Chapter 8 Moral Identity, Moral Functioning, and the Development of Moral Character

Family caregivers and the ethical relevance of moral identity

Many people want to spend the last stages of their lives at home, in familiar surroundings, and possibly with people they know. However, this increasing desire on the part of older, ill, or even dying people also makes support from other people unavoidable, which in many cases involves family members, loved ones, or even friends. These family caregivers care for the person concerned, even though they lack the professional skills of nursing staff, for example, and have usually not been prepared for this task. This article focuses on the ethical significance of the moral identity of family caregivers. While the effects of this care constellation on the caregivers have often been discussed in the scientific literature, ethical considerations regarding moral identity have so far been neglected. In the first step, the question of what is actually meant by the term moral identity is examined. The second step shifts attention to those people who have taken on the care of a loved one. The relevance of this previously discussed identity is emphasized by using study results and work in this context, and placed in relation to family caregivers. The third step shows that (1) moral identity must be understood as a necessary prerequisite for adequate and humane care, (2) this identity can be enhanced through the caregiving relationship, and (3) the activities undertaken by family caregivers reveal their moral identity. These considerations are finally summarized, provided with ethical aspects, and awareness of this important work of family caregivers is raised.

Moral identity in relation to emotional well-being: a meta-analysis

Introduction

This meta-analytic review surveyed previous empirical studies that examined links between moral identity and indicators of emotional well-being. Additionally, this meta-analysis examined cultural origin as a moderator, testing if links between moral identity and emotional well-being differ in collectivistic vs. individualistic countries.

Methods

A systematic literature review was conducted through ProQuest's 65 databases and PubMed. A random-effect meta-analysis and subgroup analyses were conducted using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis 4.0 (CMA) software.

Results

Drawing on 27 eligible studies, moral identity was associated with greater emotional well-being (r = 0.27, p < 0.001). Follow up analyses on individual dimensions showed medium effect sizes in links between moral identity and greater happiness or positive affect (r = 0.28, p < 0.001), greater sense of purpose or meaning in life (r = 0.29, p < 0.001), and higher self-esteem (r = 0.25, p < 0.001). Moreover, moral identity was associated with greater life satisfaction showing a small effect size (r = 0.15, p = 0.011). Results showed that effect sizes of links between moral identity and overall emotional well-being did not significantly differ by cultural origin. However, effect sizes tended to be larger in the nine studies that were conducted in collectivistic countries (r = 0.30, p < 0.001) as compared to the 15 studies that were conducted in individualistic countries (r = 0.27, p < 0.001).

Discussion

The results of this meta-analysis indicate a robust empirical relationship between moral identity and emotional well-being that is present across various dimensions of emotional well-being and in both individualistic and collectivistic cultures.

Systematic review registration

https://osf.io/94f8b/?view_only=6db54da0fa304c83993d0438ecb5c637.

Defining sports moral character and clarifying its related concepts

This study examines the concept of sports moral character and clarifies the differences between it and related moral concepts in sports. The research is conceptual and uses the methods of a literature review and logical analysis. Sports moral character is shown to have the characteristics of practicality, growth, and integration. It is a stable moral quality that is gradually formed and displayed in sports practice under the influence of family, school, and social environments. Sports moral character differs in some ways from other related concepts. Sports morality is the objective existence of "reason," to which sports character and sportsmanship are both more applicable than is sports moral character.

Virtuous leadership, moral behavior, happiness and organizational citizenship: the mediating effect of virtues-centered moral identity

Purpose

Guided by the importance ascribed to the self-cultivation of virtue, the authors examined virtues-centered moral identity (VCMI) as a mediator of the positive relationship between virtuous leadership and several valued personal and organizational outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

Hypotheses were tested using data from 131 leader–subordinate dyads based in the USA and Canada, using the SPSS Statistics Software 27.0 PROCESS Macro v 3.5.

Findings

Leaders’ VCMI mediates the positive effects of virtuous leadership (subordinate-rated) on leaders’ moral behavior (subordinate-rated) and their self-rated happiness. Followers’ VCMI mediates the positive effects of virtuous leadership on organizational citizenship (as judged by leaders) and self-rated happiness of followers. Followers’ VCMI did not mediate between virtuous leadership and followers’ moral behavior.

Research limitations/implications

Although participants of this study were from a variety of industries, the sample was based in the USA and Canada; hence, any culture-specific leader behaviors and processes were likely missed. Moreover, some of the relationships examined involved data from the same source such that these associations may have been artificially inflated by common method variance. Even so, in each case, the sources we used (leader and follower) were appropriate to the research question. Nonetheless, for example, to collect Virtuous Leadership Questionnaire (VLQ)-based assessments from other stakeholders (e.g. peers and customers) remains of interest.

Practical implications

A practiced strong sense of VCMI has the potential to short-circuit unethical behavior and contribute to happiness among both subordinates and leaders. VCMI is implicated in the fostering of subordinates’ organizational citizenship as well.

Social implications

The authors' findings imply that leaders and followers can acquire knowledge structures associated with moral virtues and virtuous acts through formal and informal learning, suggesting an affirmative answer to the question, “Are virtuous acts teachable? This is an important starting point in developing theoretically sound programs for promoting virtuous acts as called for by many scholars and practitioners. The authors' study highlights the importance of virtues-related education because VCMI is likely developed through formal learning.

Originality/value

The authors' VCMI mediation-based findings offer a completely new explanation for the positive functioning of virtuous leadership, which formerly had been grounded in attribution and social learning processes only.

Followers forever: Prior commitment predicts post-scandal support of a social media celebrity