Religiosity and moral judgment: Moderating role of moral internalization and moral competence

Abstract

Religious beliefs strongly influence moral judgment, moral values, and priorities. In this article, we analyze the nature and genesis of utilitarian versus deontological moral judgment, the role of religiosity in human morality, and finally, we present empirical findings on the interrelationship between moral judgment, moral identity, moral competence, and religiosity. In a cross-sectional study, 318 individuals (65% female) completed self-report psychometric scales, including Moral judgment scenarios, Moral Competency Index (MCI), and the Self-Importance of Moral identity (SIMI) scale. The study results show that religiosity has a predictive power for deontological moral judgment. Furthermore, bootstrapping analysis confirmed that moral competence and moral identity moderate the relationship between religiosity and deontological moral judgment. The result fits in the deontological coherence framework, evidencing that the association between consequential/deontological moral judgment and religiosity is not rigid and predetermined, but changes on a different level of moral competency and moral internalization. The study results are important to understand the contextual variables and complementary mechanisms that affect the relationship between morality and religiosity.