We developed and tested a behavioral version of the Defining Issues Test-1 revised (DIT-1r), which is a measure of the development of moral judgment. We conducted a behavioral experiment using the behavioral Defining Issues Test (bDIT) to examine the relationship between participants' moral developmental status, moral competence, and reaction time…

Drawing conclusions from the literature regarding the moral development of people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) is difficult because of the use of unstandardised and idiosyncratic measures. In order to address this short-coming, a moral reasoning production measure (the Socio-Moral Reflection Measure-Short Form; SRM-SF) and a recognition…

Reviews Kohlberg's research on moral development and criticizes standard issue scoring, a measure of individual developmental stages of moral judgment. Discusses problems with the Moral Judgment Interview's content and scoring, suggesting longitudinal, comparative, and gender-related research needed to resolve problems of validity and reliability.…

A 20-year study to monitor moral developmental stages is summarized with a focus on the invariant sequence and internal consistency of each stage. It is theorized that an individual passes through several stages in attaining moral judgment. As children grow older, they are able to integrate diverse points of view on a moral conflict. Each stage…

Results of factor and correlational analyses of the Ethical Behavior Rating Scale (EBRS) are reported. The test-retest method and internal consistency estimates yielded reliability coefficients. Construct validity was determined by correlating the EBRS with items from the Ethical Reasoning Inventory. The EBRS reflects the behavioral aspects of…

A 20-year study to verify Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development through a new research design, the Standard Issue Scoring System, is reported. Kohlberg theorizes that an individual progresses through several stages in attaining moral judgment. As children grow older, they are able to integrate diverse points of view on a moral conflict.…

Kohlberg's Moral Judgment Scale, Gilligan, et al.'s Sexual Moral Judgment Scale, Maitland and Goldman's Objective Moral Judgment Scale, and Hogan's Maturity of Moral Judgment Scale were examined for reliability and inter-scale relationships. All measures except the Objective Moral Judgment Scale had good reliabilities. The obtained relations…

A study of the sanctions which control moral conduct was carried out on a sample of 40 primary and secondary schoolchildren. A test of ten moral dilemmas was constructed and used. The most interesting finding was the importance of self-concept as a regulating factor in moral judgment. (Editor)

Empirically weighted scores for Rest's Defining Issues Test were found to be more reliable than the simple sum of scores theoretically weighted sum, or Rest's p scores. They also had slightly higher correlations with Kohlberg's interview scores. Empirically weighted scores also showed more significant change in two longitudinal studies. (CTM)

The reliability and construct validity of the Kohlberg Moral Judgment Scale, the Gilligan et al's Sexual Moral Development Scale, Maitland and Goldman's Objective Moral Development Scale, and Hogan's Maturity of Moral Judgment Scale were compared for a sample of male and female graduate students. (EVH)

Three studies investigating the psychometric and conceptual properties of the self-report Survey of Ethical Attitudes inventory indicated that the scale is clearly susceptible to response dissimulation through role playing and impression management and is also confounded with sources of stylistic variance in the form of social desirability.…

The large majority of students in the Kohlbergian tradition have focused on stages of moral judgment development, on moral reasoning, and on research comparing the influence of standard variables such as age, education, and gender on moral reasoning skills. After briefly comparing the four most frequently employed moral judgment tests developed…

Sullivan's Ethical Reasoning Scale contains three dilemmas with response pairs representing Kohlberg's stages of moral development. In Kohlberg's first three stages, goodness is equated with lack of punishment, usefulness, and approval, respectively. Good is seen as conformity to rule and ruler in stage four, and stage five comprises…

A published rater manual used by sixty elementary school teachers to assess moral thought statements was found ineffective. The study also examined what factors were related to their assessing ability. The subjects took a pretest using only descriptions of the six moral stages originally researched by Lawrence Kohlberg. Next the teachers were…

Six papers, originally presented in different form at the 1977 Convention of the Society for Research in Child Development, highlight approximately 100 studies that have used the Defining Issues Test (DIT) of moral judgment. The DIT's standardized format and objective scoring makes comparisons possible among studies, and this body of research…