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192Why do We Need to Employ Exemplars in Moral Education? Insights from Recent Advances in Research on Artificial IntelligenceEthics and Behavior. forthcoming.In this paper, I examine why moral exemplars are useful and even necessary in moral education despite several critiques from researchers and educators. To support my point, I review recent AI research demonstrating that exemplar-based learning is superior to rule-based learning in model performance in training neural networks, such as large language models. I particularly focus on why education aiming at promoting the development of multifaceted moral functioning can be done effectively by using…Read more
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160Considerations for Effective Use of Moral Exemplars in Education: Based on the Self-Determination Theory and Data SynthesesTheory and Research in Education. forthcoming.The present study aimed to examine how to improve the effectiveness of moral exemplar-applied interventions based on the pillars of the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) framework, autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Past research has mainly focused on the relatedness and attainability of moral exemplars for predicting motivation outcomes. The data for this study consisted of synthesized data sets from previous studies examining the motivational impacts of distinct moral exemplars and intervent…Read more
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238Examining the Network Structure among Moral Functioning Components with Network AnalysisPersonality and Individual Differences 217 112435. 2024.I explored the association between components constituting the basis for moral and optimal human functioning, i.e., moral reasoning, moral identity, empathy, and purpose, via network analysis. I employed factor scores instead of composite scores that most previous studies used for better accuracy in score estimation in this study. Then, I estimated the network structure among collected variables and centrality indicators. For additional information, the structure and indicators were compared bet…Read more
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363In this paper, I examined whether evidence from the neuroscience of morality supports the standard models of phronesis, i.e., Jubilee and Aretai Centre Models. The standard models explain phronesis as a multifaceted construct based on interaction and coordination among functional components. I reviewed recent neuroscience studies focusing on brain networks associated with morality and their connectivity to examine the validity of the models. Simultaneously, I discussed whether the evidence helps…Read more
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548Role Modeling is Beneficial in Moral Character Education: A Commentary on Carr (2023)Philosophical Inquiry in Education 30 (3): 240-243. 2023.
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185Validating the behavioral Defining Issues Test across different genders, political, and religious affiliationsExperimental Results 4. 2023.The Defining Issues Test (DIT) has been widely used in psychological experiments to assess one’s developmental level of moral reasoning in terms of postconventional reasoning. However, there have been concerns regarding whether the tool is biased across people with different genders and political and religious views. To address the limitations, in the present study, I tested the validity of the brief version of the test, that is, the behavioral DIT, in terms of the measurement invariance and dif…Read more
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478Relatable and attainable moral exemplars as sources for moral elevation and pleasantnessJournal of Moral Education 53 (1): 14-30. 2024.ABSTRACT In the present study, we examined how the perceived attainability and relatability of moral exemplars predicted moral elevation and pleasantness among both adult and college student participants. Data collected from two experiments were analyzed with Bayesian multilevel modeling to explore which factors significantly predicted outcome variables at the story level. The analysis results demonstrated that the main effect of perceived relatability and the interaction effect between attainab…Read more
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1257Considering the Purposes of Moral Education with Evidence in Neuroscience: Emphasis on Habituation of Virtues and Cultivation of PhronesisEthical Theory and Moral Practice 27 (1): 111-128. 2024.In this paper, findings from research in neuroscience of morality will be reviewed to consider the purposes of moral education. Particularly, I will focus on two main themes in neuroscience, novel neuroimaging and experimental investigations, and Bayesian learning mechanism. First, I will examine how neuroimaging and experimental studies contributed to our understanding of psychological mechanisms associated with moral functioning while addressing methodological concerns. Second, Bayesian learni…Read more
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539Exploring the relationship between purpose and moral psychological indicatorsEthics and Behavior 34 (1): 28-39. 2024.ABSTRACT In the present study, I explore the relationship between purpose, which was measured by the Claremont Purpose Scale, and moral psychological indicators, moral reasoning, moral identity, and empathy. Purpose was quantified in terms of three subcomponents: meaning, goal, and beyond-the-self motivation. Moral reasoning was assessed in terms of utilization of postconventional moral reasoning. Moral identity was examined with two subscales: moral internalization, and symbolization. Among div…Read more
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361Latent Structural Analysis for Measures of Character Strengths: Achieving Adequate FitCurrent Psychology. forthcoming.The VIA Classification of Strengths and Virtues is the most commonly used model of positive personality. In this study, we used two methods of model modification to develop models for two measures of the character strengths, the VIA Inventory of Strengths-Revised and the Global Assessment of Character Strengths. The first method consisted of freeing residual covariances based on modification indices until good fit was achieved. The second was residual network modeling (RNM), which frees residual…Read more
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751Exploring the association between character strengths and moral functioningEthics and Behavior 33 (4): 286-303. 2023.We explored the relationship between 24 character strengths measured by the Global Assessment of Character Strengths (GACS), which was revised from the original VIA instrument, and moral functioning comprising postconventional moral reasoning, empathic traits and moral identity. Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) was employed to explore the best models, which were more parsimonious than full regression models estimated through frequentist regression, predicting moral functioning indicators with the …Read more
