Intentionality, Degree of Damage, and Moral Judgments

153 first graders were given Piagetian moral judgment problems with a new simplified methodology as well as the usual story-pair paradigm. The new methodology involved making quantitative judgments about single stories and examined the influence of level of intentionality and degree of damage upon a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child development 1975-12, Vol.46 (4), p.970-974
Main Author: Berg-Cross, Linda Gail
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidents
Adults
Brief Reports
Child
Child Development
Children
Cognition
Fire damage
Humans
Intentionality
Judgment
Literary characters
Moral judgment
Morals
Obedience
Physical damage
Social psychology
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Summary:153 first graders were given Piagetian moral judgment problems with a new simplified methodology as well as the usual story-pair paradigm. The new methodology involved making quantitative judgments about single stories and examined the influence of level of intentionality and degree of damage upon absolute punishment ratings. Contrary to results obtained with a story-pair methodology, it was found that with single stories even 6-year-old children responded to the level of intention in the stories as well as the quantity and quality of damage involved. This suggested that Piaget's methodology may be forcing children to employ a simplifying strategy while under other conditions they are able to perform the mental operations necessary to make complex moral judgments.
ISSN:0009-3920
1467-8624
DOI:10.2307/1128406