The SROM's
concunent validity was good for both the derivation
and the cross-validation samples.
Goncurrent validity was assessed primarily
with respect to the group-administrable
SRM, but was also assessed using the MJI.
The respective means generally suggested
that subjects' recognitory self-report responses
generally exceeded the developmental
level of their spontaneously produced
responses by approximately a half
stage (one-third stage for college or adult
subjects, two-thirds stage for high school
subjects). Researchers seeking to assess
stage of spontaneously produced moral reasoning
from the recognitory SROM data can
estimate that, for mostiy middle-class samples,
ninth graders (14-year-olds) would
score 69.6 points lower on a production measure
(the SRM), eleventh graders (16-yearolds)
would score 55.2 points lower, and
college students (mean age 18.6 years)
would score 38.2 points lower. Using the
MJI as the referent for the production mean,
respective means for Sample 3 indicate that
a 20-year-old (mean age for Sample 3 equals
20.1 years) would score on the average 32.1
points lower if the spontaneous production
of moral justifications were to be required.