Chapter 12: Moral Development

Question 1

Are religion and morality synonymous?

Answer 1

no

• if you are religious, it does not mean you are moral; if you are moral, it doesn’t mean you are religious
• morality can be taught through a religious structure, but can also exist outside of religion

Question 2

What is Kohlberg’s Cognitive Developmental Perspective?

Answer 2

studied how people think about moral issues involving justice, fairness, and rights

• based on age and cognitive development
• moral reasoning progressed through cognitive stages

Question 3

Kohlberg’s Cognitive Developmental Perspective

What is the Heinz dilemma?

Answer 3

“Near death, a woman with cancer learns of a drug that may save her. The woman’s husband, Heinz, approaches the druggist who created the drug, but the druggist refuses to sell the drug for anything less than $2,000. After borrowing from everyone he knows, Heinz has only scraped together $1,000. Heinz asks the druggist to let him have the drug for $1,000 and he will pay him the rest later. The druggist says that it is his right to make money from the drug he developed and refuses to sell it to Heinz. Desperate for the drug, Heinz breaks into the druggist’s store and steals the drug. Should Heinz have done that? Why or why not?”

Question 4

Kohlberg’s Cognitive Developmental Perspective

What is preconventional reasoning?

Answer 4

behavior governed by self-interest

• concerned with rewards and punishments
• not about right or wrong, justice or fairness
• internal and self-oriented
• ie. don’t speed so you don’t get a ticket, not because you want to keep others safe

Question 5

Kohlberg’s Cognitive Developmental Perspective

What is conventional reasoning?

Answer 5

behavior is governed by concern for others

• uphold rules and maintain social order like everyone else
• motivation: to please others, gain affection
• external and other-oriented
• ie. take care of elderly parents even though you don’t want to
• Heinz example: he should not have stolen the drug—stealing is against the law

Question 6

Kohlberg’s Cognitive Developmental Perspective

What is post-conventional reasoning?

Answer 6

behavior is governed by abstract principles applied to individual rights

• laws are flexible social contracts and can be violated given a unique situation
• changes discriminatory laws (ie. racism and sexism)
• often seen as issues of social justice
• Heinz example: he should steal the drug because in that particular situation, breaking the law is preferable than having someone die

Question 7

What are the 2 main individual and contextual influences on moral reasoning?

Answer 7

• gender differences

- culture

Question 8

Gender Differences in Moral Reasoning (Gilligan)

What is care orientation?

Answer 8

desire to maintain relationships and responsibility not to cause harm

• feminine mode of moral reasoning
• Kohlberg’s conventional stage

Question 9

Gender Differences in Moral Reasoning (Gilligan)

What is justice orientation?

Answer 9

based on abstract principles of fairness and individualism

• masculine mode of moral reasoning
• Kohlberg’s post-conventional stage

Question 10

What was Gilligan’s belief in gender differences in moral reasoning?

Answer 10

believed that we do not progress through stages, but instead boys and girls are socialized differently to approach a moral dilemma

Question 11

Describe cultural influence in moral reasoning.

Answer 11

• Kohlberg believed his sequence was cross-cultural
• Western cultures (individualistic culture) emphasize rights of the individual (justice orientation; post-conventional)
• Non-Western cultures (collectivistic culture) focus on human interdependence (care orientation; conventional)

Question 12

What is prosocial behaviour?

Answer 12

voluntary behavior intended to benefit another

Question 13

What is empathy?

Answer 13

capacity to understand someone’s feelings

Question 14

Describe empathy in toddlers.

Answer 14

• begins early in development
• toddlers show increasing prosocial responses to other people who are having physical or emotional distress (ie. when someone is crying, they show concern and want to calm them down)
• they have some level of distress when they see others in distress

Question 15

What are the 4 biological and contextual influences on prosocial behaviour?

Answer 15

• genes that influence oxytocin
• cognitive advances
• parents and other caregivers
• broader social world

Question 16

How do genes that influence oxytocin influence prosocial behaviour?

