Morality is an evolved aspect of human nature, yet is heavily influenced by cultural environment. This developmental study adopted an integrative approach by combining measures of socioeconomic status (SES), executive function, affective sharing, empathic concern, theory of mind, and moral judgment in predicting sharing behavior in children (N =…

This study asks whether children accept both interpretations of ambiguous sentences with contexts supporting each option. Twenty-six 3- to 5-year-old English-speaking children and a control group of 30 English-speaking adults participated in a truth value judgment task. As a step towards evaluating the complexity of syntactic ambiguity, the…

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of middle school pupils' acculturation on their readings of and expectations for physical education. Participants were 94 pupils attending one public middle school. Data were collected using five qualitative techniques. They were analysed by employing analytic induction and constant…

This study reports the findings of a study assessing the acceptability differences in decisions made by Certified Public Accounting practitioners (CPA) and students studying to become CPAs. The study responds to researchers' call for additional research on topics related to accounting decision ethics. Modified managerial and accounting recognition…

This study aimed to examine when children come to distinguish between the private affairs of an individual and the group's matter in relation to group decision making and whether there are any differences between Japan and England in learning the distinction. In total 217 children aged 8, 11, and 13 years, and undergraduates participated in the…

Investigated 4-, 8-, and 11-year-olds' ability to categorize intentionally false and true statements as lies and truths. Found that older children were more likely to categorize false statements as lies and true statements as truths than were 4-year-olds. Antisocial lies were rated as most serious, and "white lies" as least serious.…

A recognition measure of Kohlbergian moral reasoning, developed on the basis of a production measure, was psychometrically evaluated. Results showed that the Sociomoral Reflection Objective Measure has acceptable concurrent validity and high levels of test-retest reliability and internal consistency. (Author/CI)

The relationships of age, gender, and educational level with moral development in 94 middle-class 28- to 55-year-old adults (32 males and 62 females) were studied. Subjects were administered Kohlberg's Moral Judgment Interview (MJI). Males scored higher on the MJI than females. Findings support the continued development of moral judgment through…

An investigation of children's tendencies to infer planfulness from the behavior of other actors revealed systematic differences in the responses of kindergarten and second-grade children to questions about the motives, goals, and knowledge of story characters. Participating in the study were 13 boys and 13 girls attending public school (15…

This study investigates 727 parents from China, Japan, and Korea by a self-devised scale and compares the differences in their expectation of early childhood education in cross-cultural backgrounds. The result shows that parents from the three countries have a positive attitude toward their children's development. The main effect of nations on…

Causal interpretations of story characters' helpful behavior were examined in first, fourth, and sixth graders, and in college-age students. Subjects heard stories featuring actors' anticipations of eight different consequences for helping. Differences in ratings of actors among age groups were discussed. (Author/CI)

Investigated age and context differences in children's judgments about excluding peers from group activities on the basis of gender and race. Found that the vast majority of children rejected exclusion in contexts in which only stereotypes justified exclusion. Older children (13 years) were more likely to allow exclusion than younger (7 and 10…

Compared Chinese and Canadian 7-, 9-, and 11-year-olds' moral evaluations of lie- and truth-telling in stories involving pro- and antisocial behavior. Found that Chinese children rated truth-telling less positively and lie-telling more positively in prosocial settings than Canadians. Both rated truth-telling positively and lie-telling negatively…

This study examined the development of empathy and role-taking skills in 194 Finnish students in Grades 6 and 9. Students wrote a story about a moral conflict in their school involving themselves or their friends. Story content and theme were analyzed and compared across age groups. Findings indicated that the themes of conflicts could be…

Examined preschoolers', first-graders', and third-graders' responses to questions in which one authority (mother or teacher) permitted a moral or conventional act to occur across contexts and the other authority prohibited the act from occurring across contexts. Found that children's evaluations were a function of the authorities' status, the…