Available online at www.globalilluminators.org
FULL PAPER PROCEEDING
GlobalIlluminators
Multidisciplinary Studies
Full Paper Proceeding GTAR-2014, Vol. 1, 488-502
ISBN: 978-969-9948-30-5
GTAR-14
Malaysian Adolescents‟ Moral Awareness And Their Cultural Conformity
Siti RafiahAbd Hamid 1*, Khamsiah Ismail 2, Nik SuryaniNikAbd Rahman 3 and Haniza
Rais4
International Islamic University Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur
Abstract
It has been reported in printed and electronic media that moral decadency among Malaysian adolescents is on
the rise (Jaafar, J., Kolodinsky, P., McCarthy, S. & Schroder, V., 2004; Ting Soo Ting, 2011; Shadiya
Mohamed S. Baqutayan, 2011). Such decadency is attributed by a host of factors. This study aims at describing
the moral awareness and social conformity of Malaysian adolescents. A questionnaire was administered on 200
respondents. Preliminary findings indicated that the respondents‟ conform positively to their cultural
expectations (M= 3.92; SD= .92) and have positive moral awareness is (M = 4.40; SD = .85). These findings
were perceived instrumental to the current classroom managements, school counselling services and parenting
styles in Malaysia.
© 2014 The Authors. Published by Global Illuminators. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific & Review committee of GTAR-2014.
Keywords― Malaysian Adolescents, Moral Decadency, Moral Awareness, Cultural Conformity, School
Counselling.
Introduction
Moral awareness among Malaysian adolescents is on the decline. Premarital sex in
Malaysia is rampant despite being viewed as a taboo since it is conflicting with the local
culture and most religions especially Islam which prohibit its followers from engaging in
activities that can lead to adultery, let alone committing it (Manaf, Mohd Rizal Abdul, Tahir,
Mastura Mohd; Sidi, Hatta; Midin, Marhani; Jaafar, NikRuzyaneiNik; et al., 2014).Fauziah,
I., Mohamad, M. S., Chong, S. T.1 and AzmiAbd Manaf. (2012) on the other hand examined
substance abuse and aggressive behavior among Malaysian adolescents and found that the
majority of adolescents (95 percent) indicated aggressive behavior of moderate to high level.
The result of the study also found that adolescents who have been using damaging drug such
as heroin and morphine drugs showed significant correlation between drug and aggression.
These are just glimpses of adolescents‟ moral decline in this country.
On the contrary observations made by Akbar Husain, (2011) on internalization of
moral values and research findings byShadiya Mohamed S. Baqutayan (2011), and Maisarah
MohamedSaat, Porter and Woodbine (2010) indicated that empowerment of knowledge,
*All correspondence related to this article should be directed to Siti RafiahAbd Hamid, International Islamic University Malaysia – Kuala
Lumpur
Email: [email protected]
© 2015 The Authors. Published by Global Illuminators. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific & Review committee of GTAR-2015.
Siti RafiahAbd Hamid /GTAR-2015/Full Paper Proceeding/Vol-1,488-502
internalization of spiritual and moral values would moderate and monitor adolescents from
engaging themselves in any immoral behaviors. Similarly SakinehMofrad, Kwan Foong
Chee, Andrea Emmanuel Koh and IkechukwuUba (2013) found that mastery of social skills
is important for the youngsters who will ascertain that they are leading a healthy lifestyles
and the mastery of this skill will reduce the likelihood of unwarranted immoral behaviors of
the Malaysian youths such as premarital sex, alcohol and drug abuse, and aggression
(Letchumanan, 2010).
Moral decline is attributed by a host of factors which is internal and external by
nature. Internal may come in the form of gender (Opayemi, 2011), age and birth order, so to
speak. External factors may be seen in the form of workaholic parents, parenting styles, peer
and media influences, globalization (Griswold, 2000), family socioeconomic statuses,
parental statuses (married, divorced and single parent), neighborhood and school locations
(urban, suburban and rural) (Yaacob, NikRosilaNik; Yusof, Najeemah Mohd& Hamzah,
Aswati. (2011).
