Moral Development

what is moral judgement:

• how children think about things involving moral decisions, basing understanding of moral development of reasonings to whether decisions are morally right

• prosocial behaviour

• antisocial

what is required for morality?

• understanding of what is right and wrong

• conscience

piaget’s theory of moral development (KEY)

• children’s moral REASONING changes over 2 stages:

• heteronomous morality (4-yrs)

• autonomous morality (11+)

heteronomous morality

• rules are fixed, unchangeable, absolute and governed by authority

• outcome matters more than intention

• breaking 3 cups on accident is worse than one on purpose

autonomous morality

• 11+

• rules are not fixed, built by people in society to maintain social order

• considering intentions, context, and and consequences in “moral actions”

• children develop their own moral principles

• breaking 3 cups is LESS morally wrong than breaking 1 on purpose

summary of piaget’s theory of development

more rigid, eternally governed view of morality —> fluid, internally driven view

critique of piaget’s theory of moral development

1. empirical research supports that moral reasoning increasingly considers intention into account

2. piaget underestimated young children’s ability to consider intentions in morality

what is kohlberg’s theory and what are the stages?

1. pre-conventional level: stage 1: punishment and obedience orientation. stage 2: instrumental exchange orientation

2. conventional level: stage 3: mutual expectations, relationships, and conformity orientation. .stage 4: social system and conscience orientation

3. post-conventional level. stage 5: individual rights orientation and social contract. stage 6: universal ethical principles

Critiques of Kohlberg’s theory

yes: his theory effectively emphasizes role of cognitive processes in understanding moral behaviour

no: biased western conception of morality, gender differences, reasoning is described as discontinous

social domain theory of cognitive development

• moral reasoning is not a single, unified construct, but rather comprises multiple domains of social rules

• growth in moral reasoning occurs through —> gradual changes —> based on —child’s interactions—with peers,—adults and —parents

• differences in moral judgement are a result of different environments leading to different experiences

what are the 3 domains of knowledge according to social domain theory of moral development?

1. moral domain

2. societal domain

3. personal domain

support for social domain theory

Young children can differentiate between moral and societal

transgressions

• By age 3: violations of moral rules are considered worse than

violations of societal conventions

• Children believe parents have authority over moral and social issues in the family, but not over matters of personal judgment

what is conscience?

• internal regulatory mechanism that increases an individual’s ability to conform to standards of acceptable conduct

what are the functions of conscience?

1. foster prosocial behaviour

2. restrain antisocial behaviour

3. promote compliance with rules/standards

explain the development of conscience

• by ages 2-3, children recognize moral rules and express guilt when they do something wrong

• temperament matters

• fearful children express more guilt than less fearful children

Role of allele in guilt

• role of serotonin transporter gene SLC3A4

• A specific allele of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) makes children more sensitive to their rearing environment, meaning they are more affected by parenting quality.

  • With the allele: higher maternal responsiveness → higher guilt (15–52 months) because these children are more emotionally reactive and better able to internalize parental cues.

  • Without the allele: maternal responsiveness is unrelated to guilt because these children are less sensitive to environmental input.

  This shows a gene × environment interaction and highlights the importance of goodness of fit between a child’s temperament and parenting.

what is prosocial behaviour?

voluntary behaviour intentionally contributing to the well being or happiness for others

involves empathy and sympathy

theory of mind perspective

development of PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOUR STAGES!