Results support Kohlberg's speculation that orientational preference rather than level of stage structure may be the primary area in which sex differences in moral judgment are manifested. It is concluded that ascriptions of greater adequacy or maturity to the moral thought of one or the other sex are appropriate. (RH)

Addresses the criticisms of Diana Baumrind's review of his research on sex differences in moral reasoning development. Discusses issues such as the nature of moral development, the focus on adulthood, the choice of statistics, the effect of differing sample sizes and scoring systems, and the role of sexual experiences in explaining variability in…

Takes issue with Lawrence Walker's literature review on developmental and individual differences in moral reasoning which found no consistent evidence for sex differences in moral development. Argues instead that the source and specific nature of these differences have yet to be established. (HOD)

Examined three and four year olds' judgments about transgressions. Children judged moral transgressions to be more serious, punishable, and wrong than conventional transgressions; hypothetical transgressions to be more wrong independent of rules than actual transgressions; and hypothetical moral transgressions to be more independent of rules than…

Examined children's obligatory moral judgments, which reflect a moral requirement, and discretionary moral judgments, which reflect moral worthiness but not a requirement. Children were interviewed in response to three stories that entailed positive and negative morality. Results showed that moral acts conceived of by children as being obligatory…

Examines the effect of the severity and causal nature of initial provocation on seventy-two five- to ten-year-old children's retaliation judgments. Children's perceptions of the provocation were more differentiated than those that had previously been reported. Evaluation of the retaliator varied systematically according to perceptions of the…

Examines several issues arising from two differing approaches to morality--Kohlberg's theory of moral reasoning development and Gilligan's theory of moral orientations. (PCB)

Examined potential predictors of Israeli adolescents' accuracy in perceiving parental values. Found that accuracy in perceiving parents' overall value system correlated positively with parents' actual and perceived value agreement and perceived parental warmth and responsiveness, but negatively with perceived value conflict, indifferent parenting,…

Two studies of third, sixth, and ninth graders were conducted to determine whether the children made judgments about both justice and interpersonal relations in conflict situations. Results demonstrate that concerns with justice and interpersonal relationships coexist in judgments of male and female children. The ways in which these concerns are…

Studied perceptions of self-competence and task values, documenting domain-specific growth trajectories for 761 children from grade 1 through 12. Found that self- perceptions of competence and subjective task values declined as children got older, although extent and rate of decline varied across domains. Found significant gender differences in…

Study investigated relationships between 4-year olds' expressed humanitarian and success value preferences and their ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and sex. (Author)

This study tested the hypothesis that aggressive children attach more value to rewarding outcomes of aggression and less to negative outcomes than do nonaggressive children. Sex differences in outcome values were also examined. (PCB)

Examined relationship of maternal control and sex differences in children taking responsibility for failure and possessing strong standards. Found that, in using control, mothers were more likely to grant autonomy to boys than to girls. This socialization pattern partially mediated girls' tendency to take greater responsibility for failure than…

Interviewed mothers and fathers from 100 first-generation, Indian immigrant families about their socialization values and practices. Also interviewed adolescents about their parents' behavior. Three predictors of parental attitudes and behavior were examined: modernity, acculturation, and time in the United States. Found that the effects of the…