Background: A growing body of research shows that the beliefs we hold about the nature of knowing and knowledge (epistemic beliefs) may mediate moral reasoning. However, a limitation of much of the research in the area of epistemic beliefs is the lack of a longitudinal approach. Aims: The study investigated longitudinal changes in Australian…

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 =…

We assessed 5-to 11-year-olds' (N = 76) judgments of straightforward moral transgressions (prototypical harm) as well as their evaluations of complex, hypothetical scenarios in which an actor transgresses in order to prevent injury (necessary harm). The nature of the actor's transgression (psychological or physical harm) varied across…

The neurocognitive development of moral and conventional judgments was examined. Event-related potentials were recorded while 24 adolescents (13 years) and 30 young adults (20 years) read scenarios with 1 of 3 endings: moral violations, conventional violations, or neutral acts. Participants judged whether the act was acceptable or unacceptable…

Two experiments examined biases in children's (5/6- and 7/8-year-olds) and adults' moral judgments. Participants at all ages judged that it was worse to produce harm when harm occurred (a) through action rather than inaction (omission bias), (b) when physical contact with the victim was involved (physical contact principle), and (c) when the harm…

This study examined judgments and reasoning about four parental discipline practices (induction or reasoning and three practices involving "psychological control"; Barber, 1996; two forms of shaming and love withdrawal) among children (7-14 years of age) from urban and rural China and Canada (N = 288) in response to a moral…

We examined within- and between-person variations in parental legitimacy beliefs in a sample of 883 Arab refugee youth (M[subscript age] = 15.01 years, SD = 1.60), 277 Iraqis, 275 Syrians, and 331 Palestinians, in Amman, Jordan. Latent profile analyses of 22 belief items yielded 4 profiles of youth. The "normative" profile (67% of the…

Chief Academic Officers (CAO) are leaders in institutions of higher education and have wide decision-making scope. Previous research has clearly demonstrated the need for leaders to engage in ethical decision-making. Moral judgments are an aspect of ethical decision-making, so it is important for CAOs to make moral judgments. This study examined…

Children and adolescents evaluated group inclusion and exclusion in the context of generic and group-specific norms involving morality and social conventions. Participants ("N" = 381), aged 9.5 and 13.5 years, judged an in-group member's decision to deviate from the norms of the group, whom to include, and whether their personal…

This research examined how Chinese children make moral judgments about lie telling and truth telling when facing a "white lie" or "politeness" dilemma in which telling a blunt truth is likely to hurt the feelings of another. We examined the possibility that the judgments of participants (7-11 years of age, N=240) would differ…

The purpose of the present paper is to examine the teachers' cognitive structures through moral judgment schemas, as well as whether the above-mentioned structures diversify among teachers, depending on education level, specialty, age, teaching experience, and gender. Moreover, another aim is to examine whether these cognitive structures can…

Since Kohlberg (1958) first extended the cognitive developmental theory of moral judgment to include moral reasoning in adults, it has been found that women tended to score at a lower developmental stage than did men. Gilligan (1982) has conceptualized women's moral reasoning as being different in kind from men's moral reasoning, with women's…

Examined age and sex variations in moral judgment processes in 242 respondents aged 14 to 92. Found few sex differences in stage or patterns of information-seeking. Older participants (over age 75) scored at significantly lower stage levels than younger subjects. Older participants seemed more likely than younger subjects to assimilate moral…

Although the theory and research of Lawrence Kohlberg have been the dominant approach in the study of moral reasoning and moral development, his procedures have been criticized in three areas: (1) reliability and validity; (2) applicability to daily experience; and (3) inadequate sampling. To examine the characteristics of moral problems…

Studied the emotional attributions which 60 children aged four-eight gave to a story figure who violated a moral rule. Results suggested a clear change from outcome-oriented toward morally oriented attributions to a moral wrongdoer between the different age groups. (RJC)