Handbook of moral motivation: Theories, models ... - Sense Publishers

S. J. THOMA & M. J. BEBEAUMonson, 2011). Kegan’s approach is based on constructivist notions that individualsare, by nature, engaged in making sense of the world and, in so doing, formconceptions of various social categories such as the self, the self as a member ofsociety, as a professional, as a parent, and so on. Furthermore, Kegan proposes thatthere are some commonalities across individuals in how these conceptions of theself unfold, both generally and in specific contexts. Thus, Kegan and his colleaguespropose a life-span model in which individuals can be located in terms of prototypicidentity formation.Bebeau and her colleagues reworked Kegan’s model to focus on how theprofessional comes to understand his/her specific professional role (see Bebeau &Thoma, this volume). In short, the modifications made to Kegan’s model includea more central focus on the moral self and assess the degree to which moralconcerns seem to penetrate the conception of the self. To guide these modifications,Bebeau adopts Blasi’s view that individuals differ in the degree to which moralconsiderations are emphasized in the self system. In this view, an emphasis on themoral dimension within the self system is associated with an increased perspectivetaking, a responsibility to maintain a focus on the moral dimension within situationsand an increased likelihood to act in accordance with moral judgment s.Findings from the professional identity measure suggest that professional schoolstudents are varied in their self conceptions with many producing self descriptions atthe level where the moral basis for the profession is not clearly recognized. However,assessments on more advanced students drawn from the same population indicateatransition to professional identities which were more in line with a society-wideperspective and a more clearly articulated ethical identity. Although these findingsare consistent with PROI findings and the view that professional identity measuresare sensitive to educational interventions, the evidence is only suggestive as simplematuration has not been ruled out.In addition to demonstrating that the professional identity measure can beused to differentiate groups of professionals who reflect different training andexposure to ethical considerations, Rule and Bebeau (2005) applied the modifiedKegan scheme to a national group of dentists nominated by their peers as moralexemplars. Consistent with the theoretical model, Rule and Bebeau (2005) found apattern of highly developed professional identities, complete with a strong sense ofresponsibility to others. Thus, the model was able to distinguish groups who weredifferent on objective criteria conceptually related to moral functioning.Using a similar methodology with military cadets, Forsythe and colleagues(Forsythe, Snook, Lewis, & Bartone, 2002) found evidence of growth across thecollege experience and military training. Furthermore, cadets with higher scores onthe Kegan measure were viewed as effective leaders by their subordinates, their peersand superiors. These findings suggest a link between professional identity and cadetbehaviour over time. The authors attributed this cadet success to a self identity thatenabled these cadets to attend better to the interests of others, while keeping a focuson the overall goal or mission. Interestingly, Forsythe found that officers who had58