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What is to be done? Children's ascriptions of conventional obligations

Charles W Kalish1, Rebecca Cornelius

  • 1University of Wisconsin--Madison, WI 53706, USA. cwkalish@wisc.edu

Child Development
|May 23, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Children and adults understand that obligations can conflict with personal benefits. Young children sometimes link obligations to authority figures

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Development
  • Moral Psychology
  • Social Cognition

Background:

  • Determining what one ought to do is complex.
  • Understanding conventional obligations is crucial for social functioning.
  • Previous research has not fully elucidated the developmental trajectory of obligation understanding.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the cues children and adults use to identify conventional obligations.
  • To explore developmental differences in understanding the relationship between obligations, outcomes, and mental states.

Main Methods:

  • Three experiments were conducted with preschool-aged (4-5 years), school-aged (7-8 years), and adult participants.
  • Participants were presented with scenarios to assess their understanding of obligations in relation to expected outcomes, costs, benefits, awareness, and authority figures' desires.

Main Results:

  • While young children often expect consistency, all age groups recognized that obligations can conflict with personal costs and benefits.
  • Participants across all ages understood that individuals may have obligations they are unaware of.
  • Preschoolers, unlike older children, frequently linked obligations to the desires of authority figures.

Conclusions:

  • Understanding of conventional obligations develops throughout childhood, with increasing nuance regarding their potential conflict with personal interests.
  • Early understanding of obligations is influenced by perceived authority, while later development incorporates a more complex interplay of mental states and outcomes.
  • These findings shed light on the development of social cognition and moral reasoning.

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