Research

As the national university, we champion and support innovative research that addresses the country’s most pressing challenges.

23 Oct 2025

Gay and bisexual teachers in rural schools need clear policies that protect LGBT educators

This research explored the experiences of gay and bisexual teachers working in rural schools in the Philippines. It involved interviews...

Read More

22 Oct 2025

Fishing communities in Taliptip, Bulakan face risks from natural hazards and the New Manila International Airport project

The New Manila International Airport (NMIA), currently under construction in Taliptip, Bulakan along the shores of Manila Bay, is intended...

Read More

21 Oct 2025

Advanced optical correlation and interferometry techniques can enhance our understanding of earthquake hazards

In the Philippines, studying earthquakes usually involves using techniques like interferometry, global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), waveform modeling, and field...

Read More

17 Oct 2025

Researchers build a portable, low-cost reflectance sensor for crop health monitoring

Precision agriculture is improving agricultural processes. Various sensors have been developed, such as spectral reflectance and transmittance sensors, multispectral canopy...

Read More

16 Oct 2025

There is a deep connection between a person’s belief and the evidence that supports it

This paper presents a way to define and test whether someone is justified in holding a belief, using an example...

Read More

15 Oct 2025

Neurosurgery residents outperform ChatGPT in answering board examination-like questions

Large language models such as ChatGPT have been used in different fields of medical education. This study aimed to review...

Read More

13 Oct 2025

Those who start smoking at a younger age are likely to become more frequent and heavier smokers later in life

Understanding the relationship between age at smoking initiation and later smoking intensity is crucial for assessing future health consequences of...

Read More

08 Oct 2025

Study finds significant gaps in menstrual hygiene management across six global cities, including Manila

The study “Exploring the Availability and Accessibility of Menstrual Friendly Public Toilets (MFPTs) in Urban Spaces” examines public toilet facilities...

Read More

24 Sep 2025

Supplements can enhance the textural and nutritional qualities of rice

This study looked at how adding supplements like rapeseed oil, dried wasabi powder, and dried chili pepper powder changes the...

Read More

23 Sep 2025

Economic reasons are a significant factor why microentrepreneurs remain in flood-prone areas

The number of establishments (89% of the total establishments in the Philippines) and people employed by micro enterprises makes it...

Read More

04 Sep 2025

What does queerness mean to a young Filipino student in another Southeast Asian country? A novel’s chapter explores it.

In the chapter “New Boy”, Pau, a Filipino exchange student from Tagum City, attends classes in photography and Thai arts...

Read More

03 Sep 2025

In the Philippines, we share a long-standing connection with pigs both archaeologically and culturally

Pigs play a very significant role in our society. They are not only seen as a food source but also...

Read More

Research

This study examined how Filipinos in their 20s use different moral discourses to negotiate their personal conflicts. Many conflicts centered around concerns about harm and welfare, often rooted in the participants’ roles and relationships. For instance, conflicts arise when participants consider how their actions may harm others, and personal gain over others’ welfare was constructed as a moral violation. The relational construction of harm reflects the conceptualization of kapwa in Filipino psychology, whereby self-sacrifice is constructed as beneficial to oneself because it is united with others.

Participants also constructed and negotiated conflicts as a function of their relationships and the duties that come with their roles in these relationships. For example, participants expressed tensions between pursuing personal growth and their duty to obey their parents as good sons and daughters, as well conflicts between different familial roles. Moreover, participants shared conflicts around one’s sexuality and the rules espoused by religious institutions. Participants negotiated these conflicts in various ways, with some reinterpreting religious teachings, thus downplaying the authority of religious institutions, and others using the language of harm and welfare and negotiating the power dynamics within the family.

Participants’ reasoning often expressed (neo)liberal principles of freedom, equality, individual choice, rationality, and responsibility. They used such liberal language to reconstruct institutional rules and traditions, thus presenting conservative positions as rational and fair and the self as an autonomous agent. This suggests young adult Filipinos are increasingly appropriating the liberal discourses that characterize their globalized sociocultural and developmental contexts.

This study contributes to the scholarship on moral development by employing a cultural development lens to understand young adults’ moral reasoning. The research fills a gap in the literature by focusing on young adulthood—a life stage that has received relatively less attention in the field of moral development, particularly in the Philippines.

This study also provides a broader examination of moral development by examining the different ethics used by young adult Filipinos within their developmental and cultural contexts, going beyond a justice-oriented framework that dominates the literature. By examining how Filipino young adults use the ethics of autonomy, community, and divinity in negotiating their personal conflicts, this study contributes to understanding the universals and particulars of moral reasoning among young adults.

The findings of this study can potentially also be used to promote moral development by creating individual-level programs and producing and disseminating moral discourses that Filipino young adults can appropriate in their moral reasoning.

Authors: Danielle P. Ochoa (Department of Psychology, University of the Philippines Diliman) and Tracey Dela Cruz (Department of Psychology, University of the Philippines Diliman)

Read the full paper: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1354067X241285350

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay