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Question 1

What is prosocial behaviour?

Answer 1

Voluntary behaviour intended to benefit another, such as helping, sharing, and comforting others

Question 2

What did Eisenberg-Berg find about prosocial moral behaviour?

Answer 2

Similar results to Kohlberg’s stages in that 5 year olds went to the party for their own interest (to get cake).

Older children focused on more prosocial behaviour and on empathy.

Question 3

What did Eisenberg find out about the age at which children can display more sophisticated forms of reasoning, compared with Kohlberg?

Answer 3

Using Eisenberg’s prosocial reasoning stories, children displayed more sophisticated forms of reasoning at an earlier age than Kohlberg found

Question 4

What can we conclude about the differences in findings between Eisenberg and Kohlberg?

Answer 4

The type of stories being presented to children make a difference.

Kohlberg’s stories were not approachable from a child’s perspective. Children can understand Eisenberg’s stories better.

Question 5

What are Eisenberg’s 5 stages of prosocial behaviour?

Answer 5

Hedonistic orientation
Needs-based orientation
Approval and stereotyped orientation
Self-reflective empathic orientation
Strongly internalised stage

Question 6

What happens in the hedonistic orientation stage? (preschool children)

Answer 6

The child acts to benefit themselves

Question 7

What happens in the needs-based orientation stage? (preschool/primary)

Answer 7

The child demonstrate concern for others but they do not demonstrate empathy

Question 8

What happens in the approval and stereotyped orientation stage? (primary)

Answer 8

There are stereotypes of good and bad behaviour.

Children behave because they want to be seen as a good person.

Question 9

What happens in the self-reflective empathic orientation stage? (high school)

Answer 9

Children are concerned about others needs and able to interpret these from their perspective. They demonstrate empathy.

Question 10

What happens in the strongly internalised stage? (high school)

Answer 10

Children maintain self-respect by living up to their own values and beliefs. They believe in dignity, rights, and equality of all people. Higher level of moral reasoning.

Question 11

Has Eisenberg-Berg’s stages of prosocial behaviour been found across cultures?

Answer 11

Only Western countries - this is a limitation. Lots of research is being done in Western cultures so we ignore the influence of many other cultures. More research is needed to fully understand people’s moral reasoning or prosocial behaviour.

Question 12

What characteristics do children who use higher-level pro-social moral reasoning have?

Answer 12

They are more sympathetic and pro-social in their behaviour.

Question 13

What are the ages of criminal responsibility in England and Wales?

Answer 13

10 years or older.

10-17 are treated differently than adults.

18+ are treated as an adult.

Question 14

What have meta-analysis studies found about delinquents and moral reasoning?

Answer 14

There is a strong relationship between moral reasoning and juvenile delinquency.

Young delinquents have lower levels of moral reasoning than non-delinquents.

Delinquents show immature moral reasoning.

Question 15

What variables could affect levels of moral judgement in delinquent adolescents, according to Stams (2006) meta-analysis?

Answer 15

Socio-economic background

Gender (Females are more likely to be abused, thus they are assumed to have higher levels of empathy and higher levels of moral reasoning than males)

Intelligence

Institutionalisation

Question 16

How could socio-economic background affect moral judgement?

Answer 16

Low socio-economic background families are likely to have lots of rules and punishment/rewards. Children cannot develop reasoning.

Middle socio-economic background families are likely to talk through the consequences of the children’s behaviour with them, helping them to develop their reasoning. These children have more opportunities to develop their moral reasoning.

Question 17

How could intelligence affect moral judgement?

Answer 17

People who are more intelligent have more capacity to take into account different aspects of moral reasoning. Understand what is right and wrong and understand the consequences of their behaviour.

Question 18

What did Stams (2006) meta-analysis find regarding the moral judgement of juvenile delinquents compared to non-delinquents?

Answer 18

Found significantly lower levels of moral reasoning in male offenders, people with low intelligence, prisoners, and later adolescents (around 15 years).

Question 19

Why might incarcerated delinquents have lower moral reasoning than non-incarcerated delinquents?

Answer 19

People in prison/incarcerated may have less opportunities to have developed their moral reasoning.

Delinquents may be put with delinquents who have committed serious crimes (violence, murder) and so their moral judgement might be influenced by delinquents with more serious crimes.

Question 20

What effect does length of incarceration have on moral development?

Answer 20

Delinquents that had been incarcerated for longer showed lower levels of moral development.

Reasons for this could be because the length of incarceration is determined by the severity of the offence. Institutionalisation leaves little room for individuals to develop their moral reasoning and develop social perspective taking.

Question 21

What did Stams et al. (2006) conclude from their meta-analysis?

Answer 21

Moral judgement is strongly associated with juvenile delinquency, even after controlling for socioeconomic status, gender, and intelligence.

Question 22

What could be a recommendation for government policies to improve children’s moral reasoning?

Answer 22

We need educational programmes because with higher levels of education comes higher levels of moral reasoning. Children are given more opportunities to develop their moral reasoning.

Re-evaluate the length of sentencing for non-serious crimes (children could pay their debt through another means).

Question 23

What is the trolley problem?

Answer 23

A train is coming and there are 5 workers on one track and 1 worker on the other track. You can control which way the train goes. Either way people are going to die (either 1 or 5).

A more difficult problem involved the same situation but you had the option to push one person in front of the train to save 5 lives.

What is moral?