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Moral Reasoning among Estonian and Finnish Adolescents

A Comparison of Collectivist and Individual Settings

University of Helsinki, Finland

Tuuli Terav

University of Helsinki, Finland

Laura Pakaslahti

University of Helsinki, Finland

The moral reasoning of 14- and 17-year-old Finnish adolescents (n = 1,230) who grew up in Finland and experienced Western individualistic educational practices was compared with that of adolescents (n = 428) of the same age who grew up in Estonia during the period of Soviet socialism with collectivist educational practices. The same factors of moral reasoning were found in both samples: legitimization (attributing the responsibility to external factors), relativism, absoluteness, and universality of high moral standards. The results showed that the moral reasoning of Finnish participants had a higher internal consistency, whereas two levels were likely to exist in Estonia: a set of universal standards for what people ought to do and a different set for personal applications. The finding is discussed in terms of primary principles of collectivist education (i.e., a collective consciousness, a relative insignificance of family and parenting, and a lack of primary developmental context) as well as in the light of historical processes underlying the present time.

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