Date
8-29-2025
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)
Chair
Cynthia Evans
Keywords
morality, moral foundation, purpose of life, PIL, self-esteem, Collective Self Esteem Scale, CSES, Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale, RSES, attitude
Disciplines
Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Recommended Citation
Leininger, Ashley Burgess, "The Relationship Between Morality, Perceptions of Self and Others, and Purpose in Life: A Moderation Analysis" (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 7426.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/7426
Abstract
Morality is an understudied construct in psychological research, despite its fundamental role in shaping human behavior and self-perception. This quantitative study examined whether purpose in life moderated the relationship between morality and perceptions of the self and others. Two hypotheses were tested, H1: There will be a relationship between morality and perception of self and others; H2: Purpose in life will moderate the relationship between morality and perception of self and others. Ninety-one individuals recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk completed the Purpose in Life scale (PIL), Moral Foundation Questionnaire (MFQ30), Rosenberg’s Self Esteem Scale (RSES), and the Collective Self-Esteem Scale (CSES); 89 responses were considered valid and used in data analyses to test the hypotheses of this study. Spearman correlations revealed significant relationships between morality, the RSES, and the following subscales of the CSES: public collective, private and group membership, supporting H1. Purpose in life moderated the relationship between morality and perceptions of self as measured by the RSES. Whereas morality and perceptions of others as measured by public collective self-esteem approached significance, the findings partially supported H2. The predominately young White Christian male sample more highly endorsed public collective self-esteem (M = 4.85) compared to their private (M = 4.13) and group membership self-esteem (M = 4.17), which may indicate they were more critical of the moral standards of their private groups. These findings extend the research on morality to include its influence on perceptions of self and others and the extent to which individuals find purpose in life.
