Chapter 14 Moral Development

Moral Judgment Stage 1: Morality of Constraint (less than age 7-8) Consequence of the action (not motive) determines if the act was good or bad Whatever the authority figure says is right Stage 2:Autonomous Morality (Moral Relativism) (age 11 or 12) Rules can be changed Punishments should fit the crime There is a focus on fairness and equality Consideration of motivation and intentions Transitional Period (ages 7-8 to 10) Social interactions with peers Begin to take another’s perspective Piaget-The Moral Judgment of the Child (1932/1965)

Increasing the Salience of Intentions Can Alter Moral Reasoning (Figure reprinted with permission from “Factors Influencing Young Children’s Use of Motives and Outcomes as Moral Criteria” by S.A. Nelson, 1980, Child Development, 51, pp Copyright © 1980 by the Society for Research in Child Development)

Preconventional Level  Stage 1: Punishment and Obedience Orientation  Stage 2: Instrumental and Exchange Orientation Kohlberg’s Theory or Moral Judgment Conventional Level Stage 3:Mutual Interpersonal Expectations, Relationships and Interpersonal Conformity  Stage 4:Social System and Conscience Orientation Postconventional or Principled Level  Stage 5:Social Contract or Individual Rights Orientation  Stage 6:Universal Ethical Principles

Positives: Negatives  Possible sex differences in moral judgment (Carol Gilligan) Kohlberg’s Work

Prosocial Moral Dilemmas are used to determine prosocial behavior (voluntary behavior to help others) (Eisenberg) Level 1: Hedonistic, self-focused orientation Level 2: Needs-based orientation Prosocial Moral Judgment Level 3: Approval and/or stereotyped orientation Level 4a: Self-reflective empathic orientation Level 4b: Transitional level Level 5: Strongly internalized stage

Moral judgments Social conventional judgments Around age 3, around age 4 Children’s Social Judgments

Definition: internal regulatory mechanism that increase an individual’s ability to conform with standards of conduct accepted in their culture Influences:  Parental Standards and Rules  Temperament Development of Conscience

Early differences in positive moral behavior appear to reflect later developmental differences in children’s readiness to engage in prosocial behavior Altruistic Motives  Early  Later  Parts:  Empathy  Sympathy Altruism Key Factor:  Perspective taking

Biological Factors: Individual Differences in Prosocial Behavior Environmental Factors:  Parents  Television and Video Games

Daily Violence and Children’s Art (Figure reprinted with permission from “Coping with the Consequences of Living in Danger: The Case of Palestinian Children and Youth” by K. Kostelny and J. Garbarino, 1994, International Journal of Behavioral Development, 17, )

Aggression Development of Aggressive Behavior:  Between 18 months and 2 years  Physical aggression increases and then decreases as verbal skills (and verbal aggression) increase  Preschool  Instrumental aggression  Relational aggression Antisocial Behavior  Elementary School  Reactive or hostile aggression  Proactive aggression

At all ages, males report enacting more violence than do females. (Adapted from Coie & Dodge,1998) Prevalence of self-reported violence for males and females at different ages

The relation of peer-nominated aggression at age 8 to self- reported aggression at age 30 Boys and girls who were nominated as high in aggression at age 8 were higher in self- reported aggression at age 30 than were those of their peers who had been nominated as lower in aggression. (Adapted from Eron, Huesmann, Dubow, Romanoff, & Yarmel, 1987)

Biological Factors:  Genetic Factors Where Does Aggression Come From? Environmental Factors:  Parental punitiveness  Ineffective Discipline and Family Coercion  Parental Conflict  Socioeconomic Status  Peer Influences  Television and Video Games