Stephen J. Thoma

Professor and Program Coordinator, Educational Psychology
Department of Educational Studies in Psychology, Research Methodology, and Counseling
310 Carmichael Hall
(205)-348-8146
Sthoma@bamaed.ua.edu
Appointed in 2006

Recent Courses Taught:

BEP 565 Personality and Social Development
BEP 6 50 Adolescent Psychology
BEP 655 The Psychology of Morality

Areas of Research:

Personality and social development in late adolescence and youth
Moral judgment development

Academic Degrees:

Ph.D., The University of Minnesota, 1986. Personality and Social development/Measurement and Statistics—Educational Psychology program.
B.A., The University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 1977. Psychology.

Professional Experiences:

Professor and Program Coordinator, Educational Psychology, The College of Education, The University of Alabama, 2006 – Present.

Professor and Chair, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The University of Alabama, 1998-2006.

Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota, 1996-1997
Associate Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Alabama 1990 – 1999.

Assistant Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Alabama 1986 – 1989.

Postdoctoral Associate, The University of Minnesota, 1986.

Selected Publications:

Thoma, S.J., Bebeau, M.B. & Bolland, A. (2007). Developmental Phase as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Moral Judgment Development and Intermediate Concepts in Young Professional Students. In: Oser, F. and Veugelers, W., (Eds.), Getting Involved: Global Citizenship Development and Sources of Moral Values. Sense Publications, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Thoma, S.J. (2006). Research using the Defining Issues Test. In Killen and Smetana (Eds.), Handbook of Moral Psychology. L. Earlbaum: Mawah, NJ.

Crowson, H.M., Thoma, S.J., & Hestevold, N. (2005). Is Political Conservatism Synonymous with Authoritarianism? The Journal of Social Psychology, 145, 571-592.

Derryberry, P. & Thoma, S.J. (2005). Moral Judgment, Self-Understanding, and Moral Actions: The Role of Multiple Constructs. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 51, 67-92.

Thoma, S.J. (2002). An overview of the history of the Minnesota approach to morality research. Journal of Moral Education, 31, 4-19.

Rest, J.R., Narvaez, D., Thoma, S.J & Bebeau, M. (2000). A neo-Kohlbergian approach to moral judgment: Overview of the Defining Issues Test Research. Journal of Moral Education, 29, 381-397.

Thoma, S.J. & Rest, J.R. (1999). The relationship between moral decision-making and patterns of consolidation and transition in moral judgment development. Developmental Psychology, 35, 323-334.

Thoma, S.J., Narvaez, D., & Rest, J. & Derryberry, P. (1999). Does moral judgment development reduce to political attitudes or verbal ability: Evidence using the Defining Issues Test? Review of Educational Psychology, 11, 325-342.

Selected Presentations:

Thoma, S.J. & Bebeau, M. (2007). The relationship between moral judgment development, developmental phase and intermediate concepts. Paper presented to the American Educational Research Association, Chicago.

Thoma, S.J., Bebeau, M., & Boland, A. (2006). Developmental phase as a moderator of the relationship between moral judgment development and intermediate concepts in young professional students. Paper Presented to the International meeting of the Association for Moral Education, Fribourg, Switzerland

Thoma (2006). The developmental phase variable in moral judgment research. Paper presented to the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco.

Thoma, S.J., Hestevold, N. & Crowson, M. (2005). Clarifying the Relationship Between Moral Judgment Development and Social and Political Measures: The Role of Developmental Phases. Paper presented to the Society for Research in Child Development, Atlanta, GA.

Thoma, S.J., Hestevold, N. & Crowson, M. (2005). Describing and testing a contextualized measure of adolescent moral thinking. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Canada.