Moral Development

Question 1

Different stages of Piaget’s theory of moral reasoning?

Answer 1

Premoral stage→ 0-5yo
- little understanding of rules
- no concept of right/wrong

Heteronomous Stage→ 5-10yo
- rules are fixed and unchangeable
- intentions don’t matter
- morality as obeying parents or authority figures

Autonomous Stage→ +10yo
- rules can be changed by social agreement
- intentions matter
- consider moral principles before acting

Question 2

Different stages of Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning?

Answer 2

Preconventional Moral reasoning
3-7yo→ based on external consequences
- avoid punishment from authority figures
- gaining rewards
- same as heteronomous morality

Conventional Moral Reasoning
8-13yo→ based on social rules and expectations
- maintaining social order and norms
- gaining approval from others

Postconventional Moral Reasoning
+13yo→ based on personal principles and values
- not everyone reaches this stage
- focus on universal principles (fairness, justice…)
- critically evaluate rules conflicting with universal principles
- same as autonomous morality

Question 3

What would someone in the preconventional moral reasoning stage answer to the Heinz dilemma?

Answer 3

• “Heinz should not steal the drug because stealing is illegal and he could get caught and get in trouble.”
• “Heinz should steal the drug, because he needs it for his wife to get better , and then he can be happy.”

Question 4

What would someone in the conventional moral reasoning stage answer to the Heinz dilemma?

Answer 4

• “Heinz should steal the drug because a good husband would do anything to save his wife’s life and people would understand why he did it.”
• “Heinz shouldn’t steal the drug because stealing is against the law. If everyone was stealing, society would fall apart.

Question 5

What would someone in the postconventional moral reasoning stage answer to the Heinz dilemma?

Answer 5

• “Heinz should steal the drug because human life must be preserved and life is worth more than money or personal property.”
• “While stealing is generally wrong, the intention to save someone makes it justifiable in this case. Laws should be flexible enough to account for such situations.

Question 6

Which study proves that Piaget and Kohlberg underestimated children’s ability to infer intentions?

Answer 6

Study with 21months old->-Adults offer toys to child
-Negative intention: adult pulled the toy away
-Positive intention: adult watched in surprise as the toy rolled away from the infant
–>infants than more likely to help adult with positive intention
–> same if both positive intentions but one negative outcomes
–>infants care more about intentions than outcomes of action

Question 7

What is the difference between empathy and sympathy?

Answer 7

Empathy→ Understanding and sharing the emotional state of another
person
Sympathy→ Feeling of concern for another person in response to their emotional state

Question 8

How do infants engage in pro-social behaviours?

Answer 8

Before 18 months→ react to others’ distress with self-focused distress
- ex: cry in reaction to another infant crying
18-24months→ prosocial behaviour appears and increases
- natural tendency towards prosocial action
- help less if start to gain reward for helping
—>due to capacity to feel empathy and sympathy
- emergence of sense of self around 18months
—>prosocial behaviour is innate

Question 9

Toddlers help selectively depending on…

Answer 9

• how trustworthy, friendly the other person is
• type of help→ struggle with self-sacrifice
  how similar the person is to them→ same gender

Question 10

What are the sources of individual differences in prosocial behaviours?

Answer 10

no consistent cultural differences

genetic-> oxytocin and temperament
-proneness to distress→ better emotion regulation associated with helping and greater empathy
-shyness→ high shyness associated with less helping

Socialization by Parents
-Modelling of prosocial behaviour
-Parenting style
- authoritative parenting→ more prosocial behaviour in kids
- need sympathy-inducing reasoning focusing on effects on other
- ex: donate money because people need it VS because it is good
-Providing opportunities for child
- asking child to help in household chores
- lead to children feeling competent in taking on prosocial tasks

Question 11

Two types of aggression?

Answer 11

Physical Aggression
Begins around 18months and increases until 3yo
- toddlers lack perspective-taking skills
-especially in boys
- usually conflicts over possessions with peers and siblings
—>declines after 3yo because increases in language skills and emotion regulation

Relational Aggression
Def→ type of nonphysical aggression in which harm is caused by hurting someone’s relationships or social status
- emerges at 3yo and continues into adolescence
-especially in girls
- increases with language and social cognition

Question 12

What are the origins of aggression in an individual?

Answer 12

Genetics->Difficult temperament associated with higher aggression
- impulsivity, difficulties with attention and proneness to anger are predictive of aggression
—>but not enough to explain aggression
—>simply predisposition

Social Cognition factor
Hostile attribution bias→ tendency to assume that other people’s ambiguous actions stem from malicious intent
- vicious cycle

Family origins->Parental model aggression
- parental conflict, spanking
- serve as negative role model
-Authoritarian and uninvolved parents
- increased risk for aggression
- harsh physical discipline lead to hostile attribution bias
Parental monitoring
- reduce likelihood of deviance and antisocial peers

Abuse
Physically abused children→ better able to recognize angry facial expressions
- react more quickly as well

—>BUT harsh parenting seems to play bigger role than genes
- harsh parenting is enough to lead to aggressive children even without genetic predisposition

Peer Influences->Deviancy training