According to results from Aquino and Reed (study 5, 2002) and Hall and Derryberry (2010), high means and very low standard deviations of the average score for each question for both the internalization and symbolization scales of the Moral Identity Scale (MIS) are common. This study attempts to measure the extent to which a person considers morality to be a central part of his or her self-concept. Because participants may feel pressure to respond in a certain way on the MIS, the role of social desirability to respond favorably is very plausible. The current study, therefore, attempts to reduce socially desirable responding on the moral identity construct. The hypothesis of this study was that the revised Moral Identity Scale—compared to the original Moral Identity Scale—would display a reduction in skewness, a reduction in social desirability effects, and an increase in the ability to predict moral functioning. Analyses partially supported a reduction in social desirability and supported an increase in the ability to predict moral functioning. However, analyses did not support a reduction in negative skewness.
","abstract_html":"<p>According to results from Aquino and Reed (study 5, 2002) and Hall and Derryberry (2010), high means and very low standard deviations of the average score for each question for both the internalization and symbolization scales of the Moral Identity Scale (MIS) are common. This study attempts to measure the extent to which a person considers morality to be a central part of his or her self-concept. Because participants may feel pressure to respond in a certain way on the MIS, the role of social desirability to respond favorably is very plausible. The current study, therefore, attempts to reduce socially desirable responding on the moral identity construct. The hypothesis of this study was that the revised Moral Identity Scale—compared to the original Moral Identity Scale—would display a reduction in skewness, a reduction in social desirability effects, and an increase in the ability to predict moral functioning. Analyses partially supported a reduction in social desirability and supported an increase in the ability to predict moral functioning. However, analyses did not support a reduction in negative skewness.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Baker, David Adrion"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Department of Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Pitt Derryberry (Director), Andrew Mienaltowski, Aaron Wichman"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:08:39Z","subjects":["Revision of Moral Identity Scale","Social Psychology","Behavior Analysis","Moral and Ethical Aspects","Applied Behavior Analysis","Personality and Social Contexts"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1453","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Pitt Derryberry (Director), Andrew Mienaltowski, Aaron Wichman"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Baker, David Adrion"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Department of Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Revision of Moral Identity Scale","Social Psychology","Behavior Analysis","Moral and Ethical Aspects","Applied Behavior Analysis","Personality and Social Contexts"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1453"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["According to results from Aquino and Reed (study 5, 2002) and Hall and Derryberry (2010), high means and very low standard deviations of the average score for each question for both the internalization and symbolization scales of the Moral Identity Scale (MIS) are common. This study attempts to measure the extent to which a person considers morality to be a central part of his or her self-concept. Because participants may feel pressure to respond in a certain way on the MIS, the role of social desirability to respond favorably is very plausible. The current study, therefore, attempts to reduce socially desirable responding on the moral identity construct. The hypothesis of this study was that the revised Moral Identity Scale—compared to the original Moral Identity Scale—would display a reduction in skewness, a reduction in social desirability effects, and an increase in the ability to predict moral functioning. Analyses partially supported a reduction in social desirability and supported an increase in the ability to predict moral functioning. However, analyses did not support a reduction in negative skewness.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Can Quantitative Assessment of Moral Identity Be Improved?"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Pitt Derryberry (Director), Andrew Mienaltowski, Aaron Wichman"],"dc:creator":["Baker, David Adrion"],"dc:description.abstract":["According to results from Aquino and Reed (study 5, 2002) and Hall and Derryberry (2010), high means and very low standard deviations of the average score for each question for both the internalization and symbolization scales of the Moral Identity Scale (MIS) are common. This study attempts to measure the extent to which a person considers morality to be a central part of his or her self-concept. Because participants may feel pressure to respond in a certain way on the MIS, the role of social desirability to respond favorably is very plausible. The current study, therefore, attempts to reduce socially desirable responding on the moral identity construct. The hypothesis of this study was that the revised Moral Identity Scale—compared to the original Moral Identity Scale—would display a reduction in skewness, a reduction in social desirability effects, and an increase in the ability to predict moral functioning. Analyses partially supported a reduction in social desirability and supported an increase in the ability to predict moral functioning. However, analyses did not support a reduction in negative skewness.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1453"],"dc:subject":["Revision of Moral Identity Scale","Social Psychology","Behavior Analysis","Moral and Ethical Aspects","Applied Behavior Analysis","Personality and Social Contexts"],"dc:title":["Can Quantitative Assessment of Moral Identity Be Improved?"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Department of Psychology"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:08:39Z"}