The cientificWorldJOURNAL Review Article Moral Competence as a Positive Youth Development Construct: A Conceptual Review

which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Moral competence refers to the affective orientation to perform altruistic behaviors and the ability to judge moral issues logically. A five-stage theory of moral development is proposed. Both western and Chinese perspectives are incorporated in the elaboration of the characteristics of each stage. A brief review of the antecedents of moral competence is presented. The relationship between moral competence and adolescent developmental outcomes is also discussed. Some practical ways to promote moral competence are suggested. School-based programs may be effective in the promotion of moral competence provided it is based on all-round or whole-person development and the length of the program should be sufficiently long. 1. Background We aim to help adolescents develop the competence to act altruistically and to judge fairly. Many contemporary ethical issues have significant implications for education [1]. As more and more people are using Internet every day, we are deeply concerned about the antisocial and disruptive behav-ior frequently happening on the Internet [2]. A thorough un-derstanding of the concept of moral competence will be use-ful for the implementation of moral education, whole-per-son education, and positive youth development education. 2. Definition of Moral Competence Moral competence refers to the affective orientation to perform altruistic behaviors towards others and the ability to judge moral issues logically, consistently, and at an advanced level of development. Promotion of moral competence means fostering the development of justice judgment and altruistic behavior in adolescents. It is the goal of education to help adolescents develop the value of universal justice and universal love