Stages of Moral Reasoning among University Students in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

The study examined the level of moral reasoning of first-year university students in Papua New Guinea; 583 students (245 males and 338 females) participated by answering one of the exercises or dilemmas (the Heinz case) formulated by Kohlberg. The analysis of data primarily focused on what the general level of moral reasoning of the students might be and whether there were differences in their levels of moral reasoning on the basis of gender, culture and religious affiliation. The study showed that around 50 per cent of both male and female students came within the first level, but in the second stage of moral reasoning. Around 25 per cent of both genders came under the stage 4, that is, the law and order stage. A t-test comparison revealed no significant difference between the genders in their moral reasoning. The ‘faculty’ that the students belonged to is the only variable that indicated a statistically significant effect F(8, 332) = 2.159, p = 0.030, est η2 = 0.014923 on the level of moral reasoning. All other variables such as age, religion and the province (culture) that the students came from did not show a significant effect. Two new dimensions, ‘reference to God’ and the ‘need for negotiation’, in moral reasoning emerged from the study.