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Adult instruction limits children's flexibility in moral decision making
Susanne Hardecker1, Joanna C Buryn-Weitzel2, Michael Tomasello3
1SRH University of Applied Health Sciences Gera, 07548 Gera, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology
|July 27, 2019
Summary
Adult moral instruction can make children rigid. Children told to share equally by adults shared less with a needier partner than those who decided to share themselves, highlighting potential limitations of imposed moral rules.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Moral Development
- Social Learning Theory
Background:
- Children's moral behavior is often shaped by adult guidance and instruction.
- Imposed moral rules may become inflexible when situational demands change.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of adult moral instruction on children's sharing behavior in novel contexts.
- To compare the flexibility of moral decision-making in children who received explicit instructions versus those who self-regulated or collaboratively agreed on rules.
Main Methods:
- 48 pairs of 5-year-olds participated in a collaborative game.
- Three conditions: adult instruction to share equally, no instruction (spontaneous equal sharing), or self-agreed equal sharing rule.
- Children then interacted with a new partner with differing needs or contributions.
Main Results:
- Children instructed by adults shared less with a needier partner compared to children in other conditions.
- Adult-led moral instruction appeared to foster more rigid sharing behaviors.
Conclusions:
- Explicit moral instruction from adults can lead to less adaptive and more rigid moral decision-making in children.
- Children's ability to flexibly adjust moral behavior based on context may be hindered by externally imposed rules.