Self-assessments of moral development levels in primary school students in relation to their socio-pedagogical characteristics

Moral development in primary school students represents a fundamental aspect of their overall development, shaping the way children understand concepts such as good, evil, justice, respect, and responsibility. During the primary school years, students undergo significant changes in their thinking, behavior, and social attitudes, which are largely influenced by their immediate environment - family, school, peers, and the broader community. The aim of this paper is to determine whether students' levels of moral development differ in relation to their socio-pedagogical characteristics. These characteristics include the students' gender and grade level. The research was conducted on a sample of 1,203 eighthand ninth-grade primary school students in the city of Banja Luka. Data were collected using the Moral Development Level Scale (MDLS), which was created specifically for this research. The results showed a statistically significant difference in favor of female students in terms of their self-assessed level of moral development. Eighth-grade students achieved better results than ninth-grade students, although these differences were not statistically significant. The findings are valuable for guiding future educational practices as well as further research into children's moral development.