Sociomoral reflection and prosocial and antisocial behavior: two Italian studies

Two Italian studies on the development of moral judgment based on the 1992 Sociomoral Reflection Measure-Short Form of Gibbs, Basinger, and Fuller were performed. In Study 1, 49 male and female adolescent volunteers involved in prosocial activities and a control group of 60 nonvolunteers completed the form. In Study 2, 60 male drug abusers in a drug-rehabilitation community were compared with a matched group of 60 nondrug abusers. Analysis showed that involvement in prosocial activities was associated with higher stages of moral judgment and Type B responses, while drug abuse was associated with lower stages of moral judgment and more Type A responses. The moral type scores were less closely associated with behavioral outcomes than the moral stage scores, perhaps reflecting the interplay between universal sociocognitive processes and specific real-life situations.     

What Accounts for Prosocial Behavior? Roles of Moral Identity,Moral Judgment,and Self-Efficacy Beliefs

Prior research suggests that moral identity influences individuals’ willingness to engage in prosocial behavior. Little attention, however, has been given to the roles of and relations between moral identity and other factors, such as moral judgment, in accounting for types of prosocial behavior in adolescence. The current study examined the extent to which moral identity, moral judgment, and social self-efficacy contribute to prosocial behaviors in adolescence. Approximately 338 adolescents (M_age?=?13.4 years) completed measures of moral identity, moral judgment, social self-efficacy, and prosocial behavior. Teachers rated adolescents’ prosocial behaviors, which largely corroborated the adolescents’ self-reports. Moral identity was found to predict most types of prosocial behavior. Moral judgment and moral identity were related and jointly predicted altruistic prosocial behaviors, but did not predict helping in front of others. Further, moral identity mediated the relationships between moral judgment and some forms of prosocial behavior (e.g., emotional, volunteering). Self-efficacy beliefs were found to predict some types of prosocial behavior (e.g., public), perhaps providing adolescents with confidence to engage in prosocial action. Overall, moral identity was especially effective in directly accounting for prosocial behavior, and may act as a mediator to bridge the moral judgment–moral action gap among adolescents.     

The relation of moral orientation and moral judgment to prosocial and antisocial behaviour of Chinese adolescents

The present study investigated the relation of moral orientation and moral judgment to prosocial and antisocial behaviour from a first‐person perspective. The major findings support the following four hypotheses. (la) The moral orientation of girls is higher than that of boys, and (1b) boys are more delinquent than girls; (2) the moral orientation of prosocial adolescents is higher than that of delinquent adolescents; (3) the moral judgment of prosocial adolescents is higher than that of delinquent adolescents; and (4) the moral development of prosocial adolescents is higher than that of delinquent adolescents. Few researchers have attempted to investigate how moral orientation and moral judgment relate to prosocial and antisocial behaviour in a single study. The present study fills this research gap. Moreover, the study of moral judgment from a first‐person perspective appears to be a meaningful and useful approach. Future studies should be conducted to investigate whether moral judgment from a first‐person perspective is more predictive of moral behaviour than moral judgment from a third‐person perspective. It would also be meaningful to conduct a cross‐cultural study to investigate the relation of moral orientation and moral judgment to prosocial and antisocial behaviour in different cultures. The use of a self‐report method in a study of prosocial and antisocial behaviour has certain limitations; for example, respondents may not give honest responses. However, this method has been found to be useful and acceptable, especially for researching the correlations among a large number of variables.     

Testing contesting theory: Conceptual metaphors and prosocial behavior

ObjectivesThis investigation was conducted to determine whether contesting orientations add predictive utility for prosocial behavior, both in and out of sports, beyond other variables related to the component processes of moral action.DesignCross-sectional.MethodsIntercollegiate US athletes (n = 2380; 56.4% male), from both individual and team sports, completed measures of contesting orientation, three moral variables (moral attentiveness, moral identity, integrity), three sport-specific variables (athletic identity, goal orientation, and fear of failure), and three outcome variables (sportspersonship, academic honesty, and prosocial helping). Data was analyzed using both correlational and regression analyses.ResultsRegression analyses demonstrated that contesting orientations were the best predictors of sportspersonship, but were insignificant predictors of nonsport forms of prosocial behavior.ConclusionsConsistent with contesting theory, contesting orientation are salient and potent predictors of sportspersonship, but do not predict behavior outside of contest situations.     

The structure and correlates of a measure of prosocial moral reasoning in adolescents from Spain

The study was designed to examine the structure and correlates of a measure of prosocial moral reasoning in a sample of young and middle-aged adolescents. Participants were 1,556 students (53% male, M _age = 13.12 years, SD = 0.87) from Valencia, Spain, who completed paper-and-pencil measures of prosocial moral reasoning (PROM), empathy, prosocial behaviours, and aggression. As expected, a series of confirmatory factor and structural equation modelling analyses revealed a four-factor solution of the PROM to have the best fit (as compared to alternative models) among Spanish youth (across gender and grade). Moreover, higher level and other-oriented forms of prosocial moral reasoning were generally positively related to empathy and prosocial behaviours, and negatively related to aggression. In contrast, generally, lower level and self-focused modes of prosocial moral reasoning were negatively related to such prosocial tendencies, and positively related to aggression. Discussion focuses on the usefulness of the PROM, its relations to theoretically relevant correlates, and its usefulness to study the development and universality of prosocial moral development.     

Moral Thought and Action in Sport and Student Life: A Study of Bracketed Morality

The present study examined differences in moral behavior and judgment in sport and student life. Participants (N = 372) were students at a British university who responded to moral dilemmas pertaining to sport and student life. They indicated the likelihood that they would act antisocially or prosocially and provided judgment ratings of the behaviors described in the dilemmas. Likelihood to act antisocially was higher toward opponents in sport than other students at university, whereas likelihood to behave prosocially was lower toward opponents in sport than other students at university. Finally, antisocial behavior was less likely toward teammates than other students. The sport–university difference in antisocial opponent/student behavior was fully mediated by moral judgment, whereas the difference in prosocial behavior was partially mediated by moral judgment. These findings reveal a more nuanced aspect to bracketed morality that considers in-group loyalty when understanding moral judgment and behavior in and outside of the sport context.     

Sources of variation in moral judgment: Toward a model of real-life morality

To evaluate the extent to which the models of moral judgment advanced by Kohlberg (1984) and by Gilligan (1982, 1988) are able to account for real-life moral judgment, we investigated the relation of sex and type of moral dilemma to moral stage and moral orientation. Eighty young adult men and women made moral judgments about two hypothetical Kohlberg dilemmas, two real-life antisocial dilemmas, and two real-life prosocial dilemmas. We failed to find any sex differences in moral judgment. Moral stage and moral orientation varied across the three types of dilemma. Kohlberg's dilemmas pulled for justice-oriented Stage 4 moral judgments, real-life prosocial dilemmas pulled for care-oriented Stage 3 moral judgments, and real-life antisocial dilemmas pulled for justice-oriented Stage 2 moral judgments. The content of moral judgments was related to their structure. There was a positive relation between stage of moral judgment on Kohlberg dilemmas and on real-life dilemmas. The implications of these findings for a new, more interactional, model of real-life moral judgment are discussed.     

Prosocial development in early adulthood: a longitudinal study

Consistency of measures of a prosocial personality and prosocial moral judgment over time, and the interrelations among them, were examined. Participants and friends' reports of prosocial characteristics were obtained at ages 21-22, 23-24, and 25-26 years. In addition, participants' prosocial judgment was assessed with interviews and with an objective measure of prosocial moral reasoning at several ages. Reports of prosocial behavior and empathy-related responding in childhood and observations of prosocial behavior in preschool also were obtained. There was interindividual consistency in prosocial dispositions, and prosocial dispositions in adulthood related to empathy/sympathy and prosocial behavior at much younger ages. Interview and objective measures of moral reasoning were substantially interrelated in late adolescence/early adulthood and correlated with participants' and friends' reports of a prosocial disposition.     

Feelings or cognitions? Moral cognitions and emotions as longitudinal predictors of prosocial and aggressive behaviors

There is debate regarding the roles of sociomoral cognitions and emotions in understanding moral development. The short-term longitudinal relations among perspective taking, sympathy, prosocial moral reasoning, prosocial behaviors and aggression in adolescents were examined. Participants were 489 students (M age = 12.28 years, SD = .48; 232 boys) in public and private schools from predominantly middle class families in Valencia, Spain. Students completed measures of perspective taking, sympathy, prosocial moral reasoning, prosocial behaviors, and aggressive behaviors. Overall, structural equation modeling analyses showed that moral reasoning and emotions were interrelated and predicted both prosocial behaviors and aggression. Discussion focuses on the relevance of both social cognitions and emotions in moral development.     

