Spontaneous definitions of good and bad acts were acquired from 30 children, ages 6 to 12 yr. As predicted, 15 younger children (M = 8 yr.) expressed concepts of good that were largely dependent upon the negation or absence of bad behavior, e.g., “Being good is not breaking windows,” while their concepts of bad did not require such negation for definition. However, 15 older children (M = 11⅔ yr) offered definitions of both good and bad behavior which stressed prosocial and adverse effects on other people, respectively.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
HastorfA. H.RichardsonS. A.DornbuschS. M.The problem of relevance in the study of person perception. In TagiuriR.PetrulloL. (Eds.), Person perception and interpersonal behavior. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford Univer. Press, 1958. Pp. 54–62.
2.
HillK. A.EnzleM. E.Interactive effects of training modality and age on children's moral judgments. Paper presented at the meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association, Toronto, June, 1976.
3.
KellyG.The psychology of personal constructs. (2 vols.) New York: Norton, 1955.
4.
LivesleyW. J.BromleyD. B.Person perception in childhood and adolescence. London: Wiley, 1973.
5.
McKechnieR. J.Between Piaget's stages: A study in moral development. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 1971, 41, 213–217.
6.
PiagetJ.The moral judgment of the child. London: Kegan Paul, 1932.