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578Which moral exemplars inspire prosociality?Philosophical Psychology 35 (7): 943-970. 2022.Some stories of moral exemplars motivate us to emulate their admirable attitudes and behaviors, but why do some exemplars motivate us more than others? We systematically studied how motivation to emulate is influenced by the similarity between a reader and an exemplar in social or cultural background (Relatability) and how personally costly or demanding the exemplar’s actions are (Attainability). Study 1 found that university students reported more inspiration and related feelings after reading …Read more
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327How are Moral Foundations Associated with Empathic Traits and Moral Identity?Current Psychology. forthcoming.We examined the relationship between moral foundations, empathic traits, and moral identity using an online survey via Mechanical Turk. In order to determine how moral foundations contribute to empathic traits and moral identity, we performed classical correlation analysis as well as Bayesian correlation analysis, Bayesian ANCOVA, and Bayesian regression analysis. Results showed that individualizing foundations (harm/care, fairness/reciprocity) and binding foundations (ingroup/loyalty, authority…Read more
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295Public Value, Psychology, and NeuroscienceJournal of Public Value 1 23-32. 2021.Research on public value is inevitable interdisciplinary in its nature due to its aim and purpose. Both philosophical and empirical approaches are necessary to conduct such research in a successful manner. In the present paper, I intend to discuss the importance of empirical approaches in research on public values, particularly psychological and neuroscientific approaches with concrete examples. I proposed that such empirical approaches are essential in better understanding the processes and mec…Read more
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325Cerebellum and Emotion in MoralityIn Michael Adamaszek, Mario Manto & Denis Schutter (eds.), Cerebellum and Emotion, . forthcoming.In the current chapter, I examined the relationship between the cerebellum, emotion, and morality with evidence from large-scale neuroimaging data analysis. Although the aforementioned relationship has not been well studied in neuroscience, recent studies have shown that the cerebellum is closely associated with emotional and social processes at the neural level. Also, debates in the field of moral philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience have supported the importance of emotion in moral functio…Read more
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670Improved model exploration for the relationship between moral foundations and moral judgment development using Bayesian Model AveragingJournal of Moral Education 51 (2): 204-218. 2022.Although some previous studies have investigated the relationship between moral foundations and moral judgment development, the methods used have not been able to fully explore the relationship. In the present study, we used Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) in order to address the limitations in traditional regression methods that have been used previously. Results showed consistency with previous findings that binding foundations are negatively correlated with post-conventional moral reasoning an…Read more
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742What does character education mean to character education experts? A prototype analysis of expert opinionsJournal of Moral Education 51 (2): 219-237. 2022.Having an agreed-upon definition of character education would be useful for both researchers and practitioners in the field. However, even experts in character education disagree on how they would define it. We attempted to achieve greater conceptual clarity on this issue through a prototype analysis in which the features perceived as most central to character education were identified. In Study 1 (N = 77), we asked character education experts to enumerate features of character education. Based …Read more
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232A Survey of Effects of STS Education on the University Students' Moral Development and Epistemological Beliefs: Using DIT and EBIJournal of Ethics Education Studies 9 201-217. 2006.The purpose of this study is to assess effects of STS(Science and Technology Studies) education in natural science colleges and engineering colleges. STS is an interdisciplinary study includes ethics, history, sociology, policy of science and technology; its main purpose is elaborating students' social perspectives on science and technology. In Korea, however, there is few studies related to STS education to improve its educational effects. Therefore, this study will do exploratory investigation…Read more
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331Introduction The Defining Issues Test (DIT) aimed to measure one’s moral judgment development in terms of moral reasoning. The Neo-Kohlbergian approach, which is an elaboration of Kohlbergian theory, focuses on the continuous development of postconventional moral reasoning, which constitutes the theoretical basis of the DIT. However, very few studies have directly tested the internal structure of the DIT, which would indicate its construct validity. Objectives Using the DIT-2, a later revisio…Read more
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318Comment on Raine (2019) ‘The neuromoral theory of antisocial, violent, and psychopathic behavior’F1000Research 9 274. 2020.Raine (2019) reviewed previous research on the neural correlates of antisocial, violent, and psychopathic behavior based on previous studies of neuroscience of morality. The author identified neural circuitries associated with the aforementioned types of antisocial behaviors. However, in the review, Raine acknowledged a limitation in his arguments, the lack of evidence supporting the presence of the neural circuitries. In this correspondence, I intend to show that some of his concerns, particula…Read more
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459Development and validation of the English version of the Moral Growth Mindset measureF1000Research 9 256. 2020.Background: Moral Growth Mindset (MGM) is a belief about whether one can become a morally better person through efforts. Prior research showed that MGM is positively associated with promotion of moral motivation among adolescents and young adults. We developed and tested the English version of the MGM measure in this study with data collected from college student participants. Methods: In Study 1, we tested the reliability and validity of the MGM measure with two-wave data (N = 212, Age mean = …Read more
