Psycho-socio-moral development of the youth in Iran and Germany: A cross-cultural research

Objectives: The aim of this cross-cultural research is to study and compare the psycho-socio-moral development of the youth in Iran and Germany in the Eastern and Western society considering different components of both societies. Materials and Methods: The statistical universe of this research is 16–20-year-old high school students in Hamburg and Tehran. Three hundred students (150 females and 150 males) were randomly chosen through multi-stage sampling from the Northern, Central, and Southern parts of each of these two cities. A test similar to Kohlberg's moral measurement was made to assess the level of moral development. This test was compiled regarding cultural variables (Iranian, German, mythic, and modern) and new conflict triggering issues that were not considered in Kohlberg's moral measurement and it was standardized in two languages and cultures simultaneously. Back-translation cross-cultural methodology was used to assess the equivalence of the two tests in two languages and two cultures. Result: To compare the moral development of Iranian and German youths, a test of mean for independent groups was carried out with the hypothesis that cultural and time components will significantly influence the results. According to the final results, moral development is significantly higher in German youths than in Iranian youths. Although the mentioned measure had reflected other conflicts in the different cultural atmosphere, it was not influential except in the case of the fourth story. Conclusion: This finding implies the need for revising the moral training procedures based on developmental psychology.