Moral Development: The Association between Maltreatment and Young Children's Prosocial Behaviors and Moral Transgressions

In this investigation, the moral development of physically abused (N = 28), neglected (N = 26), and nonmaltreated (N = 28) five‐year‐old children from low socioeconomic backgrounds was examined through observational measures of prosocial behaviors, moral transgressions, and emotions associated with moral development. Findings showed that physically abused children engaged in more stealing behaviors, whereas neglected children engaged in significantly more cheating behavior and less rule‐compatible behavior compared to nonmaltreated children. In addition, maltreatment status differences interacted with gender on several of the moral paradigms. Physically abused girls displayed significantly less guilt and fewer donation behaviors than neglected girls. The clinical implications for maltreated children's moral development are discussed, and targeted interventions are suggested.     

The effect of intent and character information on children's evaluations of third-party transgressions

Research in adults suggests that their perception of moral transgressions is affected by the moral character of the agent performing the transgression, such that undesirable actions enacted by ‘good’ agents are seen as less serious than those performed by ‘bad’ agents. This may be partly driven our tendency to view undesirable acts as less intentional when the agent has a perceived good moral character. It is currently unclear whether or not children make similar judgements. Therefore, we investigated if children's use of moral character information is consistent with their judgements of transgressions when the intent behind the act was ambiguous or blatant. Children aged 6–8-years (N = 60) viewed a series of six moral transgressions in which the protagonist's intent was ambiguous or blatantly harmful, and their moral character was described as being good, mixed or bad. The children were then asked how much they felt the behaviour was intentional, how severe it was and the degree of punishment it deserved. Transgressions performed by ‘good’ characters were viewed as less intentional than those by ‘bad’ characters, but only when the intent behind it was ambiguous. Similarly, transgressions performed by good characters were viewed as less severe and deserving of less punishment than those performed by bad characters, although this effect was not moderated by intent information. These pattern of findings suggest that the view of transgressions performed by good individuals as less serious than the same act performed by bad individuals is established early in development.     

Children's perceptions of others' understanding of moral transgressions: who should know better and why

The present study examined children's perceptions of other children's ability to make moral judgements. Preschool, kindergarten, first- and second-grade children rated the permissibility of moral transgressions for a same-age peer, a younger child and an older child. Children also were asked why the transgressions were wrong. Preschool and kindergarten children rated transgressions equally wrong for a same-age peer, a younger and an older child, whereas first and second graders rated transgressions for a same-age peer and an older child as more wrong than for a younger child. Preschoolers stated they did not know why the transgressions were wrong for a younger child, while kindergarten children reasoned that a younger child did not know the rules. First and second graders reasoned that a same-age peer and an older child should know ‘better’, but a younger child would not know ‘better’. Results suggest that children's perceptions of others' moral knowledge is related to children's ability to coordinate domains of social knowledge when making judgements of others' moral transgressions.     

Moral Reasoning in Violent Contexts: Displaced and Non-displaced Colombian Children's Evaluations of Moral Transgressions, Retaliation, and Reconciliation

In order to assess the effects of displacement and exposure to violence on children's moral reasoning, Colombian children exposed to minimal violence (non-displaced or low risk; N  =  99) and to extreme violence (displaced or high risk; N  =  94), evenly divided by gender at 6, 9, and 12 years of age, were interviewed regarding their evaluation of peer-oriented moral transgressions (hitting and not sharing toys). The vast majority of children evaluated moral transgressions as wrong. Group and age differences were revealed, however, regarding provocation and retaliation. Children who were exposed to violence, in contrast to those with minimum exposure, judged it more legitimate to inflict harm or deny resources when provoked and judged it more reasonable to retaliate for reasons of retribution. Surprisingly, and somewhat hopefully, all children viewed reconciliation as feasible. The results are informative regarding theories of morality, culture, and the effects of violence on children's social development.     

Young Children's Affective Responses to Acceptance and Rejection From Peers: A Computer‐based Task Sensitive to Variation in Temperamental Shyness and Gender

This study presents a novel task examining young children's affective responses to evaluative feedback—specifically, social acceptance and rejection—from peers. We aimed to determine (1) whether young children report their affective responses to hypothetical peer evaluation predictably and consistently, and (2) whether young children's responses to peer evaluation vary as a function of temperamental shyness and gender. Four‐ to seven‐year‐old children (N = 48) sorted pictures of unknown, similar‐aged children into those with whom they wished or did not wish to play. Computerized peer evaluation later noted whether the pictured children were interested in a future playdate with participants. Participants then rated their affective responses to each acceptance or rejection event. Children were happy when accepted by children with whom they wanted to play, and disappointed when these children rejected them. Highly shy boys showed a wider range of responses to acceptance and rejection based on initial social interest, and may be particularly sensitive to both positive and negative evaluation. Overall, the playdate task captures individual differences in affective responses to evaluative peer feedback and is potentially amenable to future applications in research with young children, including pairings with psychophysiological measures.     

Understanding Feelings and Coping with Emotional Situations: A Comparison of Maltreated and Nonmaltreated Preschoolers

The effects of maltreatment on childen's emotion knowledge (e.g., recognition of facial cues for happy, sad, mad, scared, and surprised expressions), parent- and teacher-rated social and expressive behavior (e.g., aspects of emotion regulation such as emotional intensity, regulation of emotionally-driven behavior, and classroom social competence with peers such as conflict management), and hypothetical social problem-solving skills were examined in a sample of 45 preschool-aged, predominantly African-American preschoolers. Comparisons between maltreated, high-risk, and low-risk groups revealed no reliable differences in emotion knowledge, but several significant differences in hypothetical social problem-solving skills and in parent- and teacher-rated social and expressive behavior. Specifically, maltreated children were rated high on negative emotionality and emotional support-seeking at school, and they were rated low on support-seeking at home, instrumental action at home, problem-focused social problem-solving strategies, and conflict management. In general, teachers rated maltreated children as the least competent, low-risk children as intermediate, and high-risk children as the most competent.     

Developmental Trajectories of Sympathy,Moral Emotion Attributions,and Moral Reasoning: The Role of Parental Support

We examined the role of parental support to children's sympathy, moral emotion attribution, and moral reasoning trajectories in a three‐wave longitudinal study of Swiss children at 6 years of age (N = 175; Time 1), 7 years of age (Time 2), and 9 years of age (Time 3). Sympathy was assessed with self‐report measures. Moral emotion attributions and moral reasoning were measured with children's responses to hypothetical moral transgressions. Parental support was assessed at all assessment points with primary caregiver and child reports. Three trajectory classes of sympathy were identified: high‐stable, average‐increasing, and low‐stable. Moral emotion attributions exhibited high‐stable, increasing, and decreasing trajectories. Moral reasoning displayed high‐stable, increasing, and low‐stable trajectories. Children who were in the high‐stable sympathy group had higher self‐reported support than children in the increasing and low‐stable trajectory groups. Children who were in the high‐stable moral emotion attribution group or the high‐stable moral reasoning group had higher primary caregiver‐reported support than children in the corresponding increasing trajectory groups. Furthermore, children who were members of the high‐stable group in all three moral development variables (i.e., sympathy, moral emotion attribution, and moral reasoning) displayed higher levels of self‐reported parental support than children who were not.     

The distinction between provoked and unprovoked aggression in toddlerhood,and associations with empathy-related processes

Physical aggression in toddlerhood has received considerable attention in the past 20 years. The underlying theme has been that toddlers behave aggressively due to not yet being able to regulate their frustration. However, there is some evidence to suggest that early aggression can occur for other reasons. In this study, we tested the distinction between provoked and unprovoked aggression in toddlerhood, and examined whether different empathy-related processes would show unique associations with each type of aggression. Participants were 200 mothers of children aged 15–21 months (M_age = 18.32 months, SD = 1.75) who completed measures of provoked and unprovoked aggression, and empathy-related processes. We found that the two-factor aggression model fit the data well. In addition, when controlling for the overlap between other-oriented empathy and personal distress, other-oriented empathy demonstrated a negative association with unprovoked aggression, and personal distress showed a positive link with provoked aggression. Our findings underscore the importance of studying early physical aggression in a more nuanced way to better understand different functions it may serve in toddlerhood.     

