The Russian developmental psychologist Lev Vygotsky provides important theoretical underpinnings for an alternative to business ethics pedagogy. Although Vygotsky's constructivist approach has been applied to other disciplines, such as cognitive development, moral development, and network analysis and learning, its application to business ethics…

Undergraduate students showed an increase in moral reasoning (DIT) after a semester-long course covering topics of advertising ethics, completing a new advertising ethics training program (CEAE), and engaging in activities that allowed for reflection. Students placed more importance on postconventional stages of moral reasoning over personal…

Although some previous studies have investigated the relationship between moral foundations and moral judgment development, the methods used have not been able to fully explore the relationship. In the present study, we used Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) in order to address the limitations in traditional regression methods that have been used…

With university mission statements focused on preparing emerging adult students for globally inclusive professional careers, moral and leadership development has become a central focus of many colleges and universities (Bass, 1991; Binghamton University, 2016; Zimmerman-Oster & Burkhardt, 1999). Colleges and universities utilize interactions…

This mixed-methods study explored the moral growth of undergraduates in a recreation management internship experience. The quantitative phase reported moral judgement gains in Personal Interest and Post-conventional schema, and N-2 scores, as measured by the Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT-2), among 33 interns. The case-study method used a pattern…

Informal (and sometimes formal) assessments in higher education often ask students how their skills or attitudes have changed as the result of engaging in a particular course or program; however, it is unclear to what extent these self-reports are accurate. Using a longitudinal sample of over 3,000 college students, we found that students were…

The moral role of the teacher has long been recognised and this has implications for the selection and education of student teachers. There is growing recognition of the importance of teachers' capacity to make sound moral judgements and of the influence of teachers' levels of moral reasoning on their professional practice. The paper presents the…

This paper reports a longitudinal study of levels of moral reasoning in a convenience sample of Irish undergraduate university students, using the Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT2). The study was timely, as higher education institutions are becoming increasingly interested in the promotion of social capital and the development of the whole person. A…

What kinds of experiences, interventions, or programs within the college context appear to foster or enhance moral growth beyond what one would expect developmentally from any 18-22 year old student? This quasi-experimental study is directed toward the effects of a particular aspect of the college environment on the moral judgment development of a…

Purpose: The public expects school leaders to be moral exemplars, yet prior research indicates that teachers and, more recently, school principals may score lower than other career groups on a widely used measure of moral reasoning, the Defining Issues Test. Moreover, little empirical research has been conducted on educators during leadership…

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…

The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between care and justice reasoning, dispositional empathy variables and meta-ethical thinking among 128 students from a university of applied sciences. The measures were Skoe's Ethic of Care Interview, the Defining Issues Test, Davis's Interpersonal Reactivity Index and Meta-Ethical…

Male perpetrated sexual aggression has long been recognized as a serious problem on college campuses. The purpose of this multiple regression correlation study was to assess the relationship between levels of moral development (measured by the Defining Issues Test) and the degree to which first-year college men (N = 161) ascribed to rape…

Reports on a study of the effect of community service on 71 undergraduate students. Finds that community service work combined with discussion of relevant moral issues is an effective way of moving students into the postconventional stage of principled moral reasoning. Discusses other benefits of community service work. (CFR)

This paper discusses a cross-sectional study that assessed the moral development profiles of undergraduate pharmacy students (n=71) using Rest's Defining Issues Test. Analysis showed no significant difference in mean level of principled moral reasoning between first and fourth professional year undergraduate students. (GLR)