Dev Psych Moral Development

morality

the capacity to distinguish right from wrong, to act on this distinction, and to experience pride in virtuous conduct and guilt over acts that violate one's standards

reasoning, behaviors, emotions

what are the three components of morality?

rewards for violating principles, chances of getting caught for transgression, consequences of getting caught

what does morality as situation specific depend on?

learning theory, because of the punishments and reinforcements that come with being moral

which theory is morality as situation specific rooted in?

identifying with parents leads to superego, and person can either adhere to standards or violate standards which leads to guilt

how are moral emotions rooted in psychoanalysis?

projective techniques and influence of experimentally induced guilt

how are moral emotions tested psychoanalytically?

projective techniques

child projects their own feelings about how they would handle a situation onto the character in a story

see more internal responses and a shift from external to internal moral orientation

how do people move through moral emotions with projective techniques?

externally focused

what happens to the character

internally focused

focuses on how the character feels. looks for signs that the character feels bad or guilty for violating the rule

could be links from what the child says the character's reaction is and the behavior of the child if placed in a similar moral dilemma situation

what do psychoanalytic projective techniques say about moral emotions?

if the person felt guilty after the camera broke, they would be more likely to help an old lady with her groceries almost 3x more than if they weren't made to feel guilty

what are the findings of the influence of experimentally induced guilt study?

morality of constraint and morality of cooperation

how is moral reasoning rooted in piaget's theory?

morality of constraint

aka heteronomous, contrasts objective consequences rather than intent

a child would say that someone who broke 15 cups accidentally is naughtier despite someone else breaking one cup while engaging in naughty behavior

what is an example that shows the morality of constraint?

morality of cooperation

aka autonomous, child makes judgements of right and wrong based on intention and pay attention more to intention as they get older

if the consequences of two children are constant (ex one child breaks one cup on purpose and another child breaks one cup by accident)

under what circumstances will a preschooler pay attention to intention?

the fact that it violates a moral rule

what makes something wrong?

children aren't always consistent as to whether they judge based on intent or consequences, and vary across situations

what are the limitations to looking at moral reasoning through piaget roots?

not much past 9 years old

at what age did piaget think children should be finished with moral development?

kohlberg's theory of moral development

what is the alternative theory to piaget's proposed?

kohlberg level 1 of moral development

preconventional, stages 1 and 2

base decisions of right and wrong on rules external to self, major concern with consequences of behavior

what is morality to people in kohlberg's preconventional level?

good behavior involves getting what you want without getting you in trouble for doing or getting it

what is a preconventional level child's view of what good behavior is?

kohlberg level 2 of moral development

conventional, stages 3 and 4

right and wrong is based on a desire to be seen as good by other people, and uphold the law

what is morality to people in kohlberg's conventional level?

kohlberg level 3 of moral development

postconventional, stages 5 and 6

based on abstract principles and values, ideals are more important than laws

what is morality to people in kohlberg's postconventional level?

hypothetical moral dilemmas such as the heinz dilemma, importance of rationale provided

how are kohlberg's levels tested?

heinz dilemma

a woman is dying and needs an expensive medication. husband cannot afford the medication, should he steal it or should she die?

says heinz is wrong for stealing and should buy the drug instead. says heinz is right to steal the drug because he would be lonely and even if he gets sent to jail he would still have his wife

what would preconventional say about the heinz dilemma?

says heinz is right and says marriage is a legal contract that he is legally obligated to uphold. says heinz is wrong to steal because society would fall apart if there was no upholding the law

what would conventional say about the heinz dilemma?

says heinz is right to steal because there is a set of basic human rights that should be protected by the law and the law isn't protecting the rights. says heinz is wrong because he should act on consideration with all the lives involves rather than just his wife

what would postconventional say about the heinz dilemma?

most adults aren't postconventional, potential cultural bias, too much focus on rights and justice

what are the limitations of kohlberg's morality theory?

middle aged or older

how old are most adults when they get to the postconventional stage?

abstract principles used to define postconventional reasoning are distinctively western, isolated communities might not be exposed to as many different mentalities disagreeing as in a big group

how does cultural bias limit kohlberg's theory?

neglects care aspects of morality in favor of fairness

how does too much focus on rights limit kohlberg's theory?

wouldn't expect strong connections because study didn't focus on reasoning behind why heinz stole the drug

how did kohlberg view the relationship between moral reasoning and moral behavior?

because otherwise there would be no reason to test the morality level people are at

why does the relationship between moral reasoning and moral behavior matter?