The impact of religious and cultural values on the development of student integrity: gender as a moderating variable

The problem and aim of the study. The primary issue addressed was the apparent gap in understanding the differential impact of these values on student integrity, particularly in diverse and multicultural settings. The aim was to explore the extent to which these values shaped students’ ethical and moral development and to determine if gender influenced this relationship. Research methods. This research employed a quantitative methodology grounded in an explanatory model. The study involved 370 participants from 26 randomly selected high schools in South Sumatra. Data was gathered using a closed ended Likert scale and analyzed using the Partial Least Square (PLS) approach, a method suitable for assessing complex relationships between variables. The study focused on three key variables: religious values, cultural values, and student integrity, with gender as the moderating variable. Results. The quantitative results of the study indicated that cultural values significantly positively impact student integrity, with a t-value of 4.390 and a P-value of 0.000. However, religious values did not show a significant positive effect on student integrity with a t-value of 1.826 and P-value of 0.069. In contrast, gender did moderate the relationship between cultural values and student integrity, indicating that both male and female students internalize and express cultural values differently, thereby enhancing student integrity. KEYWORDS cultural values, gender, religious values, student integrity Conclusion. The study concluded that cultural values significantly shaped student integrity, whereas religious values did not have a similar effect. Gender moderated the relationship between cultural values and student integrity but did not influence the relationship between religious values and integrity. This highlighted the need for educational strategies that emphasized cultural values and considered gender differences to promote integrity among students effectively. Future research was recommended to expand to different cultural and religious contexts to validate these findings and further explore the complex dynamics between these variables.