The purpose of this quantitative ex post facto study was to examine if there is a significant difference in mean moral judgment levels of first year undergraduate students after participating in a character development program at a non-traditional program in a university in the southwestern United States. This study included new non-traditional…

The Defining Issues Test (DIT) has been the dominant measure of moral development. The DIT has its roots in Kohlberg's original stage theory of moral judgment development and asks respondents to rank a set of stage typed statements in order of importance on six stories. However, the question to what extent the DIT-data match the underlying stage…

This paper considers two studies that address negative affective states and moral reasoning while taking the Defining Issues Tests (DIT, DIT2). Both studies confirmed earlier findings that the DIT dilemma, 'Heinz and the Drug,' and the DIT2 dilemma, 'Famine,' are related to increased anger and sadness and decreased moral reasoning. Similar…

Research indicates that approximately 70% of college students engage in some form of cheating (Austin, Simpson, & Reynen, 2005; Bowers, 1964; Leming; 1978; McCabe & Trevino, 1993, 1996; McCabe, Trevino, & Butterfield, 2001a). College students overwhelmingly agree that cheating is morally wrong; yet, their actions are not reflective of…