The notion that self-identity and morality are deeply implicated has long-standing roots in both ethical theory and psychology. In ethical theory it is evident in Harry Frankfurt’s [1971] account of what it means to be a person: A person (as opposed to a wanton ) is someone who cares about morality. A person cares about the desirability of one’s desires (second-order desires) and then wishes to will them all the way to action (second-order volitions). Similarly, Charles Taylor [1989] argued that identity is defined by reference to things that have significance for us. It is the result of strong evaluation about what is worthy or unworthy, and these discriminations are made against a horizon of significance that frames and constitutes who we are as persons. He writes, “My identity is defined by the commitments and identifications which provide the frame or horizon within which I can try to determine from case to case what is good or valuable, or what ought to be done or what I endorse or oppose” [Taylor, 1989, p. 27]. The affinity of selfhood and morality is a theme in several psychological traditions as well. Erikson [1968, p. 39] argued, for example, that an ethical capacity is the “true criterion of identity,” but he also noted that “identity and fidelity are necessary for ethical strength” [Erikson, 1964, p. 126]. This suggests that moral identity is the clear goal of both moral and identity development and that in the moral person the two developmental tracks are ideally conjoined. Similarly, Damon and Hart [1982] showed that, within each domain of the “Me Self” (physical, active, social, psychological), the highest level of self-understanding implicates a moral point of view. This suggests that the moral self is the clear outcome of self-development [Lapsley, 2005]. Indeed, recent research has shown that morality is considered indispensable to selfhood; it is the moral self that is essential to our identity, more than personality traits,

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Moral Identity and Developmental Theory

Inevitably, reading is one of the requirements to be undergone. To improve the performance and quality, someone needs to have something new every day. It will suggest you to have more inspirations, then. However, the needs of inspirations will make you searching for some sources. Even from the other people experience, internet, and many books. Books and internet are the recommended media to help you improving your quality and performance.

/pdf/medicine-rationality-and-experience-an-anthropological-jqdxht1k2e.pdf

Medicine, rationality, and experience: an anthropological perspective.

Culture in Mind: Cognition, Culture, and the Problem of Meaning. Bradd Shore. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. 428 pp.

Culture in Mind: Cognition, Culture, and the Problem of Meaning

This meta-analysis examined the relationship between moral identity and moral behavior. It was based on 111 studies from a broad range of academic fields including business, developmental psycholog...

Does Moral Identity Effectively Predict Moral Behavior?: A Meta-Analysis:

Origins and Development of Morality



Morality is a central aspect of social life and has been at the core of psychological theories for more than a century. The scientific study of morality poses enduring questions about how individual psychological needs for autonomy and attachment to groups and society can be met while also ensuring the integrity, dignity, and fair treatment of others. Drawing on philosophy, biology, anthropology, and sociology, developmental scientists have addressed these questions by studying the origins and acquisition of morality as well as the sources and nature of change. We provide a brief review of the theories that provided the foundation for research over the past half-century and then reflect on the controversies and misconceptions that still exist. We review current psychological research on the developmental roots of morality, morality and mental state knowledge, and moral judgments and reasoning. We also examine the various contexts, ranging from the family and peer groups to society, in which moral development occurs. The rich and growing literature on children's moral judgments has demonstrated that children's concepts of harm, resource allocation, fair and equal treatment of others, social inequities, and rights each develop from a very focused and narrow form in early childhood to their application to broader situational and cultural contexts. As they grow older, children become able to weigh and coordinate competing concerns in different contexts as they apply their moral judgments and emotions to social situations. We conclude with implications and directions for research. Throughout the chapter, we demonstrate how the study of morality has shed light on fundamental topics in developmental science, contributed novel methods, and discovered new knowledge about child development.


Keywords:

equality;
discrimination;
fairness;
family relationships;
intergroup attitudes;
justice;
moral emotions;
moral judgments;
moral neuroscience;
morality;
peer interactions;
prejudice;
rights;
theory of mind

Origins and Development of Morality

The purposes of this study were to conceptualize moral identity as moral ideal self, to develop a measure of this construct, to test for age and gender differences, to examine links between moral ideal self and adolescent outcomes, and to assess purpose and social responsibility as mediators of the relations between moral ideal self and outcomes. Data came from a local school sample (Data Set 1: N = 510 adolescents; 10-18 years of age) and a national online sample (Data Set 2: N = 383 adolescents; 15-18 years of age) of adolescents and their parents. All outcome measures were parent-report (Data Set 1: altruism, moral personality, aggression, and cheating; Data Set 2: environmentalism, school engagement, internalizing, and externalizing), whereas other variables were adolescent-report. The 20-item Moral Ideal Self Scale showed good reliability, factor structure, and validity. Structural equation models demonstrated that, even after accounting for moral identity internalization, in Data Set 1 moral ideal self positively predicted altruism and moral personality and negatively predicted aggression, whereas in Data Set 2 moral ideal self positively predicted environmentalism and negatively predicted internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Further, purpose and social responsibility mediated most relations between moral ideal self and the outcomes in Data Set 2. Moral ideal self was unrelated to age but differentially predicted some outcomes across age. Girls had higher levels of moral ideal self than boys, although moral identity did not differentially predict outcomes between genders. Thus, moral ideal self is a salient element of moral identity and may play a role in morally relevant adolescent outcomes.

https://psycnet.apa.org/journals/dev/50/1/45.pdf

Moral Identity as Moral Ideal Self: Links to Adolescent Outcomes.

In this article we seek to develop a common theoretical language and stake out particular positions on key issues in the growing debates about the anthropological study of morality. First, we advoc...

New directions in the anthropology of morality

In this article I seek to elucidate the theoretical relationship between the concepts of morality and personhood. I argue that cultural models of personhood are more concretely available to the ima...

Ancestral personhood and moral justification

Because of the emphasis within the Hmong folk health system on spirituality and nonphysiological etiologies, there has been a significant degree of conflict between Hmong refugees and the Western health care system since the beginning of the Hmong migration to the United States in the mid-1970s This conflict has been well documented in the literature, but previous research on Hmong health has tended toward a totalization of Hmong health beliefs to emphasize its distinctness from Western biomedicine and subsequently advocate culturally sensitive health care In doing so, however, researchers have overlooked the burgeoning syncretism of health beliefs among Hmong in the United States The present study seeks to explain how and why the Hmong health system in Alaska is developing into a syncretism of the folk beliefs and elements from the Western biomedical paradigm This syncretism has lead to an intricate system of combined physical and spiritual diagnoses that significantly affects the way health care decisions are made within the Hmong community Alaskan Hmong use contextual factors (regularity, longevity, and spiritual manifestations) as well as the course of traditional and biomedical treatments to assign and reassign spiritual or biomedical root causes to ailments As this argument unfolds, I also address the use of “syncretism” as a theoretical construct and ultimately argue that it is the most useful concept for understanding changing health beliefs among the Hmong in Alaska, despite the pejorative historical use of the term Understanding health seeking behaviors through a syncretic paradigm, health care professionals and anthropologists can better account for the multifaceted treatment paradigms that Hmong seek as well as account for changes between traditional and biomedical treatment regimes

Jacob R. Hickman

Papers

Moral Identity as Moral Ideal Self: Links to Adolescent Outcomes.

New directions in the anthropology of morality

Ancestral personhood and moral justification

“Is It The Spirit or The Body?”: Syncretism of Health Beliefs Among Hmong Immigrants to Alaska

The dynamics of ethical co-occurrence in Hmong and American evangelical families: new directions for Three Ethics research