Kirk Mensch

Belief and Moral Judgment Kirk Mensch

A debate continues regarding the reasons a paradox seems to exist when measuring the moral judgment of conservative religious populations using the Defining Issues Test (DIT & DIT2), an instrument generally considered valid and reliable for measuring moral judgment ability according to the neo-Kohlbergian theoretical construct. Research indicates that populations with a conservative religious ideology tend to score lower on the DIT than do other populations. This study investigates findings from several studies of conservative religious populations and compares the results of an exploratory study conducted at a conservative Baptist college in the Midwest. Finally, this study explores the validity of the DIT and the legitimacy of applying neo-Kohlbergian theoretical assumptions to populations that possess different moral philosophies.