International Journal of Scientific Research in Knowledge, 2(7), pp.

328-339, 2014
Available online at http://www.ijsrpub.com/ijsrk
ISSN: 2322-4541; 2014 IJSRPUB
http://dx.doi.org/10.12983/ijsrk-2014-p0328-0339


328
Full Length Research Paper

Do Metaphysical Beliefs Manipulate Moral Competency? A Study in the Context of
Cultural Diversities, Involving Global Population

Bipin P. Varghese
1
*, S. John Michael Raj
2

1
Doctoral Research Scholar, R&D Centre/Dept. of Psychology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India
2
Dean [CDC] & Professor, Dept. of Psychology, Bharathiar University Coimbatore, India
*Corresponding Author: bipinvarghese1@gmail.com

Received 17 May 2014; Accepted 22 June 2014

Abstract. Morality is the faculty of the human mind that enables an individual to act according to what is right or stand for
truth and exhibit moral behaviour. Moral competency is the measure of the consistency of moral behaviour and is influenced
by various psycho-social, geo-political, biological and environmental factors. Metaphysical beliefs and religio-spiritual
affiliation are some known psycho-social factors that play a major role in shaping the morality in course of moral development
and socialization of an individual. The present study attempts to explore the influence of basic metaphysical beliefs like faith in
God, Afterlife, and belief in the influence of present life on afterlife; on moral competency. The present study conducted on
N=415 samples from across the world and diverse cultures reveals that metaphysical beliefs influence moral competency to a
significant extent.

Keywords: Metaphysical Beliefs, Moral Competency, Morality, God, Afterlife, Moral Behaviour

1. INTRODUCTION

Morality is the key faculty of the human mind that
enable an individual to act according to what is right
and stand for truth, irrespective of the consequences.
The will to stand according to ones own convictions
is a major determinant of morality and driving force of
moral behaviour. Morality is shaped by an array of
factors and various psycho-social, geo-political,
biological and environmental factors are studied to
have specific influence on moral development of an
individual. It is understood that the specific
metaphysical beliefs, cultural values and religio-
spiritual institutional affiliation have significant
influence on morality- although there are opposing
world views rejecting this notion. Most of the
metaphysical questions revolve around the concept of
God and there are differences between the religions
and worldviews in the understanding of the concept of
God. Most monotheistic religions endorse the
theological concept of God as an entity that is
omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent and as the
creator and sustainer of the universe. Some
monotheistic religions also consider God as formless.
On the other hand majority of the polytheistic
religions endorse an anthropomorphic concept of God,
i.e. God as an entity behaving like humans; possessing
desires, emotions, beliefs etc. Keeping the differences
between the religions and worldviews apart, the
concept of God generally refers to the Supreme
Being who is the creator and sustainer of the universe,
life and everything existing; who is omniscient,
omnipotent and omnipresent. (Rossano, 2006; Gray
and Wegner, 2007; Demoulin et al., 2008). This study
focuses on exploring the influence of various
metaphysical beliefs on moral competency.

2. LITERATURE

2.1. Operational Meaning of the Variables

2.1.1. Metaphysical Beliefs

Metaphysics derived from the Greek
words (met, "beyond", "upon" or "after")
and (physik, "physics") deals with the
fundamental quest of the human mind concerning the
understanding of being, existence and beyond.
Metaphysics is the science of the immaterial or what
is beyond physical reality, and deals mostly with the
intangibles. Most of the metaphysical concepts are
abstract in nature and the metaphysical beliefs that an
individual holds has significant influence on their
morality and moral orientation. The religious
Varghese and Raj

