In this project, we are investigating how children evaluate violations of moral norms. We are looking at whether children of different ages and with different cognitive abilities evaluate norm transgressions (such as lying) in different ways - depending on the specific context in which the transgression occurred.
About the Project
Social coexistence and social interaction require us to adhere to moral and ethical norms and conventions. Sometimes, however, it may also be necessary to transgress these norms or conventions, for example it may in some contexts be more social to lie in order to protect someone’s feelings or to help a person. Our question here is, when and how such a more nuanced view of moral norm and conventions develops.
Children of preschool and primary school age show a developing understanding of moral norms like honesty, and their evaluation of lying becomes more nuanced with age, especially depending on the intentions and context behind the lie. While younger children tend to have a black-and-white view of lying and are more focused on outcomes than intentions, older children begin to understand that intentions matter. They start to evaluate lying more contextually, for instance they may recognize that lying for prosocial reasons (e.g., to protect someone's feelings) might be acceptable.
To further investigate children’s developing differentiation of moral judgments, we examine children of kindergarten and primary school age and focus on their evaluation of lies in different contexts. The children watch short stories in which one person commits a norm violation (lying). The stories differ in terms of whether the person is lying for themselves or for others (e.g., to help them). We ask ourselves whether the child's evaluation of these stories varies with the different reasons for the norm violation and whether this is influenced by the child's age and social-cognitive abilities (theory of mind, cognitive flexibility).
This project will provide insight into children’s development of moral reasoning may help psychologist and educators understand how children’s social-cognitive abilities like theory of mind and cognitive flexibility interplay with this development.