Theoretical Framework
Most psychologists describe adolescence as the “storm and stress” period. It is a
critical developmental period where adolescence struggles with the development of self
identity which may include self-concept, self-confidence, self efficacy, self-esteem and selfworth. Before they discover the right identity which fits them best, there is a tendency for
many youngsters to experiment with new attractive ways of portraying themselves publically.
Such experimentation may expose them to many positive and negative influences.
Adolescents‟ thinking and display of behavior are very much affected by their cognitive
development which includes internalization of thinking skills and moral reasoning.
As regard to adolescents‟ moral reasoning, psychologist such as Kohlberg classifies
adolescents‟ moral functioning at Level 2: Conventional Reasoning (Santrock, 2014).
Accordingly, morality enables adolescents to distinguish right from wrong (Colby, Kohlberg
&et al (1987).Internalization of this important cognitive process enables them to respect
significant others and submit to institutionalized golden rules and regulations. Internalization
of moral values is reflected in their reasoning and thinking ability about acceptable rules for
ethical conduct (Hart & Carlo, 2005). This is then reflected in how adolescents actually
behave in moral circumstances and finally describes how adolescents feel about matters
related to morality.
On the contrary, bad family communication, ineffective parenting styles and strong
influences which come externally would affect adolescents reasoning ability and ethical
conduct. Adolescents‟ failure to internalize moral values and possessions of lower self
esteem and self worth would expose adolescents to all types of at-risk behaviors. In keeping
with this trendy lifestyle, some adolescents succumbed easily to these influences. Such
description furnishes us with information on how adolescents think, perceive, display their
attitude and behavior or react to positive or negative stimulus. Their thinking, display of prosocial or antisocial behaviors is very much determined by the nature versus nurture debate.
These include hereditary traits (temperaments) and external factors such as schooling,
parenting style, peer influence or influences which come from printed or electronic media
and have strong bearing on adolescents‟ morality.
Members of a particular society are govern by their cultural values. Cultural values
were created by our predecessors to safeguard the cultural traditions and beliefs systems. A
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cultural value synchronizes well with the individual‟s moral behavior. Members of a specific
society are expected to conform well with their specifics cultural values. A display of
immoral behaviors is classified as none conforming.
An interplay of moral awareness and cultural conformity would enable adolescents to
justify the external influences and prompts them to make wise choices which may not
jeopardize the rights of significant others around them. This is seen as mastery of morally
upright behaviors and social competency.
Literature Review
The era of globalization (Griswold, 2000)especially at the beginning of the
millennium era brought both positive and negative values with it and impacted the Malaysian
youth in many ways. The positive values were good as globalization brought about
advancement in high technology and communication system, great achievement in the
country‟s economy and political stability.
However its inception among the Malaysian youth, who are at the stage of “storm and
stress period” (Santrock, 2014) in search of their identities, were different. It is reported in
the Malaysian printed and electronic media that moral awareness among Malaysian youth
was declining (Anthony, 2010; Nor Hafizah NH, Zaihairul I &GeshinaAyu MS, 2012;
SakinehMofrad, Kwan Foong Chee, Andrea Emmanuel Koh, &IkechukwuUba, 2013). The
beginning of the millennium era marked this decline.
Rapid changes were obvious among Malaysian youths. From the internet cafes, wifi
services in homes, satellite and cable TVs, the young adolescents were quick enough to
embrace new lifestyles and thinking patterns such as truancy in school, runaways, change of
dress code (wearing tight fitting garments and revealing dresses), pornography, submission to
drug abuse and intoxicated drinks, engage in immoral activities such as cohabitation,
premarital sex, teen prostitution, heterosexual, gay and lesbian (LGBT) (still perceived as
taboo by most eastern culture). LGBT practices are permitted in some western cultures and
have been legalized in certain states in America and European countries.
On the contrary, homosexuality is clearly prohibited in the Shariah Law, since the
Prophet Muhammad himself forbade his companions not to wear attire that is similar to
women and vice versa. Everyone must follow the Law of Nature, fitrah, provided by Allah to
His servants (Hanani&Zulkifli, 2001). Some of the Malaysian youths were no longer
sensitive to public opinions and acceptance of their changing trends in lifestyle.