Answer 16

whether genes release high levels of oxytocin is related to whether the individual can express prosocial behaviour

Question 17

How do cognitive advances influence prosocial behaviour?

Answer 17

• older = can express more prosocial behaviour

- greater levels of perspective-taking

Question 18

How do parents and other caregivers influence prosocial behaviour?

Answer 18

• can encourage prosocial behaviour by including children in chores and caregiving activities
• can encourage prosocial behaviour by using correct language to discuss feelings, which helps toddlers understand the emotions of others, which encourages empathy and prosocial behaviour
• parents who model sympathetic concern end up with preschoolers who are more likely to show concern for others

Question 19

How does the broader social world influence prosocial behaviour?

Answer 19

• collectivistic cultures—more likely to live with extended family, share household responsibilities, maintain positive relationships with others and emphasize the importance of all of those things (promotes prosocial values and behaviours more than individualistic cultures)
• individualistic cultures—less likely to volunteer and express prosocial behaviour

Question 20

What is induction?

Answer 20

positive discipline method based on reasoning and guidance

• parents model effective conflict resolution
• focuses on behaviour and not child’s characteristics
• helps children internalize rules and standards
• in the end, it supports prosocial behaviour because you are helping the child learn to make decisions on their own that promotes behaviour that is best for everyone

Question 21

What is spanking and other power assertions?

Answer 21

negative discipline through controlling a child’s behaviour through the use of power

• telling child what to do and what not to do, but not explaining why or providing guidance
• hinders development of prosocial behaviour
• damages the parent-child relationship (child avoids parent, becomes passive, lies)
• only temporarily increases compliance (ie. in the future, they will do it when the parent isn’t around because the parent did not explain why they shouldn’t do it)
• linked with emotional, social and behavioural problems
• problem: teaching children that hitting others is OK, and violence and control is the way to ‘resolve’ issues

Question 22

What is antisocial behaviour?

Answer 22

behaviour that harms others, is disruptive or hostile, or transgresses social norms

• do opposite of acceptable behaviour (opposite of prosocial behaviour)

Question 23

What is aggression?

Answer 23

behaviour that harms or violates the rights of others, whether overtly or covertly

Question 24

What are the 3 types of aggression?

Answer 24

• instrumental aggression
• relational aggression
• peer victimization (bullying)

Question 25

What is instrumental aggression?

Answer 25

aggression oriented toward achieving a goal

• starts at age 1 into preschool, declines in school-age kids
• ie. two children fighting to hold a toy

Question 26

What is relational aggression?

Answer 26

verbal form of aggression intended to harm others’ social relationships

• occurs in relation to language development
• in school-age children and adolescents
• ie. name-calling, excluding

Question 27

What is peer victimization (bullying)?

Answer 27

ongoing interaction in which a child repeatedly attempts to inflict physical, verbal, or social harm on another child

Question 28

What are the 5 main influences on aggression?

Answer 28

• genetic influences
• brain development
• parenting influences
• exposure to aggressive models
• community factors

Question 29

Influences on Aggression

Describe genetic influences.

Answer 29

• several genes related to antisocial behaviour

- early experiences can have an epigenetic effect on the expression of those genes

Question 30

Influences on Aggression

Describe the influence of brain development.

Answer 30

immaturity or impairments in the prefrontal cortex may increase risk for aggressive, impulsive behavior

• immaturity: developmental delay in prefrontal cortex
• impairment: traumatic brain injury

Question 31

Influences on Aggression

Describe parenting influences.

Answer 31

spanking and other controlling behavior can increase aggressive behaviour

Question 32

Influences on Aggression

Describe the influence of exposure to aggressive models.

Answer 32

• parents (domestic violence)

- violent video games (boxed info on page 459)

Question 33

Influences on Aggression

Describe the influence of community factors.

Answer 33

pervasive poverty relates to higher levels of aggression

• limited access to education, employment
• access to drugs and firearms
• existence of gangs, engaging in crime