Social Evaluation

Moral Development Theories

Learning Goals

• Define and compare different approaches to defining morality.

• Analyze diverse theoretical perspectives on adult moral reasoning.

• Explain and evaluate foundational theories of moral development.

Importance of Development in Moral Theories

• Adult moral theories often make developmental predictions:

  • Moral Foundations Theory

  • Developmental roots of different foundations

  • Dyadic Morality

  • Children’s reasoning about harm

• Notably, current theories frequently neglect a developmental-first approach.

Theoretical Frameworks in Moral Development

Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development

• Core Concept: Children’s moral reasoning evolves in stages, influenced by cognitive development and social interactions.

• Stages of Development:

  • Heteronomous Morality (Ages ~4-7):

  • Characteristics: Rules seen as fixed and absolute, imposed by authority figures.

  • Focus: Concentrates on consequences rather than intentions.

  • Example: "Breaking 10 cups is worse than breaking 1, even if it was an accident."

  • Autonomous Morality (Ages ~10+):

  • Characteristics: Rules are flexible and derive from mutual agreement.

  • Focus: Concentrates on intentions and fairness.

  • Example: "Accidental breaking is less bad than deliberate mischief."

• Key Insight: Transition from obedience to authority toward collaborative understanding of intentions.

Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development

• Core Concept: Progression through sequential stages from childhood to adulthood.

• Adults can attain post-conventional reasoning, where morality is underpinned by universal ethical principles rather than merely social dictates.

• Criticism: Praised for its structural insight but critiqued for an overemphasis on justice reasoning and potential cultural bias.

  • Emphasis on Reasons in moral decision-making.

Stages of Kohlberg’s Moral Development

Heinz Dilemma

• Scenario: Heinz’s wife is terminally ill, and a druggist is demanding $2,000 for a life-saving drug that cost him $1,400 to produce. Heinz raises half the money and is denied a lower price or a payment plan.

  • Moral Question: Should Heinz steal the drug?

• Kohlberg's Stages Applied:

  • Stage 1: "He shouldn’t steal — he could go to jail or get punished."

  • Stage 2: "He should steal only if it benefits him too, or if he can get away with it."

  • Stage 3: "He should steal because people will view him as caring, or because his wife will be happy."

  • Stage 4: "He shouldn’t steal — breaking the law is wrong, regardless of intentions."

  • Stage 5: "He should steal — saving a life is more important than obeying the law here."

  • Stage 6: "He should steal — the principle of preserving human life outweighs any law."

Alternative Theories of Moral Development

Social Domain Theory (SDT)

• Distinction between different domains of moral understanding in adults and children:

  • Moral Domain: Concerns justice, rights, and welfare.

  • Social-Conventional Domain: Involves customs, norms, and etiquette.

  • Personal Domain: Pertains to individual choices and freedoms.

• Key Insights: Recognizes that morality consists of differentiated domains of social knowledge, with children actively constructing distinctions between social conventions and morality.

Table of Rule/Transgression Types

Table of Moral and Conventional Distinctions

Overall Findings on Young Children's Moral Judgments

• Evidence: Children differentiate between moral and conventional transgressions, stronger in criterion judgments than in acceptability or punishment.

• Development of these distinctions is evident by age 3, with increased differentiation with age.

Criticisms of SDT (Social Domain Theory)

• Challenges regarding clarity in distinguishing concepts of social conventionality versus morality in various cultural contexts, especially in non-western societies.

• Potential overemphasis on reasoning over instinctual moral intuition, particularly regarding concepts like "victimless crimes."

Evolutionary Theories of Morality

• Morality as adaptation for cooperation includes concepts like:

  • Reciprocal Altruism: Helping others with the expectation of future aid.

  • Kin Selection: Preference for aiding relatives to ensure genetic survival.

  • Group Selection: Behaviors that benefit group survival can be favored by evolution.

• Cultural Evolution Models: Suggest that moral norms evolve to resolve coordination issues in cooperative settings.

• Anthropological Perspectives: Highlight that moral concepts exhibit variability across cultures, suggesting flexibility of moral norms.

Criticisms of Evolutionary Theories

• Reliance on infant research for collective understanding.

• Theories may be difficult to falsify in empirical research.

Social Evaluation and Early Moral Understanding

Learning Goals

• Study foundational research on infants' social evaluation.

• Critically assess critiques of this research.

Disinterestedness and Moral Insight

• Concept emphasized as a crucial component of moral understanding.

Infant Social Evaluation Research

• Research by Hamlin, Wynn, and Bloom (2007) showing that preverbal infants can assess behavior of individuals based on their interactions with others.

  • Findings suggest this ability forms the foundation of moral reasoning.

  • Suggests that social evaluation is biologically evolved.

Theoretical Perspectives on Knowledge

• Nativism: Instinctual predispositions for moral behavior.

• Empiricism: Knowledge is acquired through interaction with the world.

• Constructivism: Children build knowledge from experiences.

Hamlin et al. (2007) Study Findings

• Indicates that infants have a foundational sense of morality before acquiring language.

• Infants prefer individuals who assist others over those who hinder them, suggesting an innate system of moral judgment.

• Subsequent studies assert infants can judge intentions Beyond physical actions.

Critiques of Infant Studies

• Replication Issues: Inconsistencies in results across different laboratories.

• Alternative Explanations: Findings may stem from associative learning rather than moral assessment.

• Cultural & Developmental Variability: Not all infants exhibit identical responses; this could question universality claims.

• Ecological Validity: Questions arise regarding the applicability of puppet shows versus genuine social interactions.

Integrating Infant Social Judgment with Developmental Theories

• Acknowledgment of gaps in existing understanding explains why infants respond as they do.

• Calls for further research into the intersection of infant evaluations and established moral development theories.

Discussion of Recent Research

Lucca et al. (2022) Study

• A new large-scale, multi-laboratory replication study exploring infants' social evaluation of helpers and hinderers in moral contexts.

• Authors include notable figures in developmental science, increasing credibility for ongoing research in this field.