Addressing Relationships among Moral Judgment Development, Narcissism, and Electronic Media and Communication Devices

Recently, Thoma and Bebeau (2008) reported moral judgment developmental trends among various samples of undergraduates and graduates where increases in Personal Interests reasoning and decreases in Postconventional reasoning were observed. In an attempt to explain such trends, they cited recent trends in increased narcissism among college students (Twenge, Konrath, Foster, Campbell, & Bushman, 2008) and also noted that certain types of technological devices (i.e. social networking websites, cell phones, etc.) may have adverse effects social decision-making and self-presentation. The current study, therefore, addresses the relationships among moral judgment development, narcissism, and electronic media and communication devices (EMCD's). Analyses support that the extent of EM CD usage, as well as the reasons for usage, contribute to decreased Postconventional reasoning, but have a negligible effect on Personal Interests reasoning.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Psychology

Year

2010

Author dc:creator

• Saculla, Meghan M.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. W. Pitt Derryberry (Director), Dr. Aaron Wichman, Dr. Andy Mienaltowski

• college students and social networking
• online social networks
• cellular phone systems social aspects
• Cognition and Perception
• Cognitive Psychology
• Communication Technology and New Media
• Psychology
• Social Psychology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/192

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.wku.edu:theses-1193