TheMoralischesUrteil Test (MUT) has been developed to measure
simultaneously people's preferences for moral arguments and their
competence to apply self-accepted moral reasons in a consistent
and differentiated manner to moral dilemmas. In two studies, large
samples of (1) university students from West Germany, and (2)
university students from Austria, West Germany, the Netherlands,
Poland, and Yugoslavia were exposed to the MUT. East European and
West European students exhibited the same preference order for
Kohlberg's six moral stages. These results strongly support Kohlberg's
claims for the universality of moral principles. While gender and field of
study did not systematically influence moral judgment competence,
students from the five countries differed markedly in their ability to
consistently apply moral principles to an euthanasia dilemma. Future
research will investigate some of the possible origins of these cross-
cultural differences.
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