Cultural Influences on the Neural Correlate of Moral Decision Making Processes

This study compares the neural substrate of moral decision making processes between Korean and American participants. By comparison with Americans, Korean participants showed increased activity in the right putamen associated with socio-intuitive processes and right superior frontal gyrus associated with cognitive control processes under a moral-personal condition, and in the right postcentral sulcus associated with mental calculation in familiar contexts under a moral-impersonal condition. On the other hand, American participants showed a significantly higher degree of activity in the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) associated with conflict resolution under the moral-personal condition, and in the right medial frontal gyrus (MFG) associated with simple cognitive branching in non-familiar contexts under the moral-impersonal condition when a more lenient threshold was applied, than Korean participants. These findings support the ideas of the interactions between the cultural background, education, and brain development, proposed in the field of cultural psychology and educational psychology. The study introduces educational implications relevant to moral psychologists and educators

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

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

Moral Growth Mindset is Associated with Change in Voluntary Service Engagement

Incremental implicit theories are associated with a belief regarding it is possible to improve one’s intelligence or ability through efforts. Previous studies have demonstrated that incremental implicit theories contributed to better academic achievement and positive youth development. Our study aimed to examine whether incremental implicit theories of morality significantly influenced change in students’ engagement in voluntary service activities. In our study, 54 Korean college students for Study 1 and 180 Korean 8th graders for Study 2 were recruited to conduct two two-wave studies. We surveyed participants’ implicit theories of morality and participation in voluntary service activities. The effect of implicit theories of morality on change in service engagement was analyzed through regression analysis. In Study 1, the moral growth mindset significantly moderated longitudinal change in service engagement. In Study 2, the moral growth mindset significantly influenced engagement in art-related activities, while it significantly moderated change in engagement in youth-related activities

Influence of the Cortical Midline Structures on Moral Emotion and Motivation in Moral Decision-Making

The present study aims to examine the relationship between the cortical midline structures (CMS), which have been regarded to be associated with selfhood, and moral decision making processes at the neural level. Traditional moral psychological studies have suggested the role of moral self as the moderator of moral cognition, so activity of moral self would present at the neural level. The present study examined the interaction between the CMS and other moral-related regions by conducting psycho-physiological interaction analysis of functional images acquired while 16 subjects were solving moral dilemmas. Furthermore, we performed Granger causality analysis to demonstrate the direction of influences between activities in the regions in moral decision-making. We first demonstrate there are significant positive interactions between two central CMS seed regions—i.e., the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)—and brain regions associated with moral functioning including the cerebellum, brainstem, midbrain, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex and anterior insula (AI); on the other hand, the posterior insula (PI) showed significant negative interaction with the seed regions. Second, several significant Granger causality was found from CMS to insula regions particularly under the moral-personal condition. Furthermore, significant dominant influence from the AI to PI was reported. Moral psychological implications of these findings are discussed. The present study demonstrated the significant interaction and influence between the CMS and morality-related regions while subject were solving moral dilemmas. Given that, activity in the CMS is significantly involved in human moral functioning

Conceptualization of Civic Character and Some Implications for Practitioners

It is absolutely imperative that we should have civic character, and our education system should foster civic character in citizens. But what does it exactly mean civic character in the relationship between character and citizenship? What are the essential goals of civic character education? How do we facilitate the growth of students civic character? These are the central questions addressed in this research. The objective of this research is to provide a big picture perspective on these challenging questions, by critically reviewing the relevant literature. A related objective is to deepen a full discussion of the various ways in which civic character is appropriately defined and pursued.This research was supported by the Center for Educational Research, Seoul National University. In addition, this paper is a revised version of the paper presented at the 2018 annual conference of the Association for Moral education (Barcelona, Spain)

An Integrative Model of Moral Reasoning and Moral Intuition: Implications for Moral Education

2012This article discusses integrative moral psychology, including moral intuition and moral deliberation, to explain the mechanisms of actual moral behaviors. To this end, we briefly review current models in the field of moral psychology dealing with moral intuition and moral reasoning, after which we present an integrative model based on these earlier ones. Our model focuses on a moral intuitive process, a process of reflection on initial emotional responses, moral reasoning, and moral introspection. We critically examine and discuss recent research from the rapidly growing fields of neuroscience and the natural sciences to strengthen and support this model. In closing, we explore the educational implications of our model and possible educational methods to promote moral development

Understanding Moral Psychology and Moral Education through the Lens of the Philosophy of Science

2009This article focuses on discussion concerning moral psychology and moral education from the philosophy of science standpoint. The theoretical model of Lakatos' program in the field of the philosophy of science is introduced and the structure of moral psychology and moral education is analyzed and evaluated by using Lakatos' scientific research program as a theoretical framework. The article begins with a review of the theoretical background of the philosophy of science, then continues by analyzing and evaluating the structure of moral psychology by using a theoretical framework from the philosophy of science, and then considers the case of moral education. The authors conclude with a brief description of significant directions for the introduction of the natural sciences, such as neuroscience and sociobiology, into moral psychology and moral education