The Homogeneity and Heterogeneity of Moral Functioning in Preschool

Abstract

The current study examined relations between distinct aspects of moral functioning, and their cognitive and emotional correlates, in preschool age children. Participants were 171 typically developing 3-to 6-year-olds. Each child completed several tasks, including (a) moral tasks assessing both performance of various moral actions and evaluations of moral scenarios presented both verbally and nonverbally; and (b) non-moral tasks assessing general cognitive skill, executive functioning, theory-of-mind, and emotion recognition. Shyness and empathic concern were assessed from video acquired during participation. Results demonstrated positive associations among distinct moral actions, as well as among distinct moral evaluation tasks, but few associations between tasks assessing moral actions and moral evaluation. Empathic concern and inhibitory control each emerged as important predictors of preschoolers' moral functioning.

Links between justice sensitivity and moral reasoning, moral emotions, and moral identity in middle childhood

“…According to stage models of moral development, higher stages (and, consequently, moral behavior) require (social) perspectivetaking (Kohlberg, 1976;Selman, 1984). In line with this reasoning, ToM, the ability to attribute and infer other's thoughts, intentions, and emotions showed positive associations with moral reasoning and moral behavior in numerous studies (Lagattuta & Weller, 2014, for an overview;Lane et al, 2010;Tan et al, 2020). ToM skills also enable the understanding of rule-desire conflicts and thereby support the attribution of negative moral emotions to norm transgressors (Lagattuta & Weller, 2014).…”

“…For example, the emotional reaction of empathizing with others was considered as particularly important to motivate toward moral behavior (Hoffman, 2000). Accordingly, empathy, the ability to understand and feel others’ feelings, was positively related with prosocial behavior in preschoolers (Paulus & Leitherer, 2017; Tan et al, 2020) and adults (Edele et al, 2013; Hardy, 2006) as well as with moral reasoning (Malti & Ongley, 2014). Behavior in dictator games, however, was not related with empathic concerns (and perspective‐taking) in adults (Baumert et al, 2014) and a recent meta‐analysis showed only weak relations between empathy and aggression (Vachon et al, 2014).…”

Normative views and resource distribution behavior in childhood: Dissociated at the group level, but associated at the individual level

“…A key debate in moral development centers on the relation between normative views and behavior. Previous theories and empirical evidence suggested either coherence between the two (Killen & Dahl, 2018; Paulus et al, 2018; Rizzo et al, 2020; Turiel, 2003) or a discrepancy (Blake, 2018; Blasi, 1983; Smith et al, 2013; Tan et al, 2021). The present study aims to go beyond this dichotomy of dissociation or coherence by investigating the relation at the group level and at the individual level when contrasting fairness considerations with the inclination to favor friends.…”

“…Studies support this view by demonstrating that normative views about how one ought to share and own sharing behavior diverge in children (Kogut, 2012; Smith et al, 2013) and also in adults (Keller et al, 2013). In addition, a recent study has reported no relation between preschoolers’ evaluation of morally relevant actions and sharing behavior (Tan et al, 2021). In conclusion, some theoretical considerations and previous research suggest that normative views do not consistently relate to behavior.…”

“…More precisely, previous studies differed in how they addressed the alignment of normative views and behavior. On one hand, some studies examined whether the level of a normative view correlates with actual behavior across individuals (e.g., Abramson et al, 2018; Paulus et al, 2018; Rizzo et al, 2020; Tan et al, 2021). Correlations between normative views and behavior suggest that individual tendencies in considering a behavior as normatively required and behaving accordingly are related.…”