Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Aaron Franzen, Sociology & Social Work
Document Type
Poster
Event Date
4-12-2024
Abstract
Moral Foundations Theory argues that there is an automatic nature to the decisions that we make. These can be of significant importance to healthcare professionals who make decisions impacting their patients' lives. Throughout their undergraduate years, students begin to solidify their identity and develop their morals in this formative time. This could be shaped by the pre-health professional track or more specifically what the student studies during this time. Political beliefs are also evolving during this stage and have a consistent relationship with moral foundations. There is also a tentative relationship between empathy and each foundation. Currently, research does not focus on moral foundations in undergraduate studies and there are no comparisons regarding how the moral foundations differ between pre-health students, students who left pre-health tracks, and nursing students. The aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that different variables that contribute to a student's identity will impact moral foundations differently. Data from a longitudinal panel survey sent to three consecutive cohorts of freshman indicating an interest in pre-health or nursing were analyzed using linear regressions in SPSS. There are differences in moral foundation stability over time, with purity and authority being more fluid than ingroup, harm, and fairness. Additionally, clear discrepancies exist between pre-health and nursing students, as nursing students score lower on fairness, ingroup, and purity. Politics play a significant role in the binding domains, with liberals scoring higher in authority and ingroup. Future research should focus on how politics may mediate the relationship between variables analyzed in this study and moral foundations. It also can continue to explore differences in nursing and other pre-health students, as well as those who left pre-health completely.
Recommended Citation
Repository citation: Rellinger, Grace, "Moral Foundations in Undergraduate Pre-health Students" (2024). 23rd Annual A. Paul and Carol C. Schaap Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2024). Paper 70.
https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/curca_23/70
April 12, 2024. Copyright © 2024 Hope College, Holland, Michigan.
