Does participation in athletics affect high school students' moral reasoning

This study examines the issue of moral development in athletes by comparing the moral reasoning of athletes to non-athletes using instruments that invoke both non-sport-related and sports-related moral dilemmas. To date, the research has not been conclusive regarding whether participation in athletics has a positive or negative effect on moral development and reasoning. One reason for conflicting findings in this area is the variety of instruments used to measure the construct of moral reasoning. Some studies have used the Defining Issues Test (DIT), which presents people with hypothetical non-sport-related moral dilemmas and, based on their results, determines their level of moral reasoning according to Kohlberg's stages of moral development. Other researchers have used the Hahm-Beller Values Choice Inventory (HBVCI), which presents hypothetical sports-related moral dilemmas. Still other studies have used interviews and self-developed coding systems rather than standardized self-report questionnaires. Such lack of assessment consistency may be responsible for the lack of agreement among the studies to date. This study differed from the previous research in that it used both the HBVCI and the DIT to investigate the moral reasoning of athletes and non-athletes.;Fifty-nine athletes and thirty-five non-athletes from ninth or twelfth grade classes were administered the paper and pencil versions of the Defining Issues Test (DIT) and the Hahm-Beller Values Choice Inventory (HBVCI). Two analysis of variance tests were conducted to look for differences between athletes and non-athletes P-score and HBVCI sum scores. A T-test was also conducted on the HBVCI sum scores to investigate possible differences between female athletes and male athletes. Data analysis revealed that differences in the moral reasoning of high school students may be more related to gender than age or participation in athletics. Specifically, female athletes scored higher on tests of moral reasoning than male athletes while no statistical differences were found between athletes and non-athletes at any grade level. The findings of this study support previous research that suggests female athletes tend to use higher levels of moral reasoning than male athletes. Furthermore, the lack of significant difference between athletes and non-athletes moral reasoning is in line with previous research. A trend did emerge which suggests that athletes may have lower moral development and reasoning than their peers but this did not reach a statistically significant level. This study suggests that ninth and twelfth grade athletes and non-athletes make moral decisions based on the same ethical principles.