The article throws light on this aspect of medical education

The Influence of Challenge Course Participation on Moral and Ethical Reasoning

2002 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 278-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol A. Smith ◽  
Sharon E. Strand ◽  
Camille J. Bunting
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
University Students ◽  
Moral Reasoning ◽  
Ethical Reasoning ◽  
Defining Issues Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Challenge Course ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Impact

This study investigated the impact of a 15-week outdoor experiential program on the moral reasoning of college students. One hundred and ninety-six university students volunteered to participate in this study, which utilized Rest's (1979) Defining Issues Test (DIT). The DIT investigates how individuals arrive at making decisions, and formulates a “P” (Principled moral reasoning) score for each subject. The groups were found to be homogeneous in moral reasoning at the pretest (outdoor experiential x = 36.07; control x = 33.08; F = 0.05). There was a statistically significant difference on the posttest scores of the outdoor experiential program participants (x = 40.98) in relation to the control group (x = 34.14) (F = 3.84). The results of this study demonstrated that the outdoor experiential program participants were significantly different from the control group at posttest. It is postulated that even though improved moral reasoning was not a stated objective, the outdoor experiential students, through front-loading, reflection, critical thinking, problem solving, and adherence to the full value contract, did enhance their level of moral reasoning. Through the combined modeling of behavior and discussion, changes in behavior can occur. The nature of outdoor experiential programs seems well suited to positively influence moral and ethical reasoning.

Collectivism in Moral Development

1997 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 967-975 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chang-Ho C. Ji
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Moral Development ◽  
Moral Reasoning ◽  
Defining Issues Test ◽  
T Test ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Asian People

This study investigated the relations among ethnicity, moral reasoning, and collectivism by administering the Defining Issues Test and the Individualism-Collectivism Scale to 165 Euro-American and Asian graduate students. To the data were applied analyses of variance, correlation, t test, and regression analyses. The analysis indicated that the Asian subjects had lower P scores on the Defining Issues Test so Kohlberg's model may not incorporate the concerns and experience of Asian people. The study also showed that scores on collectivism were not necessarily associated with low P scores.

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