Gender and Sexuality Moral Development, Values, and Religion

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A Topical Approach to
Life-Span development 6e

John W. Santrock

Chapter Thirteen:

Moral Development,

Values, and Religion

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Domains of Moral Development

• What is moral development?
• Changes in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors regarding standards of right and wrong
• An intrapersonal dimension: regulates activities
• An interpersonal dimension: regulates social interactions and arbitrates conflict

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Domains of Moral Development

• Piaget’s theory
• Heteronymous morality (ages 4 to 7)
• Justice, rules are seen as unchangeable properties of the world, removed from the control of people
• (ages 7 to 10): in transition between the two stages
• Autonomous morality (ages 10 and older)
• Becomes aware rules and laws created by people; in judging an action, they intentions and consequences
• Immanent justice
• If a rule is broken, punishment will be meted out immediately

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Domains of Moral Development

• Kohlberg’s theory
• Moral reasoning unfolds in universal stages
• Tested by story with moral dilemma
• Theory of three levels, two stages in each
• Reflects some of Piaget’s concepts

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Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development

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Domains of Moral Development

• Kohlberg’s theory
• Evaluation
• Seventh stage added: cosmic perspective
• Peer interaction critical influence
• Criticisms
• Moral reasons (overemphasized) can be shelter for immoral behavior (underemphasized)
• Faulty research: difficult to measure morality
• Culturally biased? – universality of stages one to four found in twenty-seven mostly non-European cultures

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Figure 13.2 - Age and Percentage of Individuals at Each Kohlberg Stages

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Mean percent of moral reasoning at each stage

70

14

10

16

18

Age (years)

22

24

26

28

32

12

34

36

30

20

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Domains of Moral Development

• Families and moral reasoning
• Family processes, relationships important in children’s moral development
• Gilligan: Kohlberg’s theory is gender-biased
• Kohlberg’s theory has justice perspective — focus on rights of individual, one stands alone and independently
• Gilligan’s care perspective — views people in terms of connectedness with others; girls interpret moral dilemmas in terms of human relationships

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Domains of Moral Development

• Reasoning
• Social conventional reasoning
• Focus on conventional rules created by social consensus to control behavior, maintain society
• Arbitrary and subject to individual judgment
• Moral reasoning
• Focuses on ethical issues and rules of morality
• Obligatory, widely accepted, somewhat impersonal
• Distinction: personal domain (issues are personal)

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Domains of Moral Development

• Moral behavior
• Basic Processes of reinforcement, punishment, and imitation: behavior is situation-specific
• Influence of others present like peers
• Resistance to temptation and self-control
• Influenced by cognitive rationales, factors
• Social cognitive theory of morality
• Distinguishes between moral competence (ability to produce moral behaviors) and moral performance (actually performing them)

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Domains of Moral Development

• Moral feeling
• Freud’s psychoanalytic theory
• Foundation of moral behavior is avoid guilt feelings
• Superego: moral branch of personality (two parts)
• Ego ideal — Rewards for acting ideal standards; sense of pride and personal value
• Conscience — Punishes for disapproved acts; feeling guilty and worthless
• Children internalize parents’ standards; self-control replaces parental control

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Domains of Moral Development

• Moral feeling
• Empathy
• Reacting to another’s feelings with emotional response similar to other’s feelings
• Cognitive component — perspective-taking
• Develops from infant’s global empathy
• Children’s ability depends on awareness that people have different reactions to situations

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Domains of Moral Development

• Role of emotion in moral development
• Contemporary perspective
• When strongly felt, both positive and negative feelings contribute to moral behavior
• Positive feelings: empathy, sympathy, admiration, self-esteem
• Negative feelings: anger, outrage, shame, guilt
• Some emotions undergo developmental change throughout childhood and beyond; interwoven with cognitive and social aspects of development

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Domains of Moral Development

• Moral personality
• Three key dimensions: thoughts, behavior, feelings
• Fourth dimension: personality
• Core that may constitute moral personality
• Moral identity: Willpower, integrity, moral desire
• Moral character: Convictions, persistence, focus
• Moral exemplars: Being honest and dependable; having set of virtues reflecting moral excellence
• Different types (e.g. brave, caring)

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Contexts of Moral Development

• Parenting
• Piaget and Kohlberg discounted parents’ input to children’s moral development
• Parents see themselves in primary role
• Relational quality
• Mutual obligations of close relationship
• Parental power of discipline, child’s self-control

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Contexts of Moral Development

• Parenting
• Parents see themselves in primary role
• Proactive strategies (monitoring, distracting child)
• Cocooning (protect from exposure)
• Pre-arming (discuss what could happen, what to do)
• Conversational dialogue
• Can be planned or spontaneous
• Can encourage, teach, contribute to child’s moral development

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Contexts of Moral Development

• Parenting linked to child’s moral behavior
• Parenting recommendations
• Warm and supportive, not punitive
• Use inductive discipline
• Provide opportunities for children
• Involve children in decisions
• Model moral behaviors
• Provide info and foster internal morality

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Contexts of Moral Development

• Schools
• The Hidden Curriculum
• Character education
• Direct moral education approach teaches students basic moral literacy to prevent immoral behavior, doing harm to themselves or others
• Values clarification
• Helps clarify what life is for, what to work for
• Students encouraged to define own values and understand others’ values

