Virtuous character development in children is correlated with parenting behavior, but the role of genetic influences in this association has not been examined. Using a longitudinal twin/sibling study (N = 720; Time 1 (T1) M[subscript age] = 12-14 years, Time 3 (T3) M[subscript age] = 25-27 years), the current report examines associations among…

The aim of this study is to determine the perceptions of primary school teachers about character education. In this descriptive study, data were collected by using a survey questionnaire which required descriptive analysis. Based on the findings, it was revealed that primary school teachers (n = 60) defined the character education as moral values…

Globalization process went very quickly and move brings tremendous impact and implications for life, including educational institutions. Objectively, students in public schools and private are increasingly far deviated from the values of religious and moral values, the brawl between students, pornography and pornographic, played by students, abuse…

Two studies examined children's inferences of personality for actors engaging in different domains of behavior. In both studies, first, fourth, and seventh graders were given two descriptions of actors engaging in either moral or conventional transgressions. Findings indicated that children's concepts of persons were inferred from information…

This paper addresses the pros and cons educators may encounter if they are involved in a character education program. Those supporting a character education program offer the following reasons: (1) decline of a traditional family structure; (2) erosion of the values system of key institutions; (3) the position of schools as the second most…

This study investigates the parent-child relationship antecedents of a multidimensional model of moral character among late adolescents. The model posits that the configuration of five character dimensions explains the moral behavior displayed by an individual. The dimensions are moral knowledge, socialization, empathy, autonomy and ethical…

Finds that eighth grade students in Facing History and Ourselves classrooms show increases in relationship maturity and decreases in racist attitudes and self-reported fighting behavior relative to comparison students. Reports that the gains made by Facing History students in moral reasoning and in civic attitudes and participation were not…

Children in five second grade classrooms were exposed to an educational intervention designed to facilitate their moral development. Compared to a control group, they showed statistically significant growth in the following variables: role taking, intentionality, positive justice, punishment and donating behavior. Correlational analyses revealed…

This paper reports on a study to investigate measurement of moral reasoning with respect to age. Additional potential influencing factors, including ethnicity, gender, and influence of early environmental factors, also have been included for analysis in this study. Twenty-seven nontraditional students participating in a new student orientation…

Although psychologists often disagree over the definition, underlying process, and methodology associated with the study of moral development, they agree that differences disappear among individuals possessing a similar type of reasoning. To study individual personality differences among people identified as moral by the theories of Kohlberg,…

The relation of moral reasoning to moral behavior has been the subject of a substantial number of empirical studies; it may be more productive to employ a configuration of characteristics to predict moral behavior. To investigate the relation of moral reasoning and personality variables to moral behavior, 74 undergraduates, 30 males and 44…

Found peer-counseling training for Black students in a predominantly White university to be significant in furthering psychological growth. There was movement in the areas of moral reasoning and ego development as measured by the Defining Issues Test and the Sentence Completion Test. Advocates providing programs aimed at improving psychological…

Reports on experiments that examined the extent to which children's moral orientation is affected by the gender of characters experiencing a dilemma in children's literature. Children often responded to the character's dilemma by expressing a concern for others (care orientation) or focusing on issues of rights and justice (rights orientation).…

Investigated how children's decisions about allocating money to story characters were affected by the relationship (friends versus strangers) among the characters. Children's rationales for their decisions showed that equality was the most salient principle for decisions at all ages and that older children provided rationales based on benevolence…

The author offers interview data from female and male children, adolescents, and adults in support of the notion of having two distinct modes of describing the self in relation to others--separate/objective and connected--as well as two kinds of considerations used by individuals in making moral decisions--justice and care. (Author/SSH)