In a research study on moral development, a group of high school students are presented with the following moral dilemma:
The president of Metro University's undergraduate student council received funding from the Vice-Dean's office to organize a school-
wide event. Metro University's students completed surveys to gauge interest, and the results were almost unanimously in favour of
hosting a panel on mental health, including talks of self-harm prevention. The Vice-Dean is made aware of the survey results and warns
the student council president that administrators would "not approve" of organizing an event around such a sensitive topic. The funds
have already been deposited in the student council's bank account.
After reading the dilemma, each student responds to indicate what action they would take and their reason(s) for that action. From the
options provided, select the response that demonstrates the highest level of moral reasoning ability (i.e., the response that is most
developmentally advanced) based on what we learned about stages of moral development.
a. "The president should move forward with the mental health panel. Yeah maybe the Vice-Dean would be upset but I think he
would be more upset if, like, the student council president causes a riot because the students find out they just ignored the
surveys! No one would ever vote them in for the president job again."
b. "The president should not move forward with the mental health panel. Yeah maybe the students would hate the pres but
honestly, it sounds like the Vice-Dean might never give them money again, and then it's even worse for students in the long
run, so it's better to just do what the Vice-Dean says this time."
c. "The president should not move forward with the mental health panel. Yeah maybe the students won't understand or will be
upset, but jeez, the Vice-Dean is paying for the whole thing! It's never right to go against their wishes when they're the ones
bankrolling it."
d. "The president should move forward with the mental health panel. Yeah maybe the Vice-Dean would be upset but I think it's
against the rules somewhere for the president to ignore students wishes..."