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Article
Developmental changes and individual differences in young children’s moral judgments.
USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications
  • Judith G. Smetana
  • Wendy M. Rote, University of South Florida St. Petersburg
  • Marc Jambon
  • Marina Tasopoulos-Chan
  • Myriam Villalobos
  • Jessamy Comer
SelectedWorks Author Profiles:

Wendy Rote

Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2012
Disciplines
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.

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.

Language
en_US
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0
Citation Information
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