Functional Morals: Attitude Functions and Moral Reasoning
نویسندگان
چکیده
Functional theories of attitudes address why people hold attitudes. The current study had two main goals: to extend the study of attitude functions, and to relate these functions to moral development. One hundred seventy-four participants filled out a revision of Herek's (1987) Attitude Functions Inventory (AFI) and a short form of Rest's (1979) Defining Issues Test (DIT). Factor analysis on the AFI revealed 7 factors, corresponding to several defined attitude functions. Multiple regression analyses revealed that moral stage-typical reasoning, as assessed by the DIT, is significantly related to attitude functions in a theoretically consistent manner. Implications for the future study of attitude functions and their bases in moral thought are discussed.
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