Moral Reasoning, Classroom Behavior, and the Intellectually Gifted

Abstract

The present research compared the moral reasoning and classroom conduct of 14 intellectually gifted sixth grade students with 46 of their non-gifted peers. A linear relationship was found between moral reasoning and intelligence. The intellectually gifted students were found to be more advanced in their moral reasoning and to exhibit fewer conduct problems in the classroom. Although the conduct of the gifted students was found to be less variable than that of their non-gifted peers, their moral reasoning was equally as variable as that of their non-gifted peers. The results indicate that advanced moral reasoning and the relative absence of conduct problems are differential characteristics of the intellectually gifted.