Structural flexibility of moral judgment.

One of the central assumptions of Kohlberg's theory of moral development--that moral judgment is organized in structures of the whole--was examined. Thirty men and 30 women were given 2 dilemmas from Kohlberg's Moral Judgment Interview, a 3rd involving prosocial behavior, and a 4th involving impaired driving. Half the Ss responded to the prosocial and impaired-driving dilemmas from the perspective of a hypothetical character, and half responded from the perspective of the self. No sex or perspective differences in moral maturity were observed. Ss scored highest in moral maturity on Kohlberg's dilemmas, intermediate on the prosocial dilemma, and lowest on the impaired-driving dilemma. In partial support of Kohlberg's contention that his test assesses moral competence, there was a negative linear relationship between scores on his test and the proportion of Stage 2 judgments on the 2 other dilemmas. An interactional model of moral judgment is advanced.     

Follow the leader: Identity leadership and moral behaviour in social situations among youth sport teammates

ObjectivesAlthough social identity has been linked to moral behaviour in past research, we know less about how the identity-enhancing behaviours of athlete leaders may relate to the experience of prosocial and antisocial behaviour between youth sport teammates. This study examined the relations between perceptions of athlete identity leadership and moral behaviour in social situations outside of training and competition.MethodsParticipants were 130 competitive male and female youth ice hockey players (M_age = 13.45 years, SD = 1.82, range = 10–17) from nine teams in a Northeastern Ontario city in Canada. Measures of identity leadership and moral behaviour were completed concurrently within the final three weeks of the regular season.ResultsUsing structural equation modeling, results demonstrated a significant positive association between identity leadership and both engaging in prosocial behaviour toward teammates (β = .37, p = .003) and receiving prosocial behaviour from teammates (β = 0.40, p < .006), accounting for 34% and 51% of the variance in each prosocial outcome, respectively. Although the relations with antisocial behaviour (engaged and received) were in the expected negative direction, the path estimates were not significant (ps > .23).ConclusionThese findings further our understanding of identity leadership in youth sport generally, offering insight into the relations between identity-enhancing athlete leader behaviours and moral behaviour. The findings also extend past moral behaviour research to consider the social situations in which teammates find themselves outside of training and competition.     

Judgments of blame and forgiveness: A comparison of young adults,older adults,and older adults with dementia

IntroductionAlzheimer's disease may modify moral judgment.ObjectiveIn two studies, we assessed the impact of dementia on blame and forgiveness. Study 1 compared the ways in which young adults, older adults, and older adults with dementia cognitively integrated two factors. Study 2 assessed the number of different factors that older adults with dementia were able to integrate during these moral judgments.MethodThe participants recorded their moral judgements in a blame task and in a forgiveness task. In study 1, the two questionnaires contained scenarios built from the combination of two factors. In study 2, the participants were confronted with the same tasks under three different conditions with scenarios that combined three, four or five factors.ResultsThe data from study 1 showed that the older adults with dementia did not combine the two factors in the same way as young adults did: the combination depended on the type of moral judgment. Study 2 revealed differences in moral judgment between older adults with dementia and adults without dementia in all tasks (i.e. with three, four or five factors combined).ConclusionDementia has an impact on moral judgments. Moral judgment among people with dementia is both task- and condition-dependant.     

Identity, Reasoning, and Emotion: An Empirical Comparison of Three Sources of Moral Motivation

Prior research on moral motivation has primarily emphasized moral reasoning and moral emotion; however, identity may also play an important role. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the relative importance of prosocial identity, prosocial moral reasoning, and empathy in predicting prosocial behavior. The sample included 91 university students, ages 19–35 years (M=21.89; SD=3.01; 80% European American; 65% female). Prosocial identity and empathy, but not prosocial moral reasoning, were positively associated with overall prosocial behavior. Exploratory analyses examined how these three sources of prosocial motivation differentially related to six forms of prosocial behavior. Results suggest the importance of considering the roles of all three sources of moral motivation.     

