Moral Identity and the different ways of integrating moral values into self-representation

Abstract Integrative analysis of studies on moral identity suggests that moral values can be integrated into self-representations in various ways. However, the predominance of quantitative research with closed-ended instruments limits the advancement of knowledge about this phenomenon. This paper aims to explore the various ways in which moral content can be integrated into self-representation through a qualitative approach. The instrument consisted of an open-ended questionnaire, administered on two different occasions to a total of 42 high school students from a Brazilian school. The analysis of the 84 questionnaires, based on the Theory of Organizing Models of Thinking, identified that moral contents can be integrated into self-representation in various ways: as an attribute of identity; an action; a judgment; through autobiographical events in which the individual was an agent, a recipient, or a spectator of moral or immoral action; as life goals; a prototype of behavior; as political ideology; as feelings; and as a project for society.