Moral Orientation Scale: A Study on Validity and Reliability

Abstract

This study develops and psychometrically evaluates the Moral Orientation Scale, designed to assess individuals’ moral orientations across secular and religious foundations. In contemporary societies, sources of moral motivation are increasingly diverse, and individuals’ moral decision-making processes are influenced by both religious and secular references. Within the context of postmodern social structures, alongside traditional religious authorities, rational moral frameworks, humanistic values, and concepts of individual freedom also play a significant role in shaping moral judgments. The scale therefore targets two primary dimensions: Religious Moral Orientation and Secular Moral Orientation. The theoretical foundation of the study encompasses responses from both religious and secular perspectives to fundamental questions regarding the origins, universality, and enforcement mechanisms of moral behavior. The secular moral approach posits that moral values can be grounded in rational principles, human experience, and universal human rights, independent of religious references. This perspective spans a wide philosophical spectrum, from Kant’s categorical imperative to Mill’s utilitarianism. In contrast, the religious moral perspective is based on values shaped by individual religiosity, principles derived from sacred texts, and the guidance of religious authorities. This orientation asserts that moral norms are rooted in a transcendent source and possess absolute validity. These orientations influence perceptions of right and wrong, moral decisions, and attitudes toward social norms; level of religiosity may further shape the sources and strength of moral motivation. During scale development, a 17-item pool was created based on literature from moral psychology, psychology of religion, and values education; expert review and a pilot study followed. After the pilot study, three items were removed due to cross-loadings in the exploratory factor analysis (EFA), resulting in a 14-item scale. The EFA revealed a two-factor structure with eigenvalues greater than 1, explaining 56% of the total variance. This level of explained variance is considered sufficient by social science standards and indicates that the scale successfully represents the theoretical construct. The factor structure was confirmed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), with fit indices (CFI = 0.951, TLI = 0.939, RMSEA = 0.065, SRMR = 0.052) indicating excellent model fit. Additionally, GFI (0.916) and AGFI (0.879) values supported the model’s adequacy. Reliability analyses showed that Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was .89 for the Religious Moral Orientation factor and .81 for the Secular Moral Orientation factor, indicating high internal consistency for both dimensions. The upper-lower 27% group comparison also supported the scale’s discriminant validity. In the validity analyses, average variance extracted (AVE) and composite reliability (CR) values were examined for construct validity. The AVE and CR values were 0.517 and 0.881 for the Religious Moral Orientation factor, and 0.421 and 0.812 for the Secular Moral Orientation factor, respectively. Discriminant validity among the factors was assessed using the HTMT ratio, and since the value of 0.705 falls within the accepted range, the factors were confirmed to be distinguishable from each other. As a result of these analyses, the developed Moral Orientation Scale has been demonstrated to be a valid and reliable instrument for assessing individuals’ moral motivations based on secular and religious orientations. The scale offers a valuable tool for research aimed at understanding the underlying motivations of moral decision-making processes. In this respect, the study contributes both methodologically and theoretically to the fields of moral psychology, psychology of religion, values education, and the broader social sciences, and aims to provide a foundation for future comparative research.