This study investigated the cross-cultural generality of Kohlberg’s stages of moral development in India. A sample of 112 males and females between 11 and 50-plus years was drawn from an urban middle- and upper-middle-class population and interviewed individually on Kohlberg’s dilemmas. A two-way analysis of variance performed on the moral maturity scores indicates a significant effect of age (p < 0.001) but a nonsignificant effect of sex. A qualitative analysis of postconventional reasoning among Indian adults revealed two themes: (a) the adaptation of principles to real-life dilemmas; and (b) the integration of indigenous moral and philosophical values in principled thought. These findings support the cross-cultural generality of Kohlberg’s model of moral development; they also raise cross-cultural issues in morality which cannot be assimilated in an overly formalized theory of moral reasoning.
Holding mental ability and certain social status variables constant, a sample of bright adolescent boys from a suburban high school was divided according to academic grade average into three groups: underachievers, par achievers, and superior achievers. Mean scores were compared across these groups on scales from instruments designed as measures of interests, attitudes, or values. Significant differences between underachievers and superior achievers were found mainly on those scales postulated to measure adaptive aspects of ego functioning.
This study tested a developmental hypothesis with respect to Fear of Success (FOS), Identity Status, and the relationship between the two. Forty college students, equally divided between regular college-age women (18-23) and adult college women (over age 30), were given a multiple-choice and a projective measure of FOS; they were then interviewed regarding exploration and commitment in five content areas: vocation, family vs. career priority, politics, religion, and sex roles. The hypothesis that the adult students would exhibit less FOS than their college-age counterparts was confirmed with both measures of FOS. Chi-square analysis also revealed that a significantly higher proportion of the adult students was classified as identity-achieved and a lower proportion as identity-diffuse than the college-age students. The influence of life experience on the relationship between FOS and each identity status could not be tested due to an insufficient number of identity achievers in the college-age subsample; when the relationship of FOS to identity status was examined for the total sample, however, foreclosures and achievers manifested significantly less FOS than diffusions and moratoriums.
The general hypothesis of this study is that academic achievement of secondary school boys is determined importantly by the adaptive quality of their ego functioning. The Thematic Apperception Test protocols of a sample of 20 superior achievers and 20 under-achievers from two secondary schools of high scholastic standing were scored on dimensions of adaptivemaladaptive functioning. The TAT heroes of the superior achievers were judged to be better able than the heroes of the under-achievers to distinguish and to choose among appropriate alternatives to action. They were significantly more able to perceive the subtleties of situations and to govern their impulses accordingly. They more frequently accepted responsibility for their actions and handled conflict so as to satisfy their long-range interests.
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