An Exploratory Study of Adolescent Moral Identity and its Relations to Social Justice Awareness

• Main Author: Taylor, Jessica Ashley
• Other Authors: Arnold, Mary Louise
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: adolescent; moral identity; social justice; 0620
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/35573

The present mixed-methods study examined adolescents’ moral identity development and its relation to their awareness of problems of social justice. Fifty-eight inner-city adolescents in Grades 9 and 12 ranked personal values according to their self-relevance or importance and a sub-sample also provided responses to interview questions that were coded qualitatively for maturity of moral identity. A written questionnaire assessed the adolescents’ awareness of issues of racism, sexism, and classism. It was found that adolescents held moral values at significantly higher levels of importance than non-moral values, with no differences between grades. However, trends suggested that females placed somewhat greater emphasis on moral values in terms of centrality or importance to the self and also expressed slightly more mature explanatory responses than males. Adolescents’ moral identity and social justice awareness were not correlated. These findings highlight the need to foster the development of morally motivated, socially aware individuals.