The Effect of Nuclear and Joint Family Systems on the Moral Development: A Gender Based Analysis

Abstract

Although each and every aspect of individual is affected by the family system variables, but the most important one is their moral development. Moral development is the ability to differentiate between the good and the bad behaviors. This study explores the effect of family systems, especially, nuclear and joint families on the moral development of both boys and girls elementary level students. All 222944 elementary level students of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan constituted the population of the study. A total of 384 elementary students randomly selected, (226 boys and 158 girls) were taken as the sample of the study. Kohlberg’s Moral Judgment Interview Form A was used for the collection of data. The collected data were analyzed through frequency, percentage and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings of the study depicted that gender had significant influence on the moral values of elementary level students. Furthermore, girls belonging to the joint families were found morally more advanced than boys of joint families.