The relationship between moral reasoning and honesty among IIUM pre-service teachers

Abstract

The objective of the present study is to examine the relationship between honesty and moral reasoning. Meanwhile, the target of this study is the students of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), whereby the research sample consisted of 294 students, of which 222 females and 72 males. The researcher used questionnaires as a tool to examine the moral reasoning and honesty. The objectives of this study are; i) to examine the IIUM pre-service teachers’ level of moral reasoning, ii) to study the IIUM pre-service teachers’ level of honesty, iii) to investigate the relationship between moral reasoning and honesty among IIUM pre-service teachers and, iv) to identify predictors of IIUM pre-service teachers’ level of moral reasoning. The results of the current study revealed that there is no significant relationship between moral reasoning and honesty (r = .073, p >0.01). The moral reasoning of question 6 (µ= 3.70) showed higher mean score compared to question 3 (µ= 3.61). While for honesty, question 10 (µ= 4.13) has a higher value than question 9 (µ= 4.03). Honesty, year of study, and gender predicted moral reasoning significantly when all three factors were taken together (SE= .845). However, the results showed that only gender is significant in this study (sig= .045). In conclusion, the level of moral reasoning for the pre-service teachers is at the conventional level and according to Kohlberg, the practice is impacted by the acceptance of society and exercising the laws.