Investigating the influence of the school climate of church-based schools on students’ moral identity development and hope for the future

Abstract Hope for the future provides a protective factor against mental health disorders and contributes to students’ academic success and wellbeing. We investigated whether a school’s climate influenced students’ prosocial moral identity and hope for the future to understand better how church-based schools might improve these important outcomes. Data were collected from 1080 students in two church-based schools (672 enrolled in one school and 408 in the other) using two instruments: one to assess students’ perceptions of school climate features unique to church-based schools and another to assess students’ self-reports of their moral identity and hope for the future. The results generated using structural equation modelling suggest direct positive and significant relationships between school climate factors, moral identity and hope for the future. However, there were differences between school climate factors that influenced these outcomes for the two schools, suggesting that the context of the school needs to be considered. The findings also suggest that moral identity is a positive predictor of and mediates the influence of the school climate on hope for the future. This study is significant as it adds to the understanding of how malleable features of school climates unique to church-based schools can be leveraged to promote the development of students’ moral identity and hope for the future.