Pages: 30-40

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to compare the belief in a just world for self and others and the moral development in the optimistic and pessimistic students of Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch. Statistical population of the study consists of all postgraduate students of Science and Research University in academic year 2014-2015 that 202 individuals were selected as the sample group by using random cluster sampling method. For collecting the necessary data, Dr. Lotfabadi’s Moral Development Questionnaire (2011), Seligman Attributional Style Questionnaire, which was validated by Eslami Shahrbabaki (1990), and Golparvar and Arizi’s (2006) questionnaire of Belief in Just World for Self and Others were used. To analyze the data, the statistical method of independent t-test was employed to compare two independent groups. Results of the research indicated that the optimistic students are different from the pessimistic students in terms of environmental ethics, personal morality, familial ethics, human ethics and the belief in a just world for self and others and also it was revealed that they had no difference in terms of spiritual and social ethics.