TY - JOUR
T1 - Just environments foster character
T2 - A longitudinal assessment of school climate
AU - Thomas, Kendra J.
AU - Cunha, Josafá M.da
AU - Santo, Jonathan B.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Journal of Moral Education Ltd.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Justice is at the center of many definitions of character across various lines of research, yet there is little empirical research on how the justice of contexts can foster character virtues. The current study draws from a sample of 1,865 Brazilian fourth and fifth graders across two time points in 60 schools (42.7% White; 48.3% male). A multilevel structural equation model demonstrated the mediating role that justice beliefs play between authoritative school climate and socio-emotional learning, and the character virtues of bravery, fairness, and prosocial leadership even after accounting for grade, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES). This study highlights the importance of understanding the contextual justice of children’s environments on the development of character virtues.
AB - Justice is at the center of many definitions of character across various lines of research, yet there is little empirical research on how the justice of contexts can foster character virtues. The current study draws from a sample of 1,865 Brazilian fourth and fifth graders across two time points in 60 schools (42.7% White; 48.3% male). A multilevel structural equation model demonstrated the mediating role that justice beliefs play between authoritative school climate and socio-emotional learning, and the character virtues of bravery, fairness, and prosocial leadership even after accounting for grade, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES). This study highlights the importance of understanding the contextual justice of children’s environments on the development of character virtues.
KW - Justice beliefs
KW - fairness
KW - school climate
KW - socioemotional learning
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U2 - 10.1080/03057240.2022.2081138
DO - 10.1080/03057240.2022.2081138
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85133282502
SN - 0305-7240
VL - 52
SP - 417
EP - 434
JO - Journal of Moral Education
JF - Journal of Moral Education
IS - 4
ER -