Moral Development in Rural and Urban Korea

Abstract
Rest's Defining Issues Test (DIT) was administered to Korean male and female sixth-, eighth-, and eleventh-grade students, as well as college undergraduate students. Half of the subjects came from rural and the other half from urban backgrounds. These Korean subjects showed the same general develop-mental trends as did American subjects reported on by Rest in 1976. Age differences in stages of moral development appeared to be greater in the American than in the Korean sample. Among the Korean subjects, females, persons reared in urban areas, and older subjects showed significantly more responses demonstrating principled morality than did males, persons reared in rural areas, or younger persons. Few interactions of sex, age/grade level, or rural/urban upbringing were significant.