Moral Identity

Mordecai Nisan | Published by Mandel Foundation and Keter Books

​The psychologist and educator Professor Mordecai Nisan (1934–2017) served as head of the education department and dean of the school of education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was among the founders of the Mandel Leadership Institute and the Mandel Foundation–Israel, was the academic director of both institutions, and was the driving force behind many of their leadership training programs. His main research interests were moral development and behavior, and human motivation.

What are the main factors that mold human morality and values, and what are the processes that facilitate moral development? How is the sense of moral obligation created? What is the nature of moral conflicts, and how are they decided? How can we explain moral deviance, and the gap between moral judgement and de facto behavior? These questions, and others, form the subject of the psychological research and study of morality.

This book presents an overview of the main elements of psychological knowledge about morality, indicates the problems inherent in the predominant theories in this field, and proposes a new approach that focuses on everyday moral functioning and its limitations.

To download the full book, click here (Hebrew)