Moral valuation: a third domain of conscience functioning

Area of Science:

• Developmental Psychology
• Moral Development
• Child Psychiatry

Background:

• Conscience development is crucial for understanding moral reasoning.
• Previous research identified stages of conscience conceptualization.
• Moral valuation, the derivation and justification of moral rules, requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the development of moral valuation in children and adolescents.
• To examine the relationship between moral valuation and conscience conceptualization stages.
• To explore social reference aspects (authority, self, peer) in moral rule derivation.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Stilwell Conscience Interview with 132 participants aged 5-17.
• Assessed moral valuation across authority-derived, self-derived, and peer-derived social references.
• Scaled complexity of each aspect into six anchored levels.

Main Results:

• All three aspects of moral valuation positively correlated with conscience conceptualization stages.
• Each aspect of moral valuation was also positively correlated with the others.
• Peer-derived moral valuation showed significant correlation with age and developmental stage.

Conclusions:

• Moral valuation is a key component of conscience, referencing authority, self, and peers.
• Developmental guidelines for moral valuation can be established using anchored levels.
• These findings offer criteria for mental status examinations and psychopathology studies in youth.