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2526The Neuroscience of Moral Judgment: Empirical and Philosophical DevelopmentsIn Felipe De Brigard & Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (eds.), Neuroscience and philosophy, The Mit Press. pp. 17-47. 2022.We chart how neuroscience and philosophy have together advanced our understanding of moral judgment with implications for when it goes well or poorly. The field initially focused on brain areas associated with reason versus emotion in the moral evaluations of sacrificial dilemmas. But new threads of research have studied a wider range of moral evaluations and how they relate to models of brain development and learning. By weaving these threads together, we are developing a better understanding o…Read more
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546Links between moral identity and political purpose during emerging adulthoodJournal of Moral Education 1-19. 2019.We examined the links between moral identity—the centrality of moral principles to identity—and political purpose during emerging adulthood. We analyzed data from two waves of a longitudinal study of civic purpose. T1 surveys were collected before high school graduation and T2 survey were collected two years later. We categorized people (N = 1,578 at T1 and N = 480 at T2) into political purpose groups based on the person-centered perspective and then performed multinomial logistic regression ana…Read more
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804Connecting Levels of Analysis in Educational Neuroscience: A Review of Multi-level Structure of Educational Neuroscience with Concrete ExamplesTrends in Neuroscience and Education 17 100113. 2019.In its origins educational neuroscience has started as an endeavor to discuss implications of neuroscience studies for education. However, it is now on its way to become a transdisciplinary field, incorporating findings, theoretical frameworks and methodologies from education, and cognitive and brain sciences. Given the differences and diversity in the originating disciplines, it has been a challenge for educational neuroscience to integrate both theoretical and methodological perspective in edu…Read more
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659Improving Epistemological Beliefs and Moral Judgment Through an STS-Based Science Ethics Education ProgramScience and Engineering Ethics 20 (1): 197-220. 2014.This study develops a Science–Technology–Society (STS)-based science ethics education program for high school students majoring in or planning to major in science and engineering. Our education program includes the fields of philosophy, history, sociology and ethics of science and technology, and other STS-related theories. We expected our STS-based science ethics education program to promote students’ epistemological beliefs and moral judgment development. These psychological constructs are nee…Read more
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837Measuring Moral Reasoning using Moral Dilemmas: Evaluating Reliability, Validity, and Differential Item Functioning of the Behavioral Defining Issues Test (bDIT)European Journal of Developmental Psychology 16 (5): 622-631. 2019.We evaluated the reliability, validity, and differential item functioning (DIF) of a shorter version of the Defining Issues Test-1 (DIT-1), the behavioral DIT (bDIT), measuring the development of moral reasoning. 353 college students (81 males, 271 females, 1 not reported; age M = 18.64 years, SD = 1.20 years) who were taking introductory psychology classes at a public University in a suburb area in the Southern United States participated in the present study. First, we examined the reliability …Read more
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471Neuroscience of morality and teacher educationIn Michael A. Peters (ed.), Encyclopedia of Teacher Education, Springer. forthcoming.Given that teachers become primary fundamental exemplars and models for their students and the students are likely to emulate the presented teachers’ behaviors, it is necessary to consider how to promote teachers’ abilities as potential moral educators during the course of teacher education. To achieve this ultimate aim in teacher education, as argued by moral philosophers, psychologists, and educators, teachers should be able to well understand the mechanisms of moral functioning and how to eff…Read more
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873Developmental Level of Moral Judgment Influences Behavioral Patterns during Moral Decision-makingJournal of Experimental Education. forthcoming.We developed and tested a behavioral version of the Defining Issues Test-1 revised (DIT-1r), which is a measure of the development of moral judgment. We conducted a behavioral experiment using the behavioral Defining Issues Test (bDIT) to examine the relationship between participants’ moral developmental status, moral competence, and reaction time when making moral judgments. We found that when the judgments were made based on the preferred moral schema, the reaction time for moral judgments was…Read more
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450Moral Growth Mindset is Associated with Change in Voluntary Service EngagementPLoS ONE 8 (13). 2018.Incremental implicit theories are associated with a belief regarding it is possible to improve one’s intelligence or ability through efforts. Previous studies have demonstrated that incremental implicit theories contributed to better academic achievement and positive youth development. Our study aimed to examine whether incremental implicit theories of morality significantly influenced change in students’ engagement in voluntary service activities. In our study, 54 Korean college students for St…Read more
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970The VIA Inventory of Strengths, Positive Youth Development, and Moral EducationJournal of Positive Psychology. forthcoming.The VIA Inventory of Strengths and the VIA model were originally developed to assess and study 24 character strengths. In this paper, I discuss how the VIA Inventory and its character strength model can be applied to the field of moral education with moral philosophical considerations. First, I review previous factor analysis studies that have consistently reported factors containing candidates for moral virtues, and discuss the systematic structure and organization of VIA character strengths. S…Read more
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University of AlabamaEducational Studies In Psychology, Research Methodology, and CounselingAssistant Professor
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Neuroscience |
Psychology |
Education |
Areas of Interest
Applied Ethics |
Philosophy of Cognitive Science |
Neuroscience |
Psychology |
Education |