Are the Competent the Morally Good? Perspective Taking and Moral Motivation of Children Involved in Bullying

The present study tested the hypothesis of the cognitively competent but morally insensitive bully. On the basis of teacher and peer ratings, 212 young elementary school children were selected and categorized as bullies, bully–victims, victims, and prosocial children. Children's perspective-taking skills were assessed using theory-of-mind tasks, and moral motivation was assessed with a task about moral emotion attributions after moral rule transgressions. Analyses at the group level revealed that only bully–victims, but not bullies, were characterized by a deficit in perspective taking, while both aggressive groups showed a deficit in moral motivation. Analyses at the individual level, however, revealed that bullies were a more heterogeneous group, including children with an asymmetry between perspective taking and moral motivation, as well as children scoring consistently low or high on both measures. The findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between (1) strategic social–cognitive and moral competencies and (2) different subgroups of bullies.     

Children's Use and Knowledge of Display Rules for Anger Following Hypothetical Vignettes versus Following Live Peer Interaction

Our primary goal was to examine the correspondence between children's self-reported use and knowledge of display rules for anger following hypothetical vignettes versus following live peer interactions. Our secondary goal was to investigate whether children's self-reported experience and self-reported expression of anger were related their observed anger expression, considered an observational measure of use of display rules for anger. Participants were 274 second-grade children. Children were first interviewed about their use and knowledge of display rules for anger in game-playing situations depicted through hypothetical vignettes. Several months later, children interacted with a confederate in standardized games designed to simulate the vignettes and answered the same questions about display rules. Children's responses were moderately related across the two contexts. However, following the live interactions, compared to the hypothetical vignettes, children reported feeling less anger, expressing less anger, intending to hide their anger more, and dissembling their anger more. In addition, there were differences in the quality and quantity of strategies for hiding anger that children generated across the two contexts. Observations of anger expression were not related to self-reports of either the experience or expression of anger.     

Understanding Solitude: Young Children's Attitudes and Responses Toward Hypothetical Socially Withdrawn Peers

The goal of the present study was to explore young children's attitudes and responses to different forms of social withdrawal by eliciting responses to hypothetical vignettes. Participants included 137 children (49 boys, 88 girls) in kindergarten and grade 1 classes (M_age = 75.94 months, SD = 9.03) in Ottawa, Canada. Parents rated child characteristics, including shyness, unsociability and aggression. Children were also interviewed individually and presented with a series of hypothetical vignettes describing the behaviors of shy, unsociable, aggressive and socially competent children. In response to each vignette, children were asked a series of questions designed to assess their perceptions, attitudes and responses toward each child behavior. Results suggested that young children made surprisingly sophisticated distinctions between shyness and unsociability, demonstrating differences in terms of attributions of behavioral intent, liking and sympathetic responses. In addition, unsociable children evidenced a distinct pattern of responses to hypothetical peers. These findings add to the growing body of research distinguishing different forms of social withdrawal, and shed some light as to why unsociability in early childhood may not be so benign.     

