Components of Morality

To act morally, a professional needs moral sensitivity, moral judgment, and moral motivation. Those three components of morality are obviously interrelated, but how? The studies published in this volume shed new light on this question in a manner which combines social and developmental psychology with professional ethics education. Through a series of studies among university students, Liisa Myyry provides answers to such questions as: – Can moral sensitivity be enhanced through training? – What are the values, if any, associated with moral sensitivity, complexity of thinking and emotional empathy? – Do the developmental stages of moral reasoning manifest themselves in the way procedural justice rules are applied to ethical problems? Myyry starts from Rest’s Four Component Model of morality but her work draws upon a variety of approaches – Schwartz’s Value Model, Integrative Complexity Theory, the Social Psychology of Procedural Justice – to provide a broad analysis of the social psychological bases of professional ethics.