Do Metaphysical Beliefs Manipulate Moral Competency? A Study in the Context of Cultural Diversities, Involving
Global Population
329
worldviews hitherto existing are fundamentally the
human attempt to understand the metaphysical and
to interpret it in human language. All religions and
spiritualistic traditions across the world are centred on
the metaphysical notions of God, soul, eternity,
afterlife etc. and the basic differences between the
various worldviews are their basic explanations of the
fundamental questions relating to the metaphysical
notions. All religious traditions sets apart it own
ethical code of conduct which play a significant role
in the socialization and moral conditioning of the
individuals (Varghese and Raj, 2014). Majority of the
world religions have a distinct position on the basic
questions regarding the existence or non existence of
God or a Higher Being and Afterlife. Multifarious
concepts exist in the worldviews pertaining to
Afterlife such as eternity of the soul, reincarnation or
rebirth, renewed life in heaven, life in a paradise or
new earth etc. The present study attempts to explore
the influence of the elementary metaphysical beliefs
such as Faith in God, Belief in Afterlife, and the
belief in the influence of present life on afterlife on
Moral Competency.

2.1.2. Moral Competency

Competency refers to the capability, capacity,
efficiency, proficiency, skill etc. with which an
action is performed. Though the term competency is
identified with different meanings, it is generally
interpreted as a specialized system of abilities,
proficiencies, or skills that are necessary to reach a
specific task or goal (Weinert, 2001). Morality is the
faculty of the human mind that enables an individual
to act according to what is right or stand for truth
and exhibit moral behaviour. In line with the
synonyms enumerated for competency, Moral
Competency is the competence with which a moral
action is performed and is the active application of
moral intelligence. Moral competency is an outgrowth
of living in alignment with the basic moral
principles, values and beliefs (Lennick and Kiel,
2005). In other words moral competency is the
consistency of the moral behaviour of an individual.
In line with the studies of Lennick and Kiel (2005),
moral competency measured in this study is the sum
total of the scores in the 10 subscales as below,
referred to as moral traits in this study.
(a) Integrity: Acting consistently with principles,
values and beliefs; (b) Honesty: Telling the truth; (c)
Courage: Standing up for what is Right; (d) Loyalty:
Keeping promises; (e) Responsibility: Taking
responsibility for personal choices; (f) Humility:
Admitting mistakes and failures; (g) Justice:
Embracing responsibility for serving others;
(h) Compassion: Actively caring about others;
(i) Detachment: Ability to let go of ones own
mistakes; (j) Forgiveness: Ability to let go of others
mistakes

2.2. Effect of Metaphysical Beliefs on Moral
Competency

Moral competency, as understood is the
consistency with which an individual exhibits moral
behaviour. Moral competency is influenced by a
number of psycho-social, geo-political, biological and
environmental factors at various capacities. Religion
and faith in God plays a significant role in promoting
moral behaviour in the society. Unjust acts against the
known scriptural codes provoke strong negative
emotions in a religious believer Mikula et al. (1998),
which may induce moral evaluation (Greene and
Haidt, 2002) of the actions of the self and actions that
induce feelings of disgust that are judged to be
immoral even when people cannot offer a logical
explanation for their judgment (Haidt et al., 1993).
Religious believers perceive violations of their
religious code to be offensive to God, and actions that
cause offense to other people to be severe moral
violations than identical actions that do not (Mikula et
al., 1998; Knobe, 2003). Previous studies in the area
of moral psychology have found that faith in God and
religious concepts elicit norms of fairness in social
interactions. According to a study conducted by
Shariff and Norenzayan (2007), religious orientation
increase generosity among dictator game participants
and decrease tendencies of cheating (Mazar et al.,
2007).
Many true believers in God consider their
relationships to be subject to the same norms of
reciprocal altruism as their social relationships with
other human beings (Johnson and Krger, 2004;
Bering, 2006) and the nature of relationships people
have with God often reflects in the nature of
relationships they have with others (Kirkpatrick and
Shaver, 1992). On the other hand the fear of
omniscient and omnipotent supernatural God deters
group defectors, particularly in large groups where the
rule and law is difficult to enforce (Raven, 1999;
Atran and Norenzayan, 2004; Johnson and Krger,
2004; Bering, 2006). The understanding that, actions
that cause harm to others are more blameworthy than
identical actions that cause no harm enable an
individual to be considerate towards others (Knobe,
2003; Cushman et al., 2006) and the fear of a Supreme
Being and Judgement of actions, may promote moral
behaviour. In light of the earlier studies in the domain
of moral psychology it is understood that
metaphysical beliefs including the religio-spiritual
institutional affiliation has significant influence on
moral competency (Varghese and Raj, 2014; Greene
International Journal of Scientific Research in Knowledge, 2(7), pp. 328-339, 2014
330
and Haidt, 2002; Mikula et al., 1998). In light of the
existing knowledge connecting metaphysical beliefs
and moral competency, this study attempts to explore
in detail the influence of metaphysical beliefs such as
Faith in God, Belief in Afterlife and the Belief in
the Influence of the Present Life on After life on
moral competency and specific moral traits.

3. RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
The present study hypothesised that there will be
difference in the levels of moral competency in the
individuals with reference to the various metaphysical
beliefs they hold and in order to experimentally verify
the same, the following hypotheses were derived:
Hypothesis 1: Moral competency differs
significantly between individuals who believe and
do not believe in a personal God or a Higher Being
beyond Self.
Hypothesis 2: Moral Competency differs
significantly between individuals who believe and
do not believe in a life after death.
Hypothesis 3: Moral Competency differs
significantly between individuals who believe and
do not believe in the notion that there will be an
Afterlife/Judgement after death and the present life
will influence that.

4. RATIONALE OF THE STUDY AND ITS
IMPLICATION TO THE SOCIETY

Any research pertaining to Morality and Moral
competency bears high significance in the
contemporary society. The moral orientation of the
world societies are changing at a faster pace and the
moral values that the world societies upheld are
diminishing and gradually losing its meaning
(Varghese and Raj, 2014). Influence of belief system
on morality is comparatively unexplored in the
scientific studies and detailed researches in this area
would be beneficial in identifying the key psycho-
social indicators of morality and moral competency.
Knowledge of the same would also aid in developing
modules to impart focussed moral competency
enhancement in targeted population.

5. CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF THE RESEARCH


Fig. 1: Conceptual and Theoretical Model of the research

6. METHODOLOGY

6.1. Sample of the Study

Sample of the present study comprised of a
heterogeneous population including individuals from
different countries across the continents. A total of
415 individuals participated in the study and the
sample comprised of 140 males and 275 females with
a mean age of 34.2 Yrs. Data was collected via online
sampling through the various social networking
portals including Facebook, Linkedin, Researchgate,
Googleplus etc. between February and April, 2014.
Link to the online questionnaire was posted in the
mentioned networking portals and the targeted
communities within. Purpose of the study and specific
instructions pertaining to the questionnaires were
made known to the respondents via. a detailed written
introduction, on accepting the call to participate in the
research. Respondents were also made known through
the introduction page regarding the approximate time
required to finish the questionnaire. Data of only those
respondents who have completed the questionnaire is
Varghese and Raj

Do Metaphysical Beliefs Manipulate Moral Competency? A Study in the Context of Cultural Diversities, Involving
Global Population
331
recorded and hence the number of participants who
left the research in between is not known.
The participants included individuals from 38
countries across the continents from culturally diverse
populations with representation from Egypt (8),
Ghana (2), Liberia (1), Nigeria (3), South Africa (5),
India (148), Nepal (10), Iran (2), Israel (1), Myanmar
(1), Pakistan (2), Philippines (1), UAE (1), Indonesia
(1), Kuwait (1), Thailand (1), UK (34), Belgium (3),
France (1), Greece (1), Italy (2), Lativia (1), Poland
(1), Portugal (9), Sweden (1), Norway (1), Spain (20),
Switzerland (1), USA (121), Canada (9), Trinidad &
Tobago (2), Mexico (1), New Zealand (12), Australia
(11), Venezuela (1), Argentina (6), Brazil (9) and
Colombia (5). As the population of the study was
largely heterogeneous with reference to their country
of inhabitation the respondents in this study were
grouped according to the geographical continent to
which they belong. Concisely, population of this study
includes 21 samples from South America, 23 from
Oceania, 133 from North America, 50 from Europe,
169 from Asia and 19 from Africa. The respondents
included individuals from all major theistic and non
theistic communities and religions representation
includes Buddhists (14), Christians (141), Hindus
(94), Jain (1), Jews (8), Muslims (17), Sikh (3),
Spiritualists (22), Agnoists (32), Atheists (31) and non
religious theists (20).


