Predicting Moral Conduct: Kohlberg's and Hogan's Theories

Abstract

Tests of Kohlberg's moral judgment stages and Hogan's moral character dimensions were administered to 49 college students in order to predict volunteering to work for a charity and actually showing up to work for it. Both competitive (Hogan versus Kohlberg) analyses and an integrative (Hogan plus Kohlberg) analysis were performed. Kohlberg's stages 5A and 5B predicted volunteering very well, R = .80; Hogan's dimensions failed to predict it at all. Kohlberg's stage 5A and Hogan's autonomy dimension predicted actually showing up about equally well, r = .52 and r = .55, respectively. In an integrative analysis, autonomy and stage 5A predicted actually showing up better than either variable alone, R = .65. The results support the value of an integrative use of Kohlberg's and Hogan's theories.