Marriage continues to be one of the most important relationships to today's Americans (Fowers, 2000), generating numerous studies on the physical, emotional, mental and financial outcomes of marriage (Waite & Gallagher, 2000). Yet, little research has been done to explore the moral outcomes of marriage. Examining how marriage may contribute to individual spouses' moral development is compatible with recent studies on marital virtues that aim to provide a more complete as well as less individualistic view of marriage (Hawkins, Fowers, Carroll, & Yang, 2007). This study adopts a moral personality approach to examine marriage's role in adult moral development. Taking a moral personality approach when studying marriage's influence allows for a broader understanding of moral development that includes character virtues and identity constructs. In order to examine how marriage may exert such a moral influence, it is necessary to focus on aspects of marriage that are characteristically different from those of other relationships. Commitment is one aspect of marriage thought to set it apart as distinct from other relationships (Adams & Jones, 1997). This study examines how commitment may play a role in the moral development of individual spouses themselves. The purpose of the present study was to examine, using qualitative methods, how married individuals experience commitment and how that commitment may be associated with a greater motivation to be moral. Couples were interviewed on how they experience commitment in their marriages. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using grounded theory methods. Themes that emerged were organized into the following seven categories: (1) What marriage means; (2) What commitment in marriage means; (3) Examples of the influence of marriage; (4) Moral traits and the influence of spouses; (5) Themes relating to identity; (6) Commitment, challenges, and personal growth; and (7) Other influences on moral development. Themes are discussed in terms of their relation to past literature and how they might be integrated into a conceptual model. Implications for practitioners and suggestions for future research are given.

Educational Psychology / In the field of moral psychology, cognitive functioning has long been the main focus of studies. Many researchers have been interested in moral reasoning ability, its developmental paths, and the process of moral judgment or decision making. Relatively recently, some moral psychologists started questioning whether people who are not theorists, researchers, or educators in morality also put as much emphasis on the cognitive functions as the core of morality. According to the literature, laypeople found to include cognitive aspects as one component of morality, and they also emphasize moral characters and virtues as other elements. In addition, laypeople frequently consider characteristics of ‘a moral person’ when they are asked to think about morality. These findings have activated research on naturalistic conceptions of morality and moral exemplars. However, few studies have examined how laypeople from different cultures other than the United States and Canada conceptualize morality. The purpose of this study was to explore naturalistic conceptions of ‘a moral person’ and to develop a theoretical model of moral exemplars for Koreans based on the gathered conceptions. Twenty two Koreans participated in in-depth, semi-structured, open-ended interviews. A grounded theory approach was used to conduct interviews, analyze data, and achieve the research goals. Korean laypeople’s conceptions included behaviors, personality traits, and psychological functions of ‘a moral person’ for them. In those behaviors and personality traits, both interpersonal (e.g., helping others or caring) and intrapersonal (e.g., living with integrity or being principled) characteristics were found together. Koreans conceptualize a person as moral when he or she tends to behave morally as an outer revelation of inner morality, personality traits. Using psychological functions (e.g., perspective taking, being compassionate, or keeping social face) appeared to promote the emergence of a moral behavior or make the behavior extraordinary. Finally, Koreans found to think of a person as moral who does moral behaviors even in challenging situations, assuming that his or her moral personality traits are strongly associated with the behaviors. In addition, Koreans tend to more emphasize interpersonal (i.e., other-oriented or community-based) aspects of morality than intrapersonal (i.e., self-centered or individual-based) components. These findings were summarized that ‘a moral person’ for Koreans is a person who has ‘moral heart’ and lives ‘in harmony with others.’ / text

Partindo do pressuposto de que a educação formal deve se preocupar com a formação ética dos estudantes na mesma medida em que historicamente vem se preocupando com a instrução, este trabalho tem como objetivo estudar como mudanças na tradicional estrutura curricular podem favorecer a construção de valores desejáveis em nossa sociedade. Observando a Universidade de São Paulo - campus Leste como uma instituição que apresenta uma proposta acadêmica inovadora, voltada para a formação ética e científica dos estudantes, decidiu-se por focar essa pesquisa nessa nova experiência, observando, durante o ano de 2005 (ano de inauguração desse campus), as atividades de três turmas diferentes (com 12 estudantes cada) da disciplina Resolução de Problemas - principal eixo da estrutura curricular do Ciclo Básico (primeiro ano de todos os cursos ali oferecidos) da USP - Leste. As observações realizadas - para coleta dos dados - foram todas participantes, sendo a primeira delas participação moderada, a segunda participação ativa, e a terceira participação completa ou auto-observação. Para o registro dessas observações foram utilizadas duas técnicas: notas condensadas (nas três observações) e filmagens (apenas na segunda observação). Foram selecionados seis registros (dois da primeira observação, três da segunda e um da terceira) para a análise qualitativa dos dados. As principais referências utilizadas nessa pesquisa, tanto na análise dos dados quanto no quadro teórico, foram: Josep Maria Puig - conceituação de construção da personalidade moral e educação - e Ulisses Ferreira de Araújo - discussão sobre formação ética na educação formal e construção de valores. A partir dos resultados encontrados concluiu-se que a proposta acadêmica da Universidade de São Paulo - Leste, tal como está estruturada, favorece a construção de personalidades morais, uma vez que propicia o protagonismo dos estudantes, a experiência, a discussão e o enfrentamento de conflitos de natureza sociomoral e a clarificação de valores como o respeito, o diálogo, a solidariedade, a igualdade e a participação. Concluiu-se também que para a implantação de propostas como esta - voltada para a formação ética - é necessária uma mudança na cultura docente e discente, no que diz respeito às práticas e objetivos da educação. / Considering that formal education should involve the ethical formation of students as much as it has historically involved teaching, this essay is aimed at studying the way changes in the traditional curricular structure may favour the construction of desirable values in our society. By approaching the University of São Paulo - Eastern Campus as an institution with a brand-new academic proposal turned to to the ethical and scientific education of its students, the decision was to focus this research in this new experiment: during the year 2005 (the year this campus was opened) the activities of three different classes (each with 12 students) of the same subject (\"Problem Solving\") were analyzed. This subject is the main axis of the curricular structure of the Basical Cycle (first year of all courses) at USP-Eastern campus. The observation process - to collect data - always included participation: the first with moderate participation, the second with active participation and the third with complete participation or self-observation. Two techniques have been used to register these observations: condensed notes (in the three observations) and filming (only in the second observation). Six records have been selected (two from the first observation, three from the second and one from the third) for the quantitative analysis of the data. The main referrals employed in this research, both in the anaysis of data and in the theoretical approach, were: Josep Maria Puig - concepts of the construction of the moral personality and education - and Ulisses Ferreira de Araújo - discussion about ethical formation in formal education and construction of values. The results led to conclude that the academic proposal of the University of São Paulo - Estern Campus, as it has been structured, favours the construction of moral personalities, as it enables an active participation of the students, experiments, the discussion and the facing of social/moral conflicts and the clarification of values such as respect, dialogue, solidarity, equality and participation. Another conclusion has been achieved: as far as education´s practices and objectives are concerned, a change in the culture of students and teachers is necessary in order to put proposals like this (turned to ethical formation) into practice.