The socializing role of logical consequences,mild punishments,and reasoning in rule‐breaking contexts involving multifaceted issues

Experimental studies focusing on the socialization role of parental authority exertion in persistent rule‐breaking contexts involving non‐personal issues have recently shown the advantages of using logical consequences over alternative strategies (mild punishments, reasoning, and no‐authority). Using an experimental vignette approach and a sample of 214 adolescents (M_age = 15.28 years), the present study extended these findings by comparing the same parental interventions in a rule‐breaking setting involving a multifaceted issue. Specifically, and based on research anchored in social domain theory, we evaluated how adolescents' perceptions of the issue underlying the multifaceted transgression (personal vs. non‐personal) moderated the effects of authority exertion strategies on socialization indicators. When adolescents perceived the transgression as a non‐personal issue, past results were replicated and enhanced. Adolescents rated the logical consequence as at least as effective as the mild punishment to prevent future transgressions (i.e., more so than reasoning and no‐authority) and as the most acceptable strategy. Furthermore, contrary to the mild punishment, they did not perceive the logical consequence as more autonomy‐thwarting than reasoning. In contrast, adolescents who categorized the transgression as a personal matter rated the logical consequence less favorably, leaving reasoning as a preferred form of intervention. Implications for optimal parenting are discussed.     

Linkages between Children's Beliefs about the Legitimacy of Aggression and Their Behavior

The purposes of this study were to learn whether children's beliefs about the legitimacy of aggression can be reliably assessed and whether these beliefs relate to children's everyday social behavior with peers, as well as their responses to hypothetical ambiguous provocation situations. Fourth- and fifth-grade students ( n = 781) responded to a 16-item questionnaire designed to measure children's beliefs about the legitimacy of aggression. Children's behavioral orientation was assessed using two methods: (1) children's responses to ten hypothetical situations involving ambiguous provocation, and (2) peer evaluations of children's aggressive, withdrawn, and prosocial behavior. Results indicated that children's beliefs about the legitimacy of aggression were reliably measured. Furthermore, results from both measures of behavioral style showed that children who believed strongly in the legitimacy of aggression were more aggressive, less withdrawn, and less prosocial. The findings suggest that one focus of efforts to decrease children's aggression should be the modification of their beliefs about the legitimacy of aggressive actions.     

Maternal disclosure and adolescent prosocial behavior: The mediating roles of adolescent disclosure and coping

In this study, we considered the impact of mothers' willingness to disclose about distressing events and rule transgressions on their adolescent children's willingness to disclose about similar events, as well as adolescents' ability to cope and to show concern for others. Mothers and their 12‐ to 14‐year‐old children (N = 125) were asked to say how likely they would be to talk about moderately distressing concerns as well as minor rule transgressions. Adolescent positive coping skills were also assessed. Teachers (N = 92) rated the adolescents' prosocial behaviors in the classroom. Adolescents' disclosure about distressing events and positive coping mediated the relation between maternal disclosure about distressing events and adolescent prosocial behavior. Further, maternal disclosure alone about both distressing events and rule transgressions was related to adolescent prosocial behavior through positive coping. These results suggest that mothers' willingness to talk about their own negative experiences can help children cope better and, ultimately, to show greater empathy and concern for others.     

The Impact of Developing Social Perspective‐taking Skills on Emotionality in Middle and Late Childhood

A sample of 209 children was followed longitudinally to examine the impact of growing perspective‐taking skills on positive and negative emotionality in middle and late childhood. Perspective‐taking skills were assessed through interviews. Teachers rated children's emotional reactivity and capacity to regain a neutral state following emotional arousal. Analyses of contemporaneous data revealed that more developed perspective‐taking skills were associated with moderate levels of emotional reactivity. In addition, in children with high emotional reactivity, good perspective‐taking skills were associated with good capacity to regain a neutral affective state following emotional arousal. Longitudinal analyses revealed that children who made gains in perspective‐taking skills over a two‐year‐period became more moderate in negative emotional reactivity and improved their ability to down‐regulate strong positive emotions. The overall findings support the notion that children use perspective‐taking skills as a tool for optimal regulation of emotional responses.     