Fig. 2: Distribution of Samples according to Geographic Location


Fig. 3: Distribution of Samples as per their Religio-Spiritual Orientation

6.2. Instruments

Data pertaining to the moral competency and
metaphysical beliefs were collected from the
population of the study using Moral Competency
Inventory (Lennick & Kiel, 2005) and Metaphysical
survey questionnaire made for the study to collect
responses pertaining to specific metaphysical beliefs
identified for measurement.
Moral Competency Inventory is a 40 item tool
which measures various aspects of moral competency;
including the proclivity to act consistently with
principles, values and beliefs (integrity); truthfulness
(honesty); ability to stand up for what is right
(courage); keeping promises (loyalty); taking
responsibility for personal choices (responsibility);
admitting mistakes and failures (humility); embracing
responsibility for serving others (justice); actively
caring about others (compassion); ability to let go of
International Journal of Scientific Research in Knowledge, 2(7), pp. 328-339, 2014
332
ones own mistakes (detachment) and ability to let go
of others mistakes (forgiveness). MCI is responded on
a five point Likert scale with responses ranging from
Never to In all situations which remains constant
throughout the entire instrument. Summative scores of
the responses, refer to the level of moral competency
of the individual. Martin (2010) reported an
acceptable validity for MCI with a Cronbach alpha
varying from 0.65-0.84 for the 10 subscales.
Reliability and validity of the tool has been
convincingly established

and is been taken as a
reliable tool for measuring aspects of moral
competency.
Following the administration of the moral
competency inventory, respondents were asked to
answer the below three questions targeted to collect
responses pertaining to their metaphysical beliefs.
(a) Do you believe in a Personal God or Higher
Being Beyond Self?
(b) Do you believe in any form of Life After
Death?
(c) Do you believe that, if there is an Afterlife, the
present life will have some influence on it?
Moral competency Inventory was scored and
analysed separately for the samples who responded
Yes and No to each metaphysical question forming
an Yes Group and No Group. The scores obtained
were subjected to appropriate statistical analysis.
In addition, participants of this research were also
asked to furnish their personal and demographic
details including Gender, Age, Country of
inhabitation, Religio-Spiritual affiliation with multiple
drop-down options including provision to add
additional notes and remarks. Respondents were also
requested to enter their feedback and comments
regarding their experience, participating in this study,
to which majority responded positively and also
acknowledged that they had good experience as many
of the questions in the MCI invoked introspection at a
personal level.

7. RESULTS

For the analysis of the data obtained from the study
the respondents were categorised based on their
fundamental metaphysical beliefs pertaining to the
existence of a God or Higher Being, Afterlife and
Belief in the influence of the present life on the
Afterlife. Out of the 415 respondents 77% believed in
a God or a Higher Being where as 23% did not believe
in the concept of God. 65% of the respondents
believed in some form of life after death while 35%
rejected such a notion. On the question of a judgement
after death or the influence of present life on Afterlife,
56% of the participants said that they believe in the
notion where as 44% rejected the concept. Responses
of the MCI were tabulated and analysed for each
group of respondents supporting or opposing each
basic metaphysical notion and each hypotheses
derived for the study were tested using t test.


