Rethinking Moral Growth in College and Beyond

This paper draws on evidence from Alverno's longitudinal research to make the case that the DIT is best characterised as measuring growth in moral reasoning rather than a broader construct of moral development. As a broader moral development construct, the cognitive developmental construction of moral judgement appears to be integrated within the even broader developmental and subjective construction of self as meaning-maker. Factorial and other evidence from the battery of instruments supports reconceptualizing the moral growth of the person and suggests key areas for further validity inquiry on the DIT. Although this evidence challenges current DIT theory, including aspects of the Four Component Model, it is also consistent with prevailing substantive interpretations of growth on the DIT described by Rest and his colleagues.