Relationships in Moral Reasoning and Religion Among Members of Conservative, Moderate, and Liberal Religious Groups

Relationships between moral reasoning and religiosity, religious orientation, age, and education were explored among 210 northwest and central Arkansas participants categorized into conservative, moderate, and liberal religious groups. Correlational analyses for the entire sample yielded evidence of relationships among the variables, although those relationships were not consistent when examined separately within the three groups. In addition, an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) generated evidence of significantly (p < .01) less principled moral reasoning among members of the conservative religious groups. Data analyses provided evidence that with regard to concerns of social justice, aspects of religion may interact with reasoning to enable some individuals to separate religiousness from moral reasoning.