Roles of Emotional Regulation and Religious Commitment in Ethical Behaviour among Secondary School Adolescent Students in Nsukka, Enugu State

Abstract

There is need for the promotion of ethical behaviour for the maintenance of peace, equity, and justice in the present contemporary decadent-ridden society. This study examined the roles of emotion regulation and religious commitment in ethical behaviour among secondary school students. The participants comprised 666 adolescents selected from six (6) secondary schools in Nsukka Local Government Area. The sample consisted of 365 male students (54.8%) and 301 female students (45.2%) of the sample size. Participants’ age ranged between 13 and 17 years with mean age of 15.4 and Standard Deviation of 1.230. The instruments used for data collection include Ethical Position Questionnaire (EPQ), Emotional Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ERQ-CA), and Religious Commitment Inventory for Adolescents (RCI-A). The result of the analysis show that Emotion suppression was a significant negative predictor of relativism domain of ethical behaviour (β = -.15, p < .001). Cognitive reappraisal was a significant positive predictor of idealism (β = .17, p < .001), and a significant negative predictor of relativism domains of ethical behaviour (β = -.09, p < .001). Religious commitment positively and significantly predicted ethical behaviour (β = .08, p = .005). The result implies that social responsibilities of religion are paramount to the development of ethical behaviour among adolescent’s students, while emotional regulation brings equity in ethical behaviour.