Considering the above Malaysian youth scenario, a study on adolescents‟ moral
awareness and cultural conformity is pertinent.This is toascertain the degree of their moral
awareness and cultural conformity to the Malaysian cultural norms.
The objectives of this study are to examine Malaysian adolescents‟ moral awareness
and cultural conformity. It is also pertinent for this study to ascertain differences in
adolescents‟ moral awareness and cultural conformity by considering gender, school
location, school streaming, and parental statuses as the independent variables.
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The following research questions are formulated:
1.
What is the nature of Malaysian adolescents‟ moral awareness?
2.
What is their level of cultural conformity?
3.
Are there significant differences in adolescents‟ moral awareness by considering the
following:
i.
gender,
ii.
school location,
iii.
school streaming
iv.
parental statuses Moral awareness
4.
Are there significant differences in adolescents‟ cultural conformity by considering
the following:
i.
gender,
ii.
school location,
iii.
school streaming
iv.
parental statuses
Methodology
Questionnaires related to the two constructs were administered on 200 selected
Malaysian adolescents. The questionnaires has 74 items which examines adolescents‟ moral
awareness and as well as their cultural conformity. Only completed forms were finally
addressed and analyzed in the final stage of this study. Descriptive statistics (means and
standard deviations), t-tests and one-way analysis of variance (Anova) were employed to
investigate mean scores differences by using gender, school locations (urban versus rural),
streaming and parental statuses as the independent variables. Discussion on demographic
variables and analysis of findings on Malaysian adolescents‟ moral awareness and cultural
conformity were tabulated in Table 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively.
Demographic Variables:
Frequency counts and percentages were employed to analyze the demographic
variables. Table 1: describes the means and standard deviations of the various demographic
variables undertaken by this study comparatively. The demographic variables examined were
the students‟ age, gender, school locations, school streaming, number of siblings, birthday
order, fathers‟ occupations, fathers‟ qualification, mothers‟ occupation and mothers‟
qualification, and parental statuses.
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Table 1:
Demographic Data of Malaysian Adolescents
Demographic variables Frequency
Age
15
1
16
163
Missing (99)
11
Total
175
Gender
Male
67
Female
97
Missing (99)
11
Total
175
School Location
Urban
121
Suburban
37
Rural
3
Missing (99)
14
Total
175
Streaming
Science
73
Social Sciences
78
Missing (99)
24
Total
175
Siblings
1
4
2
4
3
20
4
30
5
33
6
28
7
15
8
10
9
10
2
11
1
12
2
13
1
Missing (99)
25
Total
175
Birth order
1
35
2
34
3
30
4
15
5
16
6
12
7
7
Percentage
.6
93.1
6.3
100
38.3
55.4
6.3
100
69.1
21.1
1.7
8
100
41.7
44.6
13.7
100
2.3
2.3
11.4
17.1
18.9
16.0
8.6
5.7
1.1
.6
1.1
.6
14.3
100
20
19.4
17.1
8.6
9.1
6.9
4.0
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8
9
10
11
Missing (99)
Total
Father‟s occupation
Civil Servant
Private Company
Others
Missing (9)
Total
Father‟s qualification
Primary
PMR
SPM
STPM
Certificates
Diploma
Bachelor Degree
Others
Missing (99)
Total
Mother‟s occupation
Civil Servant
Private Company
Homemaker
Others
Missing (9)
Total
Mother‟s qualification
Primary
PMR
SPM
STPM
Certificates
Diploma
Bachelor Degree
Master Degree
Others
Missing (99)
Total
Parental Status
Married
Divorced
Single - death of spouse
Missing (99)
Total
8
1
17
175
4.6
.6
9.7
100
47
23
68
37
175
26.9
13.1
38.9
21.1
100
8
12
28
15
7
9
4
1
91
175
4.6
6.9
16.0
8.6
4.0
5.1
2.3
.6
52
100
26
7
93
10
39
175
14.9
4.0
53.1
5.7
22.3
100
19
8
41
16
6
6
3
1
2
73
175
10.9
4.6
23.4
9.1
3.4
3.4
1.7
.6
1.1
41.7
100
130
7
18
20
175
74.3
4.0
10.3
11.4
100
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Descriptive of Adolescents’ Moral Awareness:
Moral awareness was measured on a scale of 1(strongly disagree) through 5 (strongly
agree). The midpoint was set at 3. With respect to moral awareness among Malaysian
adolescents, the mean scores ranged from a high of 4.51 (SD = .70) “in whatever
circumstances, I still feel that stealing is gravely wrong” and a low of 2.61 (SD = 1.13) “I
feel that society is having a misleading perception of our adolescents” and 2.89 (SD = 1.18)
“I feel awkward interacting with the opposite gender” which were below the midpoint.
