Digital interventions to support morality: A scoping review

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Educational Technology
• Moral Development

Background:

• Moral reasoning and prosocial attitudes develop throughout life but can face challenges.
• Psycho-educational interventions offer a pathway to improve moral reasoning.
• Digital technologies are increasingly used in interventions due to their interactive and immersive potential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review existing literature on digital interventions designed to support morality and moral reasoning.
• To encompass participants across all age groups in the review.

Main Methods:

• A systematic search of two electronic databases was conducted.
• Twenty-three relevant articles were identified and reviewed based on predefined inclusion criteria.

Main Results:

• The reviewed literature generally indicates positive outcomes for digital interventions in supporting morality.
• A wide array of conceptualizations of morality and diverse outcome measures (attitudes, behaviors) were observed across different contexts.

Conclusions:

• Immersive and interactive digital simulations may be particularly effective by enabling active decision-making and practice of moral principles.
• Future research should consider meta-analytical approaches to assess the effectiveness of specific digital intervention types.