The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 42, No. 2 - 19

Moral Behavior of Resident Assistants

their residents thought of them than they did
about demonstrating moral behavior. In addition, some of the participants may have felt
social pressure to perform in a way that would
be the most satisfactory to their peers (i.e., not
documenting their residents for clear policy violations), even though it meant blatantly violating their professional responsibilities. Another
possible reason is the social connection to
their resident peers, which suggested a sense
of empathy among the participants. Some
participants stated that they were able to put
themselves into their resident's shoes and recognize that if they had been the ones committing the policy violation, they would appreciate
some leniency regarding the documentation
process. As previously stated, one participant
went as far as to think through the academic
consequences for his residents as education or
pre-med majors.
Rodgers (1990) explains that most college
students are at Kegan's (1982) ego-development stage of the interpersonal self. The interpersonal stage can be deﬁned by the phrase
"people are their relationships"; they are "embedded in mutuality with their peer group"
(Rodgers, 1990, p. 39). Therefore, for many
college students, nothing is more inﬂuential
than their peer network.
The information in the present study directly supports this ﬁnding. For some participants, peer acceptance was paramount. In the
stories that the RAs recounted, residents chose
to act against stated residence hall policy; for
example, they chose to drink alcohol in the residence hall. When RAs observed the behavior,
they chose not to follow through on holding
students accountable for the violation because

There is an implicit expectation of
RAs that they exhibit a higher level
of moral behavior than typical
college students. . . . However, a
majority of the participants in our
study did not exhibit a higher level
of moral behavior. They did not
recognize the moral dilemma or
problem with not upholding their
position responsibilities as trained
(e.g., they did not hold residents
accountable for policy violations).

they wanted to be accepted by their peers rather
than uphold their professional responsibilities.
There is an implicit expectation of RAs that
they exhibit a higher level of moral behavior
than typical college students (Blimling, 2010).
This expectation is based on the fact that RAs
are placed in roles of responsibility and asked
to hold their peers accountable for policy violations. However, a majority of the participants
in our study did not exhibit a higher level of
moral behavior. They did not recognize the
moral dilemma or problem with not upholding
their position responsibilities as trained (e.g.,
they did not hold residents accountable for
policy violations). Only two participants understood that, regardless of the situation they were
presented with, it was imperative for them to

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 42, No. 2

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