Overall all items have mean scores which go beyond the midpoint except for the 2 items.
Table 2:
Adolescents’ Moral Awareness
Items
Mean
1
I am able to distinguish right
4.23
from wrong.
2
I can imagine how difficult it is
4.06
for a person going through a
sad situation.
3
I am more than willing to
4.06
extent my help to any friends
in difficulties
4
I feel that society is having a
2.61
misleading perception of our
adolescents.
5
In whatever circumstances, I
4.51
still feel that stealing is gravely
wrong.
6
I assume that disturbing our
4.40
neighbours at night is wrong
7
I could imagine the
3.98
repercussion of not reporting
any crime to the authority
concerned.
8
I feel awkward interacting with
2.89
the opposite gender
9
I honestly like to spend my
3.76
entire life and time serving the
needy
10
I like to spend my time running
3.62
household chores
Scale 1 - 5, Midpoint = 3
SD
.73
.83
.69
1.13
.70
.85
.87
1.18
.85
.85
Descriptive of Adolescents’ Cultural Conformity:
Cultural conformity was also measured using a 5 scale points (midpoint: 3). The
highest was set at 5 (strongly agree) and the lowest is 1 (strongly disagree). Reflecting on
Malaysian adolescents‟ responses to their cultural conformity, the mean scores obtained
ranged from a high of 3.92 (SD = .92) “My cultural practices enhance my family solidarity”
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and a low of 3.28 (SD = .99) “My culture monitors or control bad behaviors” and. Overall all
items have mean scores which go beyond the midpoint.
Table 3:
Adolescents’ Cultural Conformity
Items
I concur with our my cultural practices
I feel stressful with respect to our cultural
practices
I agree that our cultural practices is
outdated
I feel that my culture forbids me from
enhancing myself
My cultural practices shape positive
personality
Internalization of my cultural values
monitor or control bad behaviors
My cultural practices enhance my family
solidarity
My cultural practices contradict my basic
needs.
I gain more respect due to my cultural
practices
My personality is very much shaped by
my culture
Scale 1 - 5, Midpoint = 3
Mean
3.67
3.47
SD
.93
.96
3.61
1.02
3.62
.95
3.81
.81
3.28
.99
3.92
.92
3.43
.92
3.55
.75
3.41
.89
t-tests and Anova Analyses:
A Comparison was made to ascertain whether there were any significant gender and
academic streaming differences with respect to adolescents‟ moral awareness and as well as
cultural conformity. Independent t-test was employed to ascertain these differences. Table 4
tabulates the findings related to these two issues.
Table 4:
Adolescents’ Moral Awareness by gender & academic streaming
Variable
Std.
t
N Mean Deviation
Gender
Male
67
3.81
.352
-2.68
Female 97
3.96
.344
Academic Science 73
3.88
.390
-1.04
Streaming Social
78
3.94
.448
Science
*the mean difference is significant at p< .05
df
p
162
.008*
149
.299
The t-test analysis indicated that Malaysian female students had higher mean scores
as regard to moral awareness (M=3.96, SD = .344) and were significantly different from
male (M = 3.41, SD = .352), p = .008 at p< .05. Inspection of the two indicates that the
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average score for moral awareness for female students (3.96) is significantly higher than the
score (3.81) for males. On the contrary there was no significant difference in moral
awareness between science and social science students (academic streaming).
One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was also administered to examine
significant differences in moral awareness among Malaysian adolescents who came from
three different school locations (urban, suburban and rural schools). Table 5 displayed the
findings via ANOVA analysis.
