Degree

BS (Social Sciences & Liberal Arts)

Faculty / School

School of Economics and Social Sciences (SESS)

Department

Department of Social Sciences & Liberal Arts

Date of Award

Spring 2025

Date of Submission

2025-07-15

Advisor

Waliyah Mughis

Project Type

SSLA Culminating Experience

Access Type

Restricted Access

Keywords

Socioeconomic Status, Moral Decision-Making, Moral Psychology, Mixed-methods Research, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Moral psychology research has long sought to understand how individuals make ethical decisions, yet much of this work overlooks the structural inequalities that shape these decisions. In Pakistan—a context marked by systemic inequality, class-based injustice, and moral exhaustion—the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and moral decision-making warrants critical exploration. While existing tools like the Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ) provide standardized insights, they often fail to capture culturally specific and context-dependent moral reasoning.

Objectives: This study investigates how SES influences moral perception, justification, and judgment among university students in Karachi, Pakistan, and evaluates the limitations of universalist moral measurement tools within structurally unequal societies.

Method: A mixed-methods, cross-sectional design was employed using both quantitative surveys (n = 155) and qualitative open-ended responses. The quantitative phase included the MFQ alongside objective (household income, parental education) and subjective (MacArthur Scale) SES indicators. Qualitative data were drawn from seven moral dilemma questions analyzed thematically. Participants were university students aged 18–27 from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.

Results: Quantitative findings showed no statistically significant association between SES and any of the five moral foundations (p > 0.05), with participants broadly endorsing Care/Harm and Fairness/Reciprocity across SES groups. However, qualitative analysis revealed that while moral values remained consistent, their interpretation and application were highly contextual. Participants from lower SES backgrounds expressed heightened sensitivity to structural injustice and legal double standards, often invoking Islamic moral frameworks to negotiate ethical complexity. Moral reasoning was shaped less by SES itself and more by lived experiences of power, survival, and inequality.

Conclusion: Although SES did not predict moral foundation scores, it significantly shaped the emotional, political, and spiritual dimensions of moral reasoning. The findings underscore the inadequacy of universalist moral assessment tools in capturing the moral worlds of individuals navigating systemic injustice. In Karachi’s deeply stratified society, morality is not only a matter of belief, but a matter of endurance, adaptation, and lived reality.

Keywords: socioeconomic status, moral decision-making, moral psychology, Pakistan, structural inequality, Moral Foundations Theory, mixed-methods research, cultural moral reasoning.

Pages

101

Download

The full text of this document is only accessible to authorized users.

Share

COinS