Boarding School and Moral Disengagement: How Educational Environments
Shape Moral Identity

Prarthana Goenka

doi:10.46609/IJSSER.2026.v11i08.018

Title: Boarding School and Moral Disengagement: How Educational Environments Shape Moral Identity
Authors: Prarthana Goenka
Journal: International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research (IJSSER) ISSN: 2455-8834 Volume: 11 Issue: 8 Publication Date: August 2026 DOI: 10.46609/IJSSER.2026.v11i08.018
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Prarthana Goenka Welham Girls' School
MLA 8 Goenka, Prarthana. "Boarding School and Moral Disengagement: How Educational Environments Shape Moral Identity." Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research, vol. 11, no. 8, Aug. 2026, pp. 3880-3892, doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2026.v11i08.018. Accessed Aug. 2026. APA 6 Goenka, P. (2026, August). Boarding School and Moral Disengagement: How Educational Environments Shape Moral Identity. Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research, 11(8), 3880-3892. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2026.v11i08.018 Chicago Goenka, Prarthana. "Boarding School and Moral Disengagement: How Educational Environments Shape Moral Identity." Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research 11, no. 8 (August 2026), 3880-3892. Accessed August, 2026. https://doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2026.v11i08.018.
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ABSTRACT: This study examines whether boarding school environments are associated with argues that the institutional hierarchies, traditions, collective disciplinary structures, and peer cultures common in boarding schools may normalize behaviours that allow individuals to distance themselves from personal responsibility. The study tests three hypotheses: that more years spent in boarding school will be associated with higher moral disengagement, that this relationship will be stronger among individuals who left school more recently, and that it will be stronger among those who attended single-sex schools. To test these expectations, the study uses data from an online survey of more than 130 participants. The survey controlled for personality, demographic, and socioeconomic factors and measured moral disengagement using adapted items from Bandura’s Moral Disengagement Scale. The findings show that boarding school attendance is positively associated with moral disengagement, although the relationship is not statistically significant in the full sample. Among respondents under the age of forty, however, the relationship is stronger and statistically significant in several models. Each additional year spent in boarding school is associated with an approximately one percentage-point increase in moral disengagement, suggesting that individuals who spent all twelve years in boarding school may score around twelve percentage points higher than those who did not attend boarding school. The study finds no meaningful relationship between single-sex schooling and moral disengagement. These findings suggest that the effects of boarding school environments may be strongest closer to the period in which individuals leave school and may weaken over time.

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