The impact of morality on externalizing behaviour : values, reasoning, cognitive distortions and identity

Abstract

The current dissertation investigated the association between several aspects of morality and externalizing behaviour among adolescents. The first study assessed the validity of the Sociomoral Reflection Measure - Short Form Objective (SRM-SFO). The SRM-SFO appears to be a promising instrument for assessing moral reasoning and moral value evaluation. Furthermore, the results suggest that higher levels of both moral constructs are related to lower levels of externalizing behaviour among adolescents. The second study investigated the moral reasoning of incarcerated sexually abusive youths. It was found that when compared to adolescent controls, sexually abusive youths reason at a similar level regarding non-sexual moral issues. However, when sexual moral issues were assessed, sexually abusive youths were found to recognize more preconventional reasoning as their own. These results suggest that the moral reasoning-behaviour relationship has a context-specific element. The third study introduced the concept moral value evaluation (i.e., the attribution of importance to moral values). Moral value evaluation appeared to be indirectly and negatively related to externalizing behaviour, being mediated through moral reasoning, moral identity and self-serving cognitive distortions. Furthermore, some concerns regarding the construct of self-serving cognitive distortions are discussed. The fourth study presents an overview of fourteen academic studies, in which the negative association between moral value evaluation and (officially registered or self-reported) externalizing behaviour is further confirmed. These results are then discussed from the perspective of several (criminological) theories on the development of externalizing behaviour.