Political orientation, political reasoning and sociomoral judgment: A two-way street?
Published:
Oct 15, 2020
Keywords:
Political thinking Political orientation Political ideology Socio-moral reasoning
Abstract
The article reviews the main research evidence pertaining to the relationship between political ideology and socio-moral reasoning, as it is explicated in L. Kohlberg’s developmental model. A repeated finding of the relevant literature, both previous and more recent, indicates that the qualitative from stage to stage transformations of the sociomoral
reasoning structures, constitutes one of the determining factors for the formation of political beliefs or political ideology. As far as the direction of such an impact is concerned, the available evidence shows that conventional sociomoral reasoning tends to be associated with more conservative or right-wing political orientation, whereas postconventional thinking is more often connected to more liberal or left-wing political ideology. The explanation of this association pattern still remains a matter of controversy. The article also reports findings from a study which examined the possible impact of sociomoral reasoning on the developmentally differentiated ways children and adolescents understand a number of key political concepts. The findings of the study indicated points of convergence between the developmental pattern of political thinking and socio-moral reasoning that concerned the conceptualization of government and law in the ages of 12-15 and the concept of political authority in the ages of 15-18 years. The findings did not support any association in primary school students.
Article Details
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Φωτακοπούλου Ό., & Μαρκουλής Δ. (2020). Political orientation, political reasoning and sociomoral judgment: A two-way street?. Psychology: The Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society, 18(4), 440–467. https://doi.org/10.12681/psy_hps.23732
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- Vol. 18 No. 4 (2011)
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- SPECIAL SECTION
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