Study of the effects of ethics education on moral judgment used in problem solving of adult business students

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: This quasi experimental study was conducted during the spring semester of 1991 to investigate the impact or an ethics instructional program on levels of moral judgment of adult business students. An ethics education program was administered to subjects in two experimental groups and two control groups for 15 minutes twice per week for 15 weeks. The Defining Issues Test (DIT) was used as a pre/posttest to measure growth in moral judgment. The DIT consisted of seven stories presenting controversial social issues to subjects who were asked to rate related issues used in solving ethical dilemmas. Pretest score data were analyzed by means of t-tests to identify any differences between control and treatment groups, gender differences and differences due to age groups. Data were analyzed by means of t-tests to determine significant changes between control and treatment groups, and between genders. The Analysis of Co-variance was used among age categories.

Findings and Conclusions: Based on data analysis it was found that the ethics instruction program made no significant change in the levels of moral judgment used in problem solving in the treatment groups as compared with the control groups. No significant pre and posttest differences in moral judgement was found between males and females; however, older participants had significantly higher pretest levels of moral judgment than did younger subjects. The Analysis of, Co-variance, did not indicate a significant change among any of the age groups. It was concluded that higher levels of advanced moral judgment are not likely to be programs and that previous which has found that women have lower levels of moral judgment should be viewed with caution. Recommendations for practice and further research are made.