Attainable and Relevant Moral Exemplars Are More Effective than Extraordinary Exemplars in Promoting Voluntary Service Engagement

Abstract

The present study aimed to develop effective moral educational interventions based on social psychology by using stories of moral exemplars. We tested whether motivation to engage in voluntary service as a form of moral behavior was better promoted by attainable and relevant exemplars or by unattainable and irrelevant exemplars. First, experiment 1, conducted in a lab, showed that stories of attainable exemplars more effectively promoted voluntary service activity engagement among undergraduate students compared with stories of unattainable exemplars and non-moral stories. Second, experiment 2, a middle school classroom-level experiment with a quasi-experimental design, demonstrated that peer exemplars, who are perceived to be attainable and relevant to students, better promoted service engagement compared with historic figures in moral education classes.

Why do we need to employ Bayesian statistics and how can we employ it in studies of moral education?: With practical guidelines to use JASP for educators and researchers

“…The same variable was surveyed once again twelve weeks after the pre-test survey period. Han et al (2017) reported that the post-test service engagement in the peer exemplar group was greater than that in the historic figure group after controlling for the pre-test service engagement.…”

“…The original findings, which resulted from classical statistical analyses, were reported in Study 2 in Han, Kim, Jeong and Cohen (2017). In this study, the students participated in two different types of moral educational intervention activities for eight weeks.…”

Resistance as Sacrifice: Toward an Ascetic Antiracism

“…Often, all it takes is one person to serve as an exemplar for others to follow suit (Han et al. ). A single household can help inspire neighbors, friends, colleagues, and extended family.…”

Neuroscience of morality and teacher education

“…Here is one concrete example that demonstrates how neuroscience of morality can provide moral education with useful heuristics about how to develop a more effective educational program. Han, Kim, Jeong, and Cohen's (2017) moral education program that utilized the stories of moral exemplars was initially inspired by studies in neuroscience of morality that examined the involvement of self-related processes in the moderation of moral emotion and motivation. A meta-analysis of previous moral psychological neuroimaging studies (Han, 2017) and a functional neuroimaging experiment (Han et al, 2016) showed significant associations among self-related brain regions and morality-related brain regions.…”

“…A meta-analysis of previous moral psychological neuroimaging studies (Han, 2017) and a functional neuroimaging experiment (Han et al, 2016) showed significant associations among self-related brain regions and morality-related brain regions. Based on these findings, Han et al (2017) designed and tested an exemplar-applied moral education program that used close-other exemplars (e.g., friends, family members) that might have stronger psychological connectivity with students; their study reported that the aforementioned program inspired by neuroscience significantly promoted students' moral motivation. Han et al (2017) attempted to directly focus on activity in specific brain regions after reviewing localization studies.…”