High cost helping scenario: The role of empathy,prosocial reasoning and moral disengagement on helping behavior

This study aimed to investigate the process that leads people to offer or omit help in response to an explicit request for assistance, taking into account both emotional and cognitive factors. Specifically, a hypothetical scenario methodology was used in a sample of 174 Italian youths (50% males) to examine whether and how factors such as empathy, prosocial moral reasoning and moral disengagement influence the propensity to help when providing assistance is not in the individual’s personal interest. While a few previous studies have included moral disengagement as an antecedent of prosocial decision making, we highlight the significance of this factor in the avoidance of moral responsibility towards others in need. The results highlight two ways in which differences in emotional tendencies and moral-cognitive processes may operate in prosocial decision making in high personal cost situations. First, high empathy levels could promote an altruistic response which in turn fosters mature prosocial moral reasoning. Second, personal distress may enhance moral disengagement mechanisms that may facilitate self-centred behaviors.     

When They Come in Crowds: Charity Appeals and Moral Fatigue

Abstract

The present research examined the effect of exposure to multiple charity appeals on a range of variables that are strongly predictive of moral behavior in two lab experiments. Using videos (Experiment 1; N?=?75) and posters (Experiment 2, N?=?62) from charitable organizations, the present findings demonstrate that exposure to multiple charity appeals (but not few charity appeals or exposure to multiple commercials) lead to moral fatigue, expressed in a breakdown of empathic accuracy, moral regard, and prosocial intent. Implications of this finding are discussed.     

Wrongness in different relationships: Relational context effects on moral judgment

ABSTRACT

Morality primarily serves social-relational functions. However, little research in moral psychology investigates how relational factors impact moral judgment, and a theoretically grounded approach to such investigations is lacking. We used Relational Models Theory and Moral Foundations Theory to explore how varying actor-victim relationships impacts judgment of different types of moral violations. Across three studies, using a diverse range of moral violations and varying the experimental design, relational context substantially influenced third-party judgment of moral violations, and typically independent of several factors strongly associated with moral judgment. Results lend novel but mixed support to Relationship Regulation Theory and provide some novel implications for Moral Foundations Theory. These studies highlight the importance of relational factors in moral psychology and provide guidelines for exploring how relational factors might shape moral judgment.     

Can television help to decrease stigmatization among young children? The role of Theory of Mind and general and explicit inserts

ABSTRACT

Past research has considered how exposure to certain media content affects children’s Theory of Mind (ToM). It is possible, however, that ToM also moderates the effects of exposure to televised narratives on children’s behavior. Previous work found that special inserts, designed to help children understand an inclusion message, were somewhat effective in promoting children’s comprehension of the moral lesson. Such inserts, however, may be most effective in promoting inclusion among children lowest in ToM, who would theoretically be least likely to engage in prosocial behaviors. To test this possibility, we use data collected from four- to six-year-old children in the Netherlands (N = 66). We randomly assigned children to one of three conditions: a control, a treatment condition with general information inserts, and a treatment condition with explicit moral lesson inserts. Results indicate that children’s prosocial intentions mediate the relationship between condition and stigmatization, but only among children in the explicit condition lowest in ToM. This suggests that explicit inserts can help children low in ToM to learn from inclusion narratives. Comprehension of the moral lesson did not mediate this relationship. We integrate these findings with existing research, discussing overall conclusions in the context of child development.     

Prosocial implicit trait policies underlie performance on different situational judgment tests with interpersonal content

ABSTRACT

This study tests the hypothesis that situational judgment tests (SJTs) with interpersonal content reflect implicit beliefs about the utility of prosocial action for job effectiveness and that agreeable people are more likely to believe that prosocial action is effective. Two hundred ninety-four undergraduates completed four different SJTs with interpersonal content and a measure of Agreeableness. Results show that the effectiveness of response options in these SJTs is positively correlated with the level of prosociality they express and that because of their prosocial elements, scores on different SJTs are correlated with one another and with Agreeableness. These results shed light on the construct-related validity of SJTs with interpersonal content and point to the possibility that they can assess prosociality in job settings different from those described in their items.     

The development of bystander intentions and social–moral reasoning about intergroup verbal aggression

A developmental intergroup approach was taken to examine the development of prosocial bystander intentions among children and adolescents. Participants as bystanders (N = 260) aged 8–10 and 13–15 years were presented with scenarios of direct aggression between individuals from different social groups (i.e., intergroup verbal aggression). These situations involved either an ingroup aggressor and an outgroup victim or an outgroup aggressor and an ingroup victim. This study focