Assessed the moral judgments of 543 subjects, ages 9 to 81 years, to evaluate Gilligan's (1982; Brown, Tappan, and Gilligan 1995) claims that Kohlberg's moral judgment stage is biased against females. Found no support for Gilligan's claim of stage bias, but some support for claim of gender-related moral-oriented differences. (HTH)

The Defining Issues Test (DIT) of moral judgment, a stage preference approach, is compared with the Moral Judgment Test (MJT) widely used in Europe. The MJT is a stage consistency test. Construct validity is defined in terms of seven types of studies, which support use of the stage preference approach. (SLD)

A recognition measure of Kohlbergian moral reasoning, developed on the basis of a production measure, was psychometrically evaluated. Results showed that the Sociomoral Reflection Objective Measure has acceptable concurrent validity and high levels of test-retest reliability and internal consistency. (Author/CI)

Examined internal consistency, construct validity, and content validity of the Ethical Judgment Scale using 61 counseling graduate students. Findings indicated need for a revision of the instrument. (Author/ABL)

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…

Investigated the relationship between identity and moral reasoning in high school and college students. Scores on a new measure of moral reasoning, the Ethic of Care Interview (ECI), were found to be significantly related to age, ego identity, and scores on Kohlberg's Moral Judgment Interview. The relationship between identity and ECI scores was…

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.…

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…

The methodology for validating assessment techniques in a performance-based liberal arts curriculum was studied at Alverno College. Two generic instruments for assessing the competencies of "communications" and "valuing" were employed. A generic instrument is defined as one that assesses a competence level across content areas…

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…