The formation of moral identity in the digital age

Abstract

The process of educating a moral personality should be based on an understanding of the psychological mechanisms of the formation of moral identity. The current situation in education is characterized by widespread digitalization and introduction of artificial intelligence — this significantly expands the use of the internet and changes the conditions for the formation of personal and moral identity. The network identity, as a component of personal identity, begins to prevail over other components of the self-image. The main feature of network identity is its instability, or changeability. When changing the network identity, a person gets complete freedom to violate in a virtual environment the moral rules associated with the previous identity. By changing the network identity, a person ceases to be responsible for his or her earlier actions. A teenager who spends time mostly in the virtual environment understands it as an equivalent to existence in the real world, and the way of acting in the internet environment transfers to the real life. Moral identity is a part of personal identity, a complex of ideas about oneself as a moral subject whose behavior is guided by moral principles, values and beliefs. Moral identity means that the image of oneself as accepting a set of moral norms is connected with responsibility for compliance with them. This brings constancy and personal meaning to one’s life. Adolescence is crucial for the formation of a system of views that assumes the existence of a moral law which is binding on all people. The system of moral categories in which moral identity is expressed is crucial for a teenager’s self-understanding. When online reality prevails over the real life, teenagers are deprived of traditional moral and cultural ideals necessary for the formation of a positive and stable self-identification and responsibility for their behavior. It is the real-life environment which provides conditions for the conscious acceptance by a teenager of moral beliefs, which become meaning-forming in his or her behavior and determine relationships with others.