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AN INVESTIGATION OF THE MORAL JUDGMENT OF YOUTH AND ADULTS

MARVIN MARTIN BERGMAN, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the moral judgment of five age groups, junior high youth, senior high youth, young adults, middle-age adults, and older persons. Particular attention was given to describing developmental trends in the moral judgment of youth and adults. A study of the relationships between moral judgment and seven variables, gender, years of schooling, intelligence test scores, memberships in community and school groups, socioeconomic status index, church membership, and voting precinct, was conducted. Data for the study were collected through an information sheet, the Defining the Issues Test, which assessed the amount of principled thinking, and the Quick Word Test, a measure of intelligence. The sample consisted of a random selection of 64 youth, ages 13-18 years, and 92 adults, ages 19-79 years. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used in the statistical analysis of the sample data. Tests for significance were the F test, Pearson product-moment correlation, Spearman's rho, t-test, and coefficient of multiple correlation. The major findings were: (1) There were significant differences in the moral judgment scores of some age groups, with scores reflecting an upward and downward trend. (2) The correlations of moral judgment scores and years of formal schooling, intelligence test scores, memberships in school and community groups, and socioeconomic status index were statistically significant. (3) There were no significant differences in the moral judgment scores of the two sexes, residents of two voting precincts, and members of eight church groups. (4) The most powerful predictors of moral judgment scores identified in the literature, years in school, age, and intelligence test scores, accounted only for 25 percent of the total variance of the sample. (5) The data only allowed for speculation as to factors that may be related to the lower moral judgment scores of older persons.

Subject Area

Adult education|Continuing education

Recommended Citation

BERGMAN, MARVIN MARTIN, "AN INVESTIGATION OF THE MORAL JUDGMENT OF YOUTH AND ADULTS" (1983). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8404821.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8404821

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