Moral Identity: What Is It, How Does It Develop, and Is It Linked to Moral Action?

Abstract

The study of moral identity may be one of the more promising new trends in moral psychology. Moral identity is the degree to which being a moral person is important to a person's identity. This article reviews the various ways in which moral identity is understood, discusses predictors and processes of moral identity, and presents evidence regarding links between moral identity and various moral actions. The article closes with a critical evaluation of the moral identity concept and a discussion of future research directions.

Development, reliability, and validity of the Moral Identity Questionnaire

“…Aquino, Freeman, Reed, Lim, and Felps (2009), using the Moral Identity Scale (Aquino & Reed, 2002), found that people who held moral identity important tended to act morally despite situational influences. Hardy and Carlo (2011) stress the importance of theoretical and empirical investigation of moral identity, and call for more research based on sound methodological methods.…”

The multidimensional nature of early prosocial behavior: a motivational perspective

“…This integrative process could, for example, be driven by children's increasing grasp of normative views on how to act towards others. In addition, children's developing strive for a coherent self-concept and the centrality of being a good person for one's own identity [30][31] might support the hierarchical integration of the different forms of prosocial action.…”

Can Lonely People Behave Morally? The Joint Influence of Loneliness and Empathy on Moral Identity

“…The self‐concept is commonly conceptualized as a multifaceted construct containing both “self‐relevant knowledge … and the process that construct, defend, and maintain this knowledge” (Oyserman, , p. 500). The specific aspect of identity that we examine in this research is moral identity—the importance of being a moral person to an individual's identity (Hardy & Carlo, ). While the extant literature has largely focused on the consequences of moral identity, such as donation and helping behaviors (Aquino & Reed, ), researchers have also examined such antecedents of moral identity as empathy (Lee, Winterich, & Ross, ).…”