No abstract

No abstract

Middle childhood is a critical phase for moral development with marked changes in moral reasoning (i.e., the level of justification for moral conduct) and moral emotions (i.e., affective responses to moral-related situations), and early indicators of moral identity (i.e., the consolidation of self-concept and moral traits; Hardy & Carlo, 2011;. Recent research indicated that individual differences in the tendency to frequently perceive and intensively respond to injustice, that is, in justice sensitivity (JS), also manifest in this age range (Strauß et al., 2020). Because JS was considered a moral trait (Baumert et al., 2013) and consistently related to prosocial behavior in older age groups (Bondü & Elsner, 2015;Edele et al., 2013;Strauß et al., 2020), it may also add to explain moral development. However, the potential role of moral-related traits for different dimensions of moral development in general was hardly considered and potential differential associations between JS in particular and moral cognitions, moral emotions, as well as moral identity have never been examined up to now. This, however, seems particularly interesting in childhood as a sensitive phase for both moral and JS development and because relations may be complex, as JS comprises concerns for justice for the self and for others. Therefore, the present study examined potential relations between JS and common measures of morality in middle childhood while controlling for theory of mind (ToM) and empathy as relevant social skills. Justice sensitivityJustice is an important aspect of what is generally considered as moral (Kohlberg, 1976;Rawls, 1971).

No abstract

Abstract. According to the intuitive retributivism hypothesis, individuals favor retributivist (getting even) over consequentialist (prevention of norm transgressions) motives when asked to rate the appropriateness of punishment responses representing these motives. This hypothesis has rarely been tested in children; restorative motives (norm clarification, settlement) and potentially influencing variables have rarely been considered. We had 170 elementary school children ( M = 9.26, SD = 1.01) rate the appropriateness of six punishment responses by themselves and teachers for two types of norm transgression as well as their justice sensitivity. Children rated punishment responses thought to represent restorative motives as most appropriate, followed by special preventive and other retributive motives, revenge, general preventive motives, and doing nothing for both themselves and their teachers. Transgression type did not influence appropriateness ratings. Justice sensitivity was related to a stronger tendency to punish. Findings favor intuitive pacifism over intuitive retributivism, indicate children’s preference for target-specific, communicative punishment, and show only small influences by other variables.

No abstract

No abstract