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Contexts of Moral Development

• Schools
• The Hidden Curriculum
• Cognitive Moral Education
• Students should value things like democracy and justice as moral reasoning develops
• Instructor is facilitator, not director
• Service Learning
• Form of education that promotes social responsibility and service to community
• Benefits student volunteers and recipients

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Contexts of Moral Development

• Cheating in schools
• Moral education concern
• Plagiarism, cheat sheets in exams, purchasing papers
• Copying from another student, falsifying lab reports
• 2006 survey: 60% had cheated
• Many reasons given for ‘why’
• Power of the situation has impact
• Strategies, preventive measures need to occur
• Promote academic integrity

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Contexts of Moral Development

• Moral education
• Integrative approach
• Use reflective moral thinking and commitment to justice
• Discuss students’ experiences
• Adult coach students in ethical decision making
• Students need to experience a caring community
• Integrative ethical education
• Program builds on concepts of expertise
• Goal: turn moral novices into moral experts

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Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior

• Prosocial behavior
• Altruism and Reciprocity
• Altruism: Unselfish interest in helping another person, mostly evoked by empathy
• Many prosocial behaviors involve reciprocity; the obligation to return a favor with a favor
• Sharing and fairness: A developmental sequence
• Equality (same, fair)
• Merit (earned, deserve it)
• Benevolence (special treatment for disadvantaged)

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Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior

• Prosocial behavior and gender
• Females engage in more prosocial behavior than males
• Altruism and volunteerism in older adults
• Older adults engage in more altruistic behavior and volunteering
• Volunteering linked to positive outcomes
• More satisfied in life, less depressed and anxious, better physical health

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Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior

• Antisocial behavior
• Most children diagnosed with “conduct disorder”
• Conduct disorder
• Age-inappropriate behaviors, attitudes violating norms, rights of others
• Behaviors encompass a wide range
• Serious conduct problems
• Externalizing or undercontrolled patterns of behavior

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Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior

• Antisocial behavior
• Juvenile delinquency: Adolescents who commit illegal acts
• Broad concept; behaviors from littering to murder
• More males than females; female behaviors increasing
• Behaviors peak at ages 16 to 18
• Early onset more negative outcome than late onset
• Rates among minority groups and lower-socioeconomic-status youth

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Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior

• Causes of Juvenile delinquency
• Pittsburgh Youth Study:
• Antecedents
• Authority conflict
• Covert Acts
• Overt Aggression
• Not exclusively lower-SES phenomenon; characteristics of lower-SES culture can promote delinquency
• High-status traits for boys
• Affected by family and peer relationships

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Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior

• Causes of Juvenile delinquency
• Family
• Less skilled parents, lack of child monitoring, family discord, inappropriate discipline methods, physical abuse, presence of delinquent siblings or peers
• Cognitive factors
• Low self-esteem, low IQ, lack of sustained attention, low self-control

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Values, Religion,
Spirituality, and Meaning

• Spirituality
• A sense of connectedness to a sacred other
• Values
• Beliefs, attitudes about the way things should be
• Measured by asking what one’s goals are
• Youth of today have stronger interest in welfare of society
• Lack of clear goals leads to only short-term focus

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Values, Religion,
Spirituality, and Meaning

• Religion and spirituality
• Societies use many methods to ensure people carry on religious traditions
• Most adopt religious teachings of upbringing
• Most religious change occurs in adolescence
• Positive relationship or secure attachment with parents make adolescents more likely to adopt religious orientation of parents

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Values, Religion,
Spirituality, and Meaning

• Religion and spirituality
• Piaget’s views
• Adolescents think more abstractly, idealistically, logical
• Logical reasoning gives ability to form hypothesis and systematically sort through religious questions
• Religion important to most adolescents
• Link between identity and spirituality in adolescence and early adulthood

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Values, Religion,
Spirituality, and Meaning

• Positive role of religion in adolescents’ lives
• Church going linked to better grades from low-income backgrounds
• Lower rates of delinquency and drug use
• Better ability to cope with problems
• More sensitivity to well-being of others, commitment to community service

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Values, Religion,
Spirituality, and Meaning

• Positive role of religion in adults’ lives
• More important to women than men
• Important to adults around the world; importance may change with aging
• 70% of Americans religious
• African Americans and Latinos show higher rates of religious participation
• Individual differences in religion in middle adulthood

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Values, Religion,
Spirituality, and Meaning

• Religion and health
• Religious sect members resist using medical treatments and pain-relieving medications
• Positive link between religious commitment and health
• Lifestyle: lower drug use
• Social networks: more connected to others
• Coping with stress; more comfort and support
• More optimism, positive perceptions of pain, loss

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Values, Religion,
Spirituality, and Meaning

• Religion in older adults
• Linked to mortality; church attendance lowers risk
• Increased more for women than men
• Linked to spirituality in early adulthood
• Faith is most significant influence in one’s life
• Put faith into practice more often
• Highest commitment linked to highest self-esteem, life satisfaction, and optimism

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Values, Religion,
Spirituality, and Meaning

• Religion in older adults
• Has psychological benefits
• Derived sense of meaning in life
• Meaning in Life
• Frankl’s three most distinct human qualities
• Spirituality, freedom, responsibility
• Quest for meaningful life is need for
• Purpose and values
• A sense of self-efficacy and self-worth

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The End