PSYC 2290 Chapter 12 - Moral Understanding and Behavior

Self Control

Ability to regulate behavior and inhibit impulsivity

What does self control predict?

Predicts academic performance, substance abuse, and self esteem

Inductive style of parenting

parents are kind and warm, but they set limits to their children and explain why the limit is there, also give alternative solutions to behavior

Power assertion style of parenting

parents tell child to not do or do something because “they said so,” and don’t give much reason as to why

Effortful control

extent to which child can focus their attention or are distractable, how much child persists at an activity, inhibiting responses

Influences on self control

Parenting style, temperament, culture

Improving self control

Reminders of long term goals, self-talk, change environment, use distractions to reduce temptation, reduce attractiveness of immediate gratification

What psychological perspective is linked with morality?

Cognitive psychology

Premoral stage - Piaget

(2-4 yrs) Children don’t have a super defined sense of morality

Moral realism stage - Piaget

(5-7 yrs) Includes heteronomous morality and immanent justice

Heteronomous morality - Piaget

Children believe moral rules are imposed by authority and cannot be changed

Immanent justice - Piaget

the principle that wrong doing can never go unpunished, and if the punishment is not immediate then it will occur eventually

Moral relativism - Piaget

(8-10 yrs) Includes autonomous morality and understanding consequences and intent of behavior

Autonomous morality - Piaget

Children begin to understand that the rules are created by people and can be changed, justice is not always immanent

Kohlberg’s Stages of moral development

Preconventional level, conventional level, postconventional level

Preconventional level - Kohlberg

Preoperational - This level is mostly based on individual experience

Obedience orientation - Kohlberg

Stage 1 - What is not moral is what you get punished for

Instrumental orientation - Kohlberg

Stage 2 - Morality is more self-serving, if something gets you good things then it is considered right

Conventional level - Kohlberg

concrete operational - references for right and wrong isn’t only the self but is also other people and society

Interpersonal norms - Kohlberg

Stage 3 - What is right/moral is what gets you approval from other people

Social system morality - Kohlberg

Stage 4 - Children are very focused in the law; if the law says that it is right then it is right, and vise versa, very definitive

Postconventional level - Kohlberg

Formal operations - children able to understand abstract thought and ideas, morality based on big broad principles that can apply to everybody

Social contract orientation - Kohlberg

Stage 5 - Importance is maintaining promises made, being moral is being a person of your word

Universal ethical principles - Kohlberg

Stage 6 - Bigger moral standards/principles - dignity, justice, respect for others; let these principles guide behavior - understanding that in some moral choices breaking the law is necessary

Moral self-relevance

the degree to which morality is central to self-concept

Moral transgression - Turiel

behavior that goes against moral principles and hurt others

Social conventions - Turiel

social norms laid out by society

Personal domain - Turiel

how you dress, who you choose as friends, activities you liked to do - reveal preferences

Turiel’s domains of social justice

Moral transgression, social conventions, personal domain

Open mindedness - moral reasoning

children more willing to entertain different ideas leading to more social skills from listening to others perspectives on things

Education - moral reasoning

More years of school is associated w/ better moral reasoning

Observational learning - moral reasoning

When adolescents observe other’s behaviors that are more considerate of others, they learn from those observations

Moral discussions - moral reasoning

Discussions around moral reasoning helps facilitate a sense of morality - strengthens cognitive pathways

Moral exemplars

adolescents that are more committed to behaving morally, have more self-relevance and serve as an example to other youth

Religion - moral reasoning

Youth tend to have greater moral reasoning possibly due to a lot of values associated w/ caring for others under the umbrella of some higher power

Prosocial behavior

behavior that is beneficial to others in some way

Altruism

prosocial behavior w/ no expectation of personal gain or benefit and done out of a sense of responsibility

Perspective taking

putting yourself in someone else's shoes to understand that person’s view on something, increases when parents talk about hwo other people feel

Contiive empathy (sympathy)

cognitively understanding how another person is feeling

Affective empathy

if you see someone expressing a certain emotion, you will process that and feel the same emotion as a response (ex. If you see someone crying you start to cry) - more strongly associated w/ prosocial behavior

Brain regions and empathy

Frontal lobe regions play a big role in feeling empathy (develop more within first 2 yrs) - mirror neurons

Mood contagion

unconscious spread of emotions from one person to others, influencing their feelings and behaviors - begins early in life (infancy)

Parenting and empathy - prosocial behavior

parents who talk about their emotions, sympathy, and how others are feeling encourages empathy and prosocial behavior

Moral reasoning - prosocial behavior

generally, people who reason at a higher moral level are more likely to act prosocially

Responsibility - prosocial behavior

Children that feel responsible for another child (young sibling, friend, etc) are more likely to act prosocially for that individual

Feelings of capability - prosocial behavior

Children that feel more able to perform a prosocial activity are more likely to take action

Mood - prosocial behavior

Children who are in a good mood are more likely to act prosocially

Cost of altruism - prosocial behavior

If child they perceive themselves in danger, they are less likely to act prosocially (self preservation)

Oxytocin-promoting genes

Children w/ these genes more likely to think about other’s feelings and act prosocially

Temperament - prosocial behavior

Children that have an easier time w/ self-regulation are more likely to act prosocially

Modelling

Parents or authority figures performing behaviors that child observes serves as a way to facilitate prosocial behavior - more likely to imitate parents that are warm, kind, and responsive to child’s needs

Opportunities to behave prosocially

When a child gets the opportunity to act prosocially, it grows their sense of self efficacy and confidence and makes them more likely to help others in the future

Aggression

behavior meant to harm others

Instrumental aggression

aggression used to achieve a goal, kids most often use this when acting aggressively, manifests early on

Hostile aggression

intended to intimidate, harass or humiliate, manifests in elementary school

Reactive aggression

triggered by another’s behavior, manifests in elementary school

Relational aggression

verbal aggression used to undermine social relationships

Stability of aggression

Levels of aggression tend to be stable - if a child is aggressive in childhood they are likely to be aggressive in adolescence, form of aggression may change but the level is the same

Impact of aggression

Associated w/ poor academic performance, poor social relationships, general unhappiness, and low self-esteem

Causes of aggression - biology

Higher levels of testosterone, inhibitory neurotransmitters (eg. lower GABA release)

Causes of aggression - physical punishment

observational learning thru watching aggressive behaviors (ex. beating/spanking) from family members, teaches child that anger is a way to achieve a goal