Table 5:
Adolescents’ Moral Awareness by school location & parental statuses
Variable
N Mean
Std
df
SS
MS
F
P
Deviation
School
Urban
130 3.887
.319
Location
2158 .24318.723 .122.119 1.03 .360
surburban 7 3.978
.423
Btw. Grps. Rural
18 3.972
.174
Within
Grps.
Parental
Married
130 3.891
.328
Status
3 1.24617.129 .415.113 3.66 *.014
Divorced
7 3.857
.485
Btw. Grps. Single
151
18 3.927
.342
Within
Grps.
*the mean difference is significant at p< .05
Adolescents‟ moral awareness were compared based on their school locations and as
well as their parental statuses via ANOVA analysis. The findings indicated that significant
differences in adolescents‟ moral awareness were found among adolescents with diverse
parental statuses, F (3,151) = 3.66, p = .014. Comparatively there were no significant
differences in the adolescents‟ moral awareness, F (2,158) = 1.03, p = .360 in regard to
where their schools were located.
Similarly analysis of variance was also used to compare adolescents‟ cultural
conformity using school location and parental statuses as independent variables. The findings
indicated that significant differences in adolescents‟ cultural conformity were found among
adolescents from diverse parental statuses, F (3,151) = 3.28, p = .023. Comparatively there
were no significant differences in the Malaysian adolescents‟ cultural conformity, F (2,158)
= 1.41, p = .247 as regard to their school locations
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Table 6:
Adolescents’ cultural conformity by school location and parental statuses
Variable
N Mean
Std
df SS MS
F
P
Deviation
School
Urban
12 3.1776 .41460
1.41 .247
Location
1
2 .486 .243
Btw.
surburba 37 3.2548 .41532 158 27.2 .172
Grps.
18
n
Within
Rural
3 3.5238 .43644
Grps.
Parental
Married 13 3.1730 .39417
Status
0
3 1.57 .526
3.28 *.023
Btw.
.160
Divorce
7 3.2857 .28571 151 8
Grps.
24.2
d
Within
01
Single
17 3.4454 .47884
Grps.
*the mean difference is significant at p< .05
Discussion And Recommendation
This study has included a host of independent variables such as respondents age,
class, gender, school locations, siblings, birth order, academic streaming in school, parents‟
occupation and parents‟ qualification and parental statuses in the researcher attempts to
examine their moral awareness and cultural conformity.
However in the final analysis, only four independent variables were included in the
analysis. These were gender, school locations, academic streaming, and parental statuses.
Descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) was employed to describe items related
to Malaysian adolescents‟ moral awareness and cultural conformity. T-test and one way
analysis of variance (Anova) were used to compare means‟ differences in the two constructs
and four independent variables were used to ascertain these differences.
As regard to the first research question, the overall mean scores suggested that the
Malaysian adolescents still possessed high moral awareness. With respect to the second
research question, the mean scores suggested that the respondents conformed positively to
their cultural norms and expectations. These findings suggested that the Malaysian
adolescents who participated in this study still have high moral awareness and conformed
positively to their cultural values. These findings are consistent with Nor Hafizah NH,
Zaihairul I and GeshinaAyuMS (2012), Jaafar, Kolodinsky, McCarthy, and Schroder (2004)
research findings and Mat Saad Baki‟s (1993) opinion.
In relation to the third research question on the correlates of moral awareness and
cultural conformity such as gender differences, school locations and parental statuses, the
finding on gender differences is consistent with Coetzee, Louw and Jooste (2005), Nor
Hafizah NH, ZaihairulI and GeshinaAyu MS (2012) and Galotti (1989) but is inconsistent
with Jing Zhang‟s (2012) findings. The t-test analysis indicated that there were significant
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gender differences with respect to the Malaysian adolescents‟ moral awareness. In this study,
female adolescents were found to have higher mean scores as opposed to males. There were
no significant differences between science and social science students (academic streaming)
in regard to moral awareness. This finding is consistent with Olatunj(2007) andOpayemi
(2011) research findings.
