College and the “Culture War”: Assessing Higher Education’s Influence on Moral Attitudes
利用美国青年与宗教研究的四波数据，研究了高等教育对道德相对主义、关心他人和关心社会秩序三个维度的态度影响，发现高等教育总体上使道德态度更自由化，但促进了道德绝对主义而非相对主义，对人文学科、艺术或社会科学专业学生及研究生影响最强。
Moral differences contribute to social and political conflicts. Against this backdrop, colleges and universities have been criticized for promoting liberal moral attitudes. However, direct evidence for these claims is sparse, and suggestive evidence from studies of political attitudes is inconclusive. Using four waves of data from the National Study of Youth and Religion, we examine the effects of higher education on attitudes related to three dimensions of morality that have been identified as central to conflict: moral relativism, concern for others, and concern for social order. Our results indicate that higher education liberalizes moral concerns for most students, but it also departs from the standard liberal profile by promoting moral absolutism rather than relativism. These effects are strongest for individuals majoring in the humanities, arts, or social sciences, and for students pursuing graduate studies. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our results for work on political conflict and moral socialization.