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Burgoon J Dissertation 2018.pdf (4.16 MB)

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The Moral Foundations of Teaching: Measuring Teachers' Implicit Moral Beliefs

Burgoon, Jacob N
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1544787174462244

Abstract Details

2018, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, Foundations of Education: Educational Psychology.
Under the surface of our “known” selves lies a myriad of implicit beliefs of which we are often unaware. Hundreds of studies have explored implicit attitudes and beliefs about issues such as race, sexuality, religion, and gender. However, there are far fewer studies about implicit moral beliefs and none regarding the implicit moral beliefs of teachers. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to develop a measure of implicit moral beliefs that will provide a way to explore and understand teachers’ implicit moral beliefs and their impact on classroom behavior. The measure was an evaluative priming task in which respondents classified words (targets) as either right or wrong after briefly seeing a picture (prime) related to one of four foundations of the Moral Foundations Theory. Validity evidence for the results of the measure was examined in two studies. Study 1 determined the extent to which the results of the measure had content validity. During the study, 33 undergraduate Education students evaluated the representativeness of several potential primes and targets. The findings were used to select the four most representative primes for each moral foundation, and create a set of right and wrong target words that were distinct in valence, and similar in intensity. Study 2 determined the extent to which the results of the measure had predictive and construct validity. During the study, 60 undergraduate and graduate Education students completed the implicit measure and then explicitly rated the moral “wrongness” of the primes. Evidence for predictive validity was observed in the pattern of explicit ratings, which matched expected patterns based on prior literature. Priming effects were not observed for any of the moral foundations, and correlations among the implicit and explicit scores were inconsistent. Therefore, the study did not provide strong evidence for construct (discriminant) validity of the results. While the primes used in the measure elicited expected response patterns after conscious evaluation, the mechanism of the implicit measure may need to be adjusted in order to provide consistent priming effects. Suggested adjustments include modifications to the primes and target words based on research conducted about reverse priming effects. Despite the null priming effects, the study points to promising avenues of research using Moral Foundations Theory to examine the relationships among teachers’ moral beliefs and classroom practices, as well as the continued investigation of implicit moral beliefs using similar priming measures.
Revathy Kumar, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Tom Dunn, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Dale Snauwaert, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Gregory Stone, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
134 p.
Educational Psychology; Social Psychology
teacher moral beliefs; implicit attitudes; implicit bias; Moral Foundations Theory; moral intuitions; implicit measure; validity

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Burgoon, J. N. (2018). The Moral Foundations of Teaching: Measuring Teachers' Implicit Moral Beliefs [Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1544787174462244

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Burgoon, Jacob. The Moral Foundations of Teaching: Measuring Teachers' Implicit Moral Beliefs. 2018. University of Toledo, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1544787174462244.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Burgoon, Jacob. "The Moral Foundations of Teaching: Measuring Teachers' Implicit Moral Beliefs." Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1544787174462244

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

toledo1544787174462244
331
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This open access ETD is published by University of Toledo and OhioLINK.