The development of moral shame indicates the emergence of moral identity in middle-childhood

Kingsford, Jess M.; Hawes, David J.; Rosnay, Marc de

doi:10.1080/03057240.2021.1898936

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Our study was based on the proposal that moral identity emerges in middle childhood (Kingsford et al, 2018(Kingsford et al, , 2021Tomasello, 2019). We aimed at investigating the hypotheses that, already in middle childhood, moral identity affects the neurocognitive processing of moral content.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet, its development remains hotly debated and virtually nothing is known on the neurocognitive processes that relate to its developmental emergence. Our study was based on the proposal that moral identity emerges in middle childhood (Kingsford et al., 2018, 2021; Tomasello, 2019). We aimed at investigating the hypotheses that, already in middle childhood, moral identity affects the neurocognitive processing of moral content.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neural processing of moral content reflects moral identity in 10‐year‐old children

Pletti

Decety

Paulus

2022

Developmental Science

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Middle childhood seems to be crucial for the emergence of a moral identity, that is, an evaluative stance of how important it is for someone's sense of self to be moral.This study investigates the effects of moral identity on the neural processing of moral content in 10-year-old children. Participants were presented with scenes portraying prosocial and antisocial behavior, while electroencephalographic responses were collected. Analyses of event-related potentials (ERPs) showed that, for children with a strong moral identity, antisocial scenes elicited a greater early posterior negativity (EPN) as compared to prosocial scenes. Thus, for children with a strong moral identity, antisocial scenes capture more attentional resources than prosocial ones in early processing stages. In contrast to previous findings with adults, the implicit moral selfconcept was not related to any ERP differences. Overall, the results show that, even in its developmental emergence, moral identity relates to the neurocognitive processing of third-party moral content. Together, the study supports the social-cognitive model of the development of moral identity, according to which moral identity is based on a chronical activation of moral schemas that guide a person's perception of the social world.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural processing of moral content reflects moral identity in 10‐year‐old children

Pletti

Decety

Paulus

2022

Developmental Science

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“…Krettenauer and Hertz (2015) therefore argued that research on moral identity development needs to expand into other developmental periods and broaden its conceptual and empirical base. In line with this suggestion, the moral identity of children has become a promising area of research (Engelmann & Rapp, 2018; Engelmann et al, 2012; Kingsford et al, 2018, 2022; Pletti et al, 2022; Tomasello, 2019). Research in this area suggests that moral identity emerges around the age of 6–7 years, thus much earlier than previously assumed (see also Krettenauer, 2022a).…”

Section: Trends In Moral Identity Development: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 98%

Moral identity goal characteristics: Age-related trends from early adolescence to old age.

Lefebvre,

Goddeeris,

Hamzagic

et al. 2024

Developmental Psychology

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The study investigated age-related trends in moral identity goal characteristics, as proposed in previous research (Krettenauer, 2022a), by modifying the Self-Importance of Moral Identity Questionnaire (Aquino & Reed, 2002). Internally and externally motivated moral identity was assessed on varying levels of abstractness for promotion orientation as well as prevention orientation in Canadian participants from three different age groups: early adolescence (13–14 years, n = 248, 119 female), late adolescence to early adulthood (17–20 years, n = 251, 160 female), and mid to old age (50–76 years, n = 129, 76 female). Findings demonstrate that the self-importance of abstract moral identity characteristics increased with age relative to concrete identity characteristics, while the relationship between the two characteristics weakened. The same trend was found for internal moral identity motivation in comparison to external motivation. The study demonstrates that moral identity does not only reflect stable individual differences but is also an important developmental construct. Merging developmental and individual difference perspectives on moral identity opens new and promising avenues for future research.

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“…In the following section, this developmental claim is further substantiated. We will first address a common misconception that moral identity development starts in adolescence but not earlier (see also Kingsford et al, 2018; 2021). We will then outline how moral identity can be assumed to develop from early forms to adult maturity.…”

Section: Moral Identity Development and Virtue Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moral Identity and the Acquisition of Virtue: A Self-Regulation View

Krettenauer

Stichter

2023

Review of General Psychology

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The acquisition of virtue can be conceptualized as a self-regulatory process in which deliberate practice results in increasingly higher levels of skillfulness in leading a virtuous life. This conceptualization resonates with philosophical virtue theories as much as it converges with psychological models about skill development, expertise, goal motivation, and self-regulation. Yet, the conceptualization of virtue as skill acquisition poses the crucial question of motivation: What motivates individuals to self-improve over time so that they can learn from past experience, correct mistakes, and expand their ethical knowledge to new and unfamiliar circumstances? In this paper, it is argued that the motivation to increase one’s level of skillfulness in leading a virtuous life is supported by a specific identity goal, namely the goal to be a moral person. However, this moral identity goal needs to carry specific goal characteristics in order to effectively provide this motivation. It needs to be sufficiently abstract, internally motivated and promotion- rather than prevention-oriented. Research in developmental psychology suggests that the moral identity of children is rather concrete, externally motivated, and prevention-oriented. With development, higher levels of abstraction, internal motivation, and promotion-orientation gain importance providing an important motivational basis for a self-regulated process of virtue acquisition.

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The development of moral shame indicates the emergence of moral identity in middle-childhood

Cited by 7 publications

References 38 publications

Neural processing of moral content reflects moral identity in 10‐year‐old children

Neural processing of moral content reflects moral identity in 10‐year‐old children

Moral identity goal characteristics: Age-related trends from early adolescence to old age.

Moral Identity and the Acquisition of Virtue: A Self-Regulation View

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