Exploring the Relationships Among Various Forms of Attention and Moral Judgment

• In Event: Poster Session 1
  In Poster Session: The Wide Range of Moral Development and Moral Education Research

Abstract

This study addresses how forms of attention relate to making a moral judgment and moral judgment development. Preliminary findings indicate that advances in sustained attention were related to decreased uncertainty in making moral judgments, advances in postconventional reasoning, and consolidated phases of moral judgment development. Also, attentional switching shared significant variance with postconventional reasoning. It is beyond the scope of this study to assert that attentional deficits are responsible for recently observed moral judgment developmental deficits nor is it possible to say that improving individual attention would translate to improved moral functioning. However, such possibilities should not be ruled out. Thus, incorporating attention into future studies can be of considerable benefit to the field of moral psychology.

Authors

• William Pitt Derryberry, Western Kentucky University

• Lauren I. Clark, Western Kentucky University

• David Baker, Western Kentucky University

• Lauren Weathers, Western Kentucky University

• Frederick G. Grieve, Western Kentucky University