Partindo do pressuposto de que a educação formal deve se preocupar com a formação ética dos estudantes na mesma medida em que historicamente vem se preocupando com a instrução, este trabalho tem como objetivo estudar como mudanças na tradicional estrutura curricular podem favorecer a construção de valores desejáveis em nossa sociedade. Observando a Universidade de São Paulo - campus Leste como uma instituição que apresenta uma proposta acadêmica inovadora, voltada para a formação ética e científica dos estudantes, decidiu-se por focar essa pesquisa nessa nova experiência, observando, durante o ano de 2005 (ano de inauguração desse campus), as atividades de três turmas diferentes (com 12 estudantes cada) da disciplina Resolução de Problemas - principal eixo da estrutura curricular do Ciclo Básico (primeiro ano de todos os cursos ali oferecidos) da USP - Leste. As observações realizadas - para coleta dos dados - foram todas participantes, sendo a primeira delas participação moderada, a segunda participação ativa, e a terceira participação completa ou auto-observação. Para o registro dessas observações foram utilizadas duas técnicas: notas condensadas (nas três observações) e filmagens (apenas na segunda observação). Foram selecionados seis registros (dois da primeira observação, três da segunda e um da terceira) para a análise qualitativa dos dados. As principais referências utilizadas nessa pesquisa, tanto na análise dos dados quanto no quadro teórico, foram: Josep Maria Puig - conceituação de construção da personalidade moral e educação - e Ulisses Ferreira de Araújo - discussão sobre formação ética na educação formal e construção de valores. A partir dos resultados encontrados concluiu-se que a proposta acadêmica da Universidade de São Paulo - Leste, tal como está estruturada, favorece a construção de personalidades morais, uma vez que propicia o protagonismo dos estudantes, a experiência, a discussão e o enfrentamento de conflitos de natureza sociomoral e a clarificação de valores como o respeito, o diálogo, a solidariedade, a igualdade e a participação. Concluiu-se também que para a implantação de propostas como esta - voltada para a formação ética - é necessária uma mudança na cultura docente e discente, no que diz respeito às práticas e objetivos da educação. / Considering that formal education should involve the ethical formation of students as much as it has historically involved teaching, this essay is aimed at studying the way changes in the traditional curricular structure may favour the construction of desirable values in our society. By approaching the University of São Paulo - Eastern Campus as an institution with a brand-new academic proposal turned to to the ethical and scientific education of its students, the decision was to focus this research in this new experiment: during the year 2005 (the year this campus was opened) the activities of three different classes (each with 12 students) of the same subject (\"Problem Solving\") were analyzed. This subject is the main axis of the curricular structure of the Basical Cycle (first year of all courses) at USP-Eastern campus. The observation process - to collect data - always included participation: the first with moderate participation, the second with active participation and the third with complete participation or self-observation. Two techniques have been used to register these observations: condensed notes (in the three observations) and filming (only in the second observation). Six records have been selected (two from the first observation, three from the second and one from the third) for the quantitative analysis of the data. The main referrals employed in this research, both in the anaysis of data and in the theoretical approach, were: Josep Maria Puig - concepts of the construction of the moral personality and education - and Ulisses Ferreira de Araújo - discussion about ethical formation in formal education and construction of values. The results led to conclude that the academic proposal of the University of São Paulo - Estern Campus, as it has been structured, favours the construction of moral personalities, as it enables an active participation of the students, experiments, the discussion and the facing of social/moral conflicts and the clarification of values such as respect, dialogue, solidarity, equality and participation. Another conclusion has been achieved: as far as education´s practices and objectives are concerned, a change in the culture of students and teachers is necessary in order to put proposals like this (turned to ethical formation) into practice.