Factors affecting the relationship between alexithymia and moral decision-making among undergraduate students in Malaysia

Ng, Yi Hui and Tan, Yan Er and Yeoh, Kai Suan (2025) Factors affecting the relationship between alexithymia and moral decision-making among undergraduate students in Malaysia. Final Year Project, UTAR.

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Abstract

How do individuals living with alexithymia behave when they encounter an ethical dilemma? Will they choose a utilitarian or a deontological course of action? Past research found that alexithymia, a personality trait characterised by difficulty in identifying, understanding, and expressing emotions, was correlated with moral decision-making. Therefore, the present study investigated the relationship between alexithymia and moral decision-making among university students in Malaysia, and also the mediating roles of empathy and reasoning style (analytical versus intuitive) on the correlation. Additionally, the ethics position (idealism versus relativism), which is about the cognitions around moral judgements, was also examined along with moral decision-making in this study. A cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted with 90 university students in Malaysia aged 18 years old and above, using an online survey method. The instruments Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), extended Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT), short Ethics Position Questionnaire (EPQ-5), and Gawronski’s Moral Dilemmas were applied to measure the variables. The mediating effects were analyzed by using the PROCESS macro mediation analysis. The findings reported that empathy fully mediates the relationship between alexithymia and idealism, instead of moral decision-making, and this relationship is positive. The present study offers new insights about alexithymia and moral decision-making, and this can be utilized as a reference for related future research.

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