However it is pertinent to highlight that two items were spotted having mean scores
which were below the midpoint: “I feel that society is having a misleading perception of our
adolescents” (m =.2.61, SD = 1.13) and “I feel awkward interacting with the opposite gender”
(m = 2.89, SD = 1.18). The low mean score for the former item indicates disagreement and is
perceived as the reverse. In the true sense the respondents of this study perceived that the
Malaysian societyunderstand them and do not see adolescents as a threat to their existing
status quo. Similarly, the latter item “I feel awkward interacting with the opposite gender”
indicates disagreement which is just the reverse. In summary of the two items, respondents
had high perception of society‟s opinion and were not having any difficulty interacting with
the opposite gender.
Findings from this study implicate the teaching and learning of moral education in
schools, counseling services in public schools and as well as parenting process in Malaysian
home. As regard to the first finding, the Ministry of Education, Malaysia may continue to
promote effective moral education and character building among school going children and
adolescents as the former curriculum has shown positive effects and this is consistent with
findings by Ma, H. K. (2005). However, strong emphasis must be given to the understanding
of the contemporary adolescents who differ in many ways. According to Holroyd (2011) the
contemporary adolescents are classified as generation y (who were born between 1981 till
1994, and were described as: lazy, debt-ridden, programmed for instant gratification,
portrayed as demanding and unrealistic in their career aspirations, “internet-addicted” and
presumed “lonely”), generation z(born between 1995-2009, the first generation who did not
experience the pre-internet world, presumed to be technology-focused, or perhaps known as
the iPad generation) and alpha (born in 2010, predicted to be the most formally educated
generation in history, beginning school earlier and studying longer, the children of older,
wealthier parents with fewer siblings, and they are already being labeled materialistic). If
such descriptions are true, then each generation may have different needs, expectations and a
set of behavior attributes; hence an innovative, comprehensive moral education syllabus,
reproductive health education, constructive mindand character building modules for
understanding thesegenerations are necessary. Teachers need to be informative,
knowledgeable and well trained about these differences and needs as this will result in
effective teaching and learning process and as well as counseling adolescence issues.
Effective communication between parents and child at home and between teachers
and students in schools are perceived important as adults would be able to assist adolescents
during the “storm and stress period” (Razali, Asbah; Razali, NurAzah, 2013;Santrock, 2014).
An authoritarian style may suppress self expressiveness. Communication breakdown in
families may exposeadolescents to peer influence. Highly at-risk adolescents are exposed to a
situation of “peer acceptance and peer rejection” occurs. Adolescents who submit to their
peer positively will not experience low self esteem as opposed to those who gets to be
rejected (Olatunji, 2007). It is reported that peer may spread negative or positive influences.
Negative influences may include substance abuse or perhaps initiating some unacceptable
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socializing patterns (Nor Hafizah NH, Zaihairul I &GeshinaAyu MS, 2012; Ting Soo Ting,
2011).
This study also found significant differences in moral awareness among adolescents
who came from diverse parental statuses (married, divorced and single) through one-way
analysis of variance (Anova). It is interesting to note that parental statuses have strong
bearing on adolescents‟ moral awareness. The findings indicated that most of the youngsters
came from intact families (parents were still married). This finding contradicted the general
opinion that moral awareness among Malaysian adolescents is declining and it is attributed
by broken homes (Hart & Carlo, 2005).
As regard to adolescents and cultural conformity, interesting findings were derived
from the t-test analysis. Significant differences were found among adolescents from different
parental background or statuses (married, divorced and single). Interestingly, higher mean
score in cultural conformity was found among adolescents who came from single parent
home, followed by children from divorced and intact families. This finding is inconsistent
with the view that children from broken and single family homes do not conform culturally
(Hart & Carlo, 2005).
Considering the above arguments, it is apparent that family dyad can be the main
cause of moral decline among youth as parents are responsible to raise their children right. It
is recommended that if parents are caring enough about the media effects on their children,
they may consider internet filtering devices. Spending quality time with family members is
necessary aschildren may internalize moral values and spirituality effectively. Both parents
and teachers should be positive role-models to their children. In conclusion, every quarter of
the society should play their roles effectively in order to minimize juvenile delinquencies and
reduce moral decadency.
Conclusion
In summary, it is apparent that findings from this study indicated that moral awareness
and cultural conformity among Malaysian adolescents are still prevalent and intact despite
contradicting reports from other studies on Malaysian adolescents. Further studies may focus
on other correlates of adolescent‟s morality and cultural conformity.
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