Young Chinese Children's Authority Concepts

Using multilevel analyses, we examined the influence of domain (moral, conventional, and personal) and the familiarity of different authority figures (mother, teacher, person in charge, and stranger) in public, school, or home settings in 123 four to seven-year-old Chinese children ( M   =  5.6 years) in Hong Kong. Children affirmed authority more for moral and conventional than personal events, based primarily on punishment avoidance and conventional justifications. Children judged that they should obey mothers more than all other authorities and the person-in charge in the associated setting and the teacher more than strangers. At school, teachers were seen as having more authority over moral and conventional events than mothers whereas at home, mothers had more authority than teachers over all issues. With age, children increasingly evaluated mothers' authority as generalizable across contexts for the moral event; reflecting the importance of familiarity, mothers were seen as having more authority to extend her regulation outside the home, including for personal events, than teachers' authority outside the school.     

Consistency and Change in Children's Tattling on their Siblings: Children's Perspectives on the Moral Rules and Procedures of Family Life

Children's tattling on their siblings was observed in 39 families when children were 2- and 4- and 4- and 6-years of age. Tattling was more frequent among older siblings, and increased across time, despite a corresponding decrease in sibling transgressions against one another and an increase in parents' negative reactions to tattling. Tattling was largely truthful, implicit in form, and more likely to concern transgressions of what parents also regarded as more important standards. Among 4- and 6-year-olds, tattling was related to children's negative behaviour to one another and equally likely when children faced ongoing conflict issues and when they merely wished to inform parents of sibling wrongdoing. Parents generally allowed their children to tattle on one another, rarely reprimanded tattlers, but responded to the information contained in the tattlers' reports. The parents' responses were related to the quality of their children's tattling, but the children's tattling was unrelated to the likelihood that parents would react either positively or negatively to it. Results are discussed in terms of the place of tattling within the family system, with emphasis on the children's understanding of the implications of their parents' involvement in their own disputes.     

Children's Moral Reasoning Regarding Physical and Relational Aggression

Elementary school children's moral reasoning concerning physical and relational aggression was explored. Fourth and fifth graders rated physical aggression as more wrong and harmful than relational aggression but tended to adopt a moral orientation about both forms of aggression. Gender differences in moral judgments of aggression were observed, with girls rating physical and relational aggression as more wrong and relational aggression as more harmful than boys. In addition, girls were more likely to adopt a moral orientation when judging physical and relational aggression and girls more often judged relational aggression than physical aggression from the moral domain. Finally, moral reasoning about aggression was associated with physically and relationally aggressive behavior. Considered together, the results indicate that children tend to adopt a moral orientation about aggression, but that they nonetheless differentiate between physical and relational aggression in their moral judgments.     

Disentangling the Frequency and Severity of Bullying and Victimization in the Association with Empathy

This study disentangled the frequency and perceived severity of experienced bullying and victimization by investigating their associations with cognitive and affective empathy. Participants were 800 children (7–12 years old) from third‐ to fifth‐grade classrooms who completed self‐report measures of the frequency and perceived severity of their bullying and victimization and of cognitive and affective empathy. Results showed that the frequency and perceived severity of bullying were moderately correlated in the entire sample but unrelated within the subsample of bullies. Frequency and perceived severity of victimization were significantly and positively correlated in the entire sample (moderate effect) and the subsample of victims (small effect). Frequent, but not severe, bullies reported less cognitive empathy than non‐bullies whereas both frequent and severe victims reported more affective empathy than non‐victims. Within subsamples of bullies and victims, frequency of bullying was negatively associated with cognitive and affective empathy, and perceived severity of bullying was positively associated with affective empathy. Frequency of victimization was not associated with cognitive and affective empathy, but perceived severity of victimization was positively associated with both forms of empathy.     

Awareness of Child Maltreatment among Professionals in Shanghai

This study reports on a series of qualitative interviews with professionals in Shanghai, China who work with children. The interviews explored the awareness of child protection issues amongst a range of people who work with children, how they differentiate corporal punishment from maltreatment and what they would do in response to cases of child abuse. Shanghai has one of the most well developed child welfare systems in China, and compared to similar professionals in other cities, those in Shanghai had higher awareness and more training, but were nevertheless reluctant to intervene and did not feel well prepared to deal with cases of child abuse should they be encountered. However there are some indications that practice is improving, and examples of recent developments are provided.