This dissertation reports the results of several studies which investigated the content and structure of a cultural domain of virtue concepts among Arabic-speaking Sunni Muslim immigrants in the Chicagoland areIn the first part of the dissertation, I argue that virtues and virtue concepts should be restored to a central place in social scientific thinking about moral functioning and its development, and I review the various philosophical and psychological literatures that are relevant to the virtues as psychological and cultural phenomenDrawing on research in cognitive science and cultural psychology, I describe virtues as interpretive structures that shape the perception of morally relevant features of situations, affective and cognitive responses to them, behavior, and reflective reasoning. Virtue concepts, such as "honesty," "fairness" and "humility," are analyzed as vehicles of cultural moral meaning that serve to shape practices of moral socialization, moral discourse, and individual moral reflection. In the second part of the dissertation, I report the findings of a structured study of the cultural domain of virtue concepts among a community of Arabic-speaking Muslims. Thirty-four subjects provided "free lists" of virtue concepts (in Arabic). From these lists a stimulus set of 35 terms was derived and presented to a separate sample of subjects for similarity sorting. The results were analyzed using hierarchical cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling. The cluster analysis revealed three overarching clusters of virtue concepts: Individual, Social, and Religious. These clusters correspond with Shweder's "three codes" of autonomy, community and divinity. The Individual cluster was further divided into intellectual virtues, virtues of patience, and virtues of self-control. The Social cluster was divided into virtues of forbearance, positive attitudes toward others, and altruistic virtues. Similar clusters were revealed by the multidimensional scaling, which was best fit by a two-dimensional solution interpreted as individual-social versus mandatory-discretionary. Results are interpreted using interview material with a separate group of subjects and analysis of texts and other materials. Implications for moral development, cultural psychology, and the study of Islam and Muslims are discussed.