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Developmental changes and individual differences in young children’s moral judgments.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2012
ISSN
0009-3920
Abstract
Developmental trajectories and individual differences in 70 American middle-income 2½- to 4-year olds’ moral judgments were examined 3 times across 1 year using latent growth modeling. At Wave 1, children distinguished hypothetical moral from conventional transgressions on all criteria, but only older preschoolers did so when rating deserved punishment. Children’s understanding of moral transgressions as wrong independent of authority grew over time. Greater surgency and effortful control were both associated with a better understanding of moral generalizability. Children higher in effortful control also grew more slowly in understanding that moral rules are not alterable and that moral transgressions are wrong independent of rules. Girls demonstrated sharper increases across time than boys in understanding the nonalterability of moral rules.
Language
en_US
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
Recommended Citation
Smetana, J.G., Rote, W.M., Jambon, M., Tasopoulos-Chan, M., Villalobos, M. & Comer, J. (2012). Developmental changes and individual differences in young children’s moral judgments. Child Development, 83, 683-696. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01714.x
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Comments
Citation only. Full-text article is available through licensed access provided by the publisher. Members of the USF System may access the full-text of the article through the authenticated link provided.