Two studies were carried out to evaluate a model developed by Hogan (1973) which categorizes level of moral maturity by degrees of socialization and empathy. The model appeared to be useful for predictive and prescriptive guidance for education and psychology. The measures used for this purpose were: Gough's (Gough and Peterson, 1952) Socialization scale, Hogan's (1969) Empathy scale, Rest's (1974) Defining Issues Test (DIT), and, in a small subsample of the second study, Hogan's (Hogan and Dickstein, 1972) Measure of Moral Values (MMV).
Study one subjects (N = 186, grades 11, and 12) received a revised edition of the socialization and empathy scales. The specific hypotheses of the study were: (1) that empathy is a stronger predictor of moral judgement (DIT P scores) than is socialization, and (2) that there would be a significant increase in moral judgement scores from the low socialization-
low empathy category (delinquent), through high socialization-low empathy (moral realist), to low socialization-high empathy (le chic), and high socialization-high empathy (morally mature). The first hypothesis
was significantly upheld. The second hypothesis was not upheld to statistical significance, however. It was decided to replicate the study using the complete socialization and empathy scales in order to obtain a higher internal consistency reliability of these measures.
A higher reliability of the socialization and empathy scales was found in the second study (N = 66, grades 10, 11, and 12). Again the
first hypothesis was upheld while the second was not.
A subsample (n = 23, grades 11, and 12) was given the MMV in order to explore (1) whether the DIT P score and the MMV quantify the same factor, moral judgement, and (2) whether Hogan's model fits equally well with the DIT P score and the MMV. It was found that the DIT P scores and the MMV were essentially unrelated. Socialization was a stronger predictor of the DIT P score while empathy was a stronger predictor of the MMV results. While the DIT P score accounted for more variance of the socialization and empathy scales this was because of a negative correlation between socialization and DIT P scores, contrary to theoretical prediction.
The utility of Hogan's model for education and psychology was questioned since the breakdown of categories hypothesized by Hogan was not significantly evident in these studies.
Suggestions as to possible sources of problems in the studies, methods of correcting these problems, and future directions were made. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/21043 |
| Date | January 1978 |
| Creators | Adams, Douglas Ronald |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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