Promotion of moral judgement maturity through stimulation of social role-taking and social reflection: an Italian intervention study

We examined social role-taking and moral judgement improvement after an educational group-oriented intervention emphasizing guided reflection and role-taking dimensions among 11 groups, made up of a total of 61 female and male Italian university students. They were compared to a control group of 59 students. We twice applied Italian adaptations of two role-taking and two moral development measures, originally developed by Gibbs and by Lind respectively in the USA and in Germany. Good empirical support for the reliability and validity of the American and German instruments was noted in the Italian setting. Students assumed more responsibility in a variety of social roles, exposed themselves increasingly to social role-taking opportunities, and showed increased moral judgement maturity after the educational intervention. An active orientation toward role-taking opportunities was related to higher levels of moral judgement among both men and women.