Fig. 4: Summary of Response Pertaining to Belief in the Existence of God or a Higher Being

321

[77%]
94

[23%]
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Yes No
Varghese and Raj

Do Metaphysical Beliefs Manipulate Moral Competency? A Study in the Context of Cultural Diversities, Involving
Global Population
333

Fig. 5: Summary of Response Pertaining to the Belief in After Life


Fig. 6: Summary of Response pertaining to the Belief in the Influence of the Current Life on After Life

In order to test the hypothesis derived for the
study, the data was analysed using t test and in each
of the three cases, it was seen that the Yes Group
and the No group significantly differed on their
level of moral competency. Between the group that
believe and do not believe in the existence of God,
there was a mean difference of 2.539 with a
corresponding P Value of 0.0477 which is statistically
significant and hence the Hypothesis 1 that Moral
competency differs significantly between individuals
who believe and do not believe in a personal God
of a higher being beyond self, is confirmed and
accepted. On analysing with specific moral traits the
Yes group and No group were found to differ
significantly on their levels of Responsibility,
Humility and Detachment. Table 1 and Table 2
below shows the results of the t test.

To test hypothesis 2 that Moral Competency
differs significantly between individuals who believe
and do not believe in a life after death, the data was
analysed using t test and the two groups showed a
mean difference of 1.85 with a corresponding P Value
of 0.477 which is statistically significant to approve
the hypothesis. On analysing with specific moral traits
the Yes group and No group were found to differ
significantly on their levels of Integrity, Honesty,
Loyalty, Responsibility, Justice, Compassion
and Detachment. Details of the t test are furnished
in the Table 3 and Table 4 below.


268

[65%]
147

[35%]
Yes No
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
232

[56%]
183

[44%]
Yes No
0
50
100
150
200
250
International Journal of Scientific Research in Knowledge, 2(7), pp. 328-339, 2014
334
Table 1: Result of the t test, SD, SEM and Mean Difference in Moral Competence of those who believe in God or a Higher
Being and Not
Mean SD SEM N
Mean
Difference
T df P Value Significance
[YES]
Believe in the Existence
of God or a Higher Being
78.88 7.89 0.44 320
1.851 1.9857 411 0.0477 *** [NO]
Do not Believe in the
Existence of God or a
Higher Being
77.03 7.99 0.83 93



Table 2: Result s of the t test, SD, SEM and Mean Difference in the various traits of Moral Competency of those who believe
in God or a Higher being and Not
Moral Trait Response Mean SD SEM N
Mean
Difference
t df
P
Value
Sig
Integrity
Yes Group 16.06 2.42 0.14 320
0.35 1.24 411 0.2146 NS
No Group 15.71 2.16 0.22 93
Honesty
Yes Group 16.75 2 0.11 320
0.32 1.39 411 0.1658 NS
No Group 16.43 1.79 0.19 93
Courage
Yes Group 14.13 2.77 0.15 320
-0.23 0.72 411 0.4707 NS
No Group 14.37 2.72 0.28 93
Loyalty
Yes Group 17.03 1.89 0.11 320
0.29 1.31 411 0.1907 NS
No Group 16.74 1.89 0.2 93
Responsibility
Yes Group 16.53 2.08 0.12 320
0.54 2.26 411 0.0244 **
No Group 15.99 1.89 0.2 93
Humility
Yes Group 16.43 2.2 0.12 320
0.84 3.30 411 0.0011 ***
No Group 15.58 2.08 0.22 93
Justice
Yes Group 14.98 2.33 0.13 320
0.51 1.81 411 0.0707 NS
No Group 14.47 2.54 0.26 93
Compassion
Yes Group 15.98 2.2 0.12 320
0.13 0.50 411 0.6169 NS
No Group 15.85 2.35 0.24 93
Detachment
Yes Group 15.1 2.48 0.14 320
0.86 2.97 411 0.0031 ***
No Group 14.24 2.42 0.25 93
Forgiveness
Yes Group 14.77 2.65 0.15 320
0.09 0.29 411 0.7711 NS
No Group 14.68 2.27 0.23 93



