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…

The Defining Issues Test (DIT) has been subjected to construct validation in a number of studies relating it to the development of moral judgment and to measures of cognitive development and political attitudes. The DIT has been found to have significant positive correlations with the Comprehension of Social-Moral Concepts Test for a variety of…

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.…

The Moral and Social Action Interdisciplinary Colloquium (MOSAIC) is an international multidisciplinary network of scholars working within the fields of the philosophy, psychology and sociology of moral development, moral education and moral thought. MOSAIC runs an annual conference, traditionally in June or July. This conference attracts an…

This paper reviews 20 cross-cultural studies conducted with the Defining Issues Test (DIT). All or part of the samples in the studies were non-Americans who had not been a part of the populations presented in the DIT manual. The studies were aimed at the comparison of moral reasoning structure and development across cultures. Several aspects of…

This study explored the relationship between moral reasoning and moral behavior in 31 average adults. Subjects were placed in a situation demanding low-key moral conflict. The study examined subjects' decisions and the relationship between their moral reasoning (revealed by verbal responses to Kohlberg's hypothetical dilemmas) and their behavior.…

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)

A scheme was developed for discovering what "moral" means among a given group so that moral incidents used to investigate their moral development would conform to their own meaning. Based on this scheme, an instrument was developed and field-tested with Haitian and U.S. American respondents. (BW)