Relationship Between Perceptions of Community and Moral Development of Undergraduate Students

Although data support the notion that students’ character is influenced by their college experience, research has not addressed the confluence between students’ perceptions of institutional characteristics and their moral development. The purpose of this study was to ascertain if a relationship existed between undergraduate students’ perceptions of the strength of community and their level of moral development, and whether that relationship varied significantly based on students’ levels of community engagement, conceptual development, and certain demographic subgroup comparisons, defined as classification, residential status, and gender. Utilizing three instruments, this correlation study collected self-reported, quantitative data online from 98 respondents at a small private Christian liberal arts college in the southeast. Students’ perceptions of the strength of community and their level of moral development were measured by the College and University Community Inventory (CUCI) (McDonald, 1996) and the Defining Issues Test (DIT) (Rest, 1979) respectively. The Community Engagement Inventory (CEI), a descriptive survey designed by the researcher, assessed participants’ demographic information and level of community engagement. Data were collected online and analyzed for significant correlations across the variables. Due to a less than ideal return rate and therefore, a slightly unrepresentative sample, there were not always ideal numbers of participants for correlations and subgroup comparison analyses. Students’ perceptions of the strength of community and their level of moral development were not significantly related for this sample. The only variable that was found to have a significant relationship between moral development and perception of community was the low level of conceptual development (cumulative GPA). Analysis of covariance was administered to increase the power of the significance test between different groups on moral development by reducing the variability of perception of community, the covariate. This statistical test revealed that the relationship between moral development and perception of community varied significantly with respect to students’ levels of community relationships, conceptual development, and classification. The data were discussed to assess current students’ moral development and perceptions of community, to reconsider the variables in the campus environment that may relate to moral development, to suggest the integration of curricular and cocurricular initiatives within the campus community that promote character development, and to make recommendations for further research