Table 3: Result of the t test, SD, SEM and Mean Difference in Moral Competence of those who believe in a Life After Death
and Not

Mean SD SEM N
Mean
Difference
T df
P
Value
Significance
[YES]
Believe in Afterlife
79.496 7.722 0.473 267
2.928 3.63 411 0.0003 ***
[NO]
Do not Believe in
Afterlife
76.568 8.015 0.663 146


Varghese and Raj

Do Metaphysical Beliefs Manipulate Moral Competency? A Study in the Context of Cultural Diversities, Involving
Global Population
335
Table 4: Results of the t test, SD, SEM and Mean Difference in the various traits of Moral Competency of those who believe
in a Life After Death and Not
Moral Trait Response Mean SD SEM N
Mean
Difference
t df
P
Value
Sig
Integrity
Yes Group 16.31 2.11 0.13 267
0.93 3.88 411 0.0001 ****
No Group 15.38 2.69 0.22 146
Honesty
Yes Group 16.91 1.87 0.11 267
0.67 3.35 411 0.0009 ****
No Group 16.25 2.04 0.17 146
Courage
Yes Group 14.25 2.84 0.17 267
0.2 0.70 411 0.4813 NS
No Group 14.05 2.59 0.21 146
Loyalty
Yes Group 17.18 1.78 0.11 267
0.59 3.03 411 0.0025 ***
No Group 16.59 2.04 0.17 146
Responsibility
Yes Group 16.61 2.03 0.12 267
0.57 2.72 411 0.0067 ***
No Group 16.04 2.04 0.17 146
Humility
Yes Group 16.39 2.19 0.13 267
0.43 1.89 411 0.0592 NS
No Group 15.96 2.19 0.18 146
Justice
Yes Group 15.17 2.27 0.14 267
0.85 3.52 411 0.0005 ****
No Group 14.32 2.5 0.21 146
Compassion
Yes Group 16.21 2.18 0.13 267
0.72 3.17 411 0.0017 ****
No Group 15.49 2.27 0.19 146
Detachment
Yes Group 15.09 2.58 0.16 267
0.52 2.04 411 0.0418 **
No Group 14.57 2.28 0.19 146
Forgiveness
Yes Group 14.88 2.58 0.16 267
0.38 1.43 411 0.1509 NS
No Group 14.5 2.54 0.21 146


Similarly hypothesis 3 was also tested using t
test and the two groups showed a mean difference of
2.539 with a corresponding P Value of 0.0012 which
is statistically significant to accept the hypothesis.
Hence hypothesis 3 that Moral Competency differs
significantly between individuals who believe and
do not believe in the notion that there will be a
judgement after death and the present life will
influence that is accepted. On analysing with specific
moral traits the Yes group and No group were
found to differ significantly on their levels of
Integrity, Honesty, Humility, Justice,
Compassion, Detachment and Forgiveness. Table
5 and Table 6 shows the details of the t test.



Table 5: Result of the t test, SD, SEM and Mean Difference in Moral Competence of those who believe in the notion that the
present life influences after life and Not

Mean SD SEM N
Mean
Difference
t df
P
Value
Significance
[YES]
Believe that, if there is an afterlife,
the present life have some influence
on after life
79.58 7.322 0.482 231
2.539 3.26 411 0.0012 ****
[NO]
Do not Believe that, if there is an
afterlife, the present life have some
influence on after life
77.041 8.475 0.628 182



International Journal of Scientific Research in Knowledge, 2(7), pp. 328-339, 2014
336

Table 6: Results of the t test, SD, SEM and Mean Difference in the various traits of Moral Competency of those who believe
in the notion that the present life influences after life and Not

[NS-Not Significant, **- Significant, ***- Very Significant, ****- Extremely Significant]

8. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

For appropriate statistical analysis to be administered,
the samples were grouped according to their Yes or
No response to the specific metaphysical questions
(referred to as Yes group and No group
accordingly) and the scores of the groups in the Moral
Competency Inventory were separately tabulated and
compared. On analysing the results obtained from the
study, it is seen that moral competency significantly
differ between groups with reference to their
metaphysical beliefs. On comparing the moral
competency of the groups with reference to their
response to the specific metaphysical question, Do
you believe in a Personal God or a Higher Being
beyond self?, the Yes group and the No group
showed a mean difference of 1.851 with a
corresponding p value of 0.0477 which is statically
significant to conclude that moral competency differs
between individuals who believe in a God and not.
Similarly the moral competency of the Yes group
and the No group to the question, Do you believe in
any form of Life after Death? showed a mean
difference of 2.928 with a corresponding p value of
0.0003 attaining a statistical significance to infer that
the moral competency differs between individuals
who believes in an afterlife and not. The Yes group
and No group to the question Do you believe that,
if there is an afterlife, the present life will have some
influence on it?, also showed a statically significant
mean difference of 2.539 with corresponding p value
of 0.0012 to deduce that individuals who believe in
the impact of present life on after life and not, differs
in their levels of moral competency.
On further detailed analysis of the statistical data
of the present study, it is also understood that the
metaphysical beliefs have significant influence on
specific moral traits. In this study it was seen that
Faith in a Higher Being significantly influences
some of the moral traits and the The Yes group and
No group were found to differ significantly in
Responsibility (MD-0.54; p-0.0244), Humility (MD-
0.84; p-0.0011) and Detachment (MD-0.86; p-
0.0031). The Yes group and No group in Belief in
Afterlife significantly differed in the moral traits;
Integrity (MD-0.93; p-0.0001), Honesty (MD-0.67; p-
0.0009), Loyalty (MD-0.59; p-0.0025), Responsibility
(MD-0.57; p-0.0067), Justice (MD-0.85; p-0.0005),
Compassion (MD-0.72; p-0.0017) and Detachment
(MD-0.52; p-0.0418). Similarly the Yes group and
No group to the belief that Present Life Influences
Afterlife showed significant difference on their moral
traits; Integrity (MD-0.8; p-0.0007), Honesty (MD-
0.59; p-0.0022), Humility (MD-0.44; p-0.0436),
Justice (MD-0.72; p-0.0021), Compassion (MD-0.63 ;
p-0.0043), Detachment (MD-0.57; p-0.0212) and
Forgiveness (MD-0.67; p-0.0088).
Previous studies in moral psychology has
identified that there is a significant relationship
between metaphysical beliefs and moral competency.
Though there exists contradicting philosophical
opinions regarding the influence of metaphysical
beliefs on morality, the present study convincingly
presents with adequate statistical significance that
Varghese and Raj

Do Metaphysical Beliefs Manipulate Moral Competency? A Study in the Context of Cultural Diversities, Involving
Global Population
337
there is a positive relation between metaphysic beliefs
and moral competency. The present study found that
the metaphysical beliefs influence the moral traits and
thus manipulate the moral competency and the
different metaphysical beliefs have different levels of
influence on specific moral traits. Earlier studies have
shown that religion and faith in God have significant
role in promoting moral behaviour in the society and
unjust acts against the scriptural codes of the religio-
spiritual institution evokes strong corrective emotions
(Mikula et al., 1998) leading to moral evaluation of
ones actions (Greene and Haidt, 2002). Religious
believers perceive violations of moral codes and all
sorts of harm to others as offensive to God (Mikula, et
al, 1998; Knobe, 2003). Belief in a higher being create
a sense in the individuals that they are being watched
and they are accountable for every action and such
belief deters believers from doing what is understood
as wrong (Raven, 1999; Atran and Norenzayan, 2004;
Johnson and Krger, 2004; Bering, 2006). Similarly
believers in God consider their social relationships in
line with their personal relationship with God and the
same reflects in their day to day social interactions
(Johnson and Krger, 2004; Bering, 2006; Kirkpatrick
and Shaver, 1992). The metaphysical beliefs
considered in this study are directly or indirectly
linked to the faith in God. Belief in Afterlife and
belief in the influence of present life on afterlife is
entirely dependent on the existence of a God or higher
being. However individuals differ and do not
mandatorily posses unique set of beliefs. Statistical
analysis of the results in the present study
convincingly confirms with adequate level of
significance that, the specific metaphysical beliefs like
belief in God, belief in Afterlife and belief in the sway
of the present life on Afterlife, manipulates moral
competency.

9. CONCLUSION

Significant difference was seen in the present study
between the criterion groups on their levels of moral
competency with reference to their attitude towards
the basic metaphysical questions. Findings of the
present study convincingly directs towards the
conclusion that the metaphysical beliefs have
significant influence on the moral competency. Based
on the findings of the study the following conclusions
are drawn.
(a) Moral competency differs significantly between
individuals who believe and do not believe in a
personal God or a Higher Being beyond Self.
(b) Moral Competency differs significantly
between individuals who believe and do not
believe in an Afterlife.
(c) Moral Competency differs significantly
between individuals who believe and do not
believe in the notion that there will be a judgement
after death and the present life will influence that.
(d) Different Metaphysical beliefs have different
levels of influence on specific moral traits.

10. LIMITATIONS

The present study was conducted in a relatively small
population, highly heterogeneous in nature and only
those individuals comfortable using computer and
internet could be included in the study. As the data
was collected online and as the questionnaire of the
study was provided in English, only those individuals
who have working knowledge in English could
respond to the questionnaire. Another limitation of the
study is that, there is only trace participation in this
research from majority of the countries mentioned
earlier and may not necessarily represent the country
or the continent in specific.

11. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY

As clarified in the introduction and the conceptual
model that guided this research, there are multiple
psycho-social, geo-political, environmental and
biological factors that influence the moral information
processing in the human mind. The present study
concentrated only on studying the influence of
metaphysical beliefs on moral competency and there
is wider scope of in-depth research, exploring the
influence of other mentioned factors, in global
context. The present research included a highly
diverse and heterogeneous population and no specific
concentration was made on any specific geo-political
or demographic factors. There is scope of further
similar research in specific homogenous populations.

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Varghese and Raj

Do Metaphysical Beliefs Manipulate Moral Competency? A Study in the Context of Cultural Diversities, Involving
Global Population
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Bipin P. Varghese is a Part-time PhD Scholar in Psychology in the R&D Centre, Bharathiar
University, Coimbatore, India. He works as Manager in the Indian Institute of Space Science and
Technology, Trivandrum under the Dept. of Space, Govt of India. He has done his Bachelor level
studies in Life Science and Education and Post Graduate studies in Psychological Counselling. He has
obtained Master Degrees in Sociology, Applied Psychology and Philosophy; and Master of
Philosophy Degree in Psychology. His research interests are mostly inter-disciplinary and include
Adolescent Psychopathology, Anhedonia and Depression Studies, Bio-Psycho-Social Influences on
Mental Health and Wellbeing, Human Moral Information Processing, Creationism, Pneumatology and
Philosophical Questions on Ontology and Existence.




Dr. S. John Michael Raj is the Dean of College Development Council and Professor, Dept of
Psychology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore. He also holds multiple responsible posts in the
University and at National level and has guided several M. Phil and Ph. D Scholars. After completing
his Graduation, Post Graduation and Master of Philosophy Degrees in Psychology from the University
of Madras, he obtained his Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology from Bharathiar University
Coimbatore in 1986. His areas of interest include Motivational Dynamics, Personality Orientations,
Well-being, Cyber Psychology, Counselling Psychology, Psychology of Marriage etc. and have
authored several widely acclaimed publications in National and International Journals and books in
psychology.