Responses to moral dilemmas involving self versus others.
Forty older adults were administered the standard version (i.e. Other-orientation) of Rest et al.'s Defining Issues Test (DIT) and a modified version (i.e., Self-orientation) of the same instrument on two separate occasions. Contrary to the results of previous studies with children and young adults, the self/other manipulation in the present study failed to influence significantly older adults' moral judgments. The role of cognitive/perspective-taking and personal/affective factors in the moral reasoning abilities of the elderly, as well as those of children and young adults, are discussed.
D000368:Aged; D003071:Cognition; D004532:Ego; D006801:Humans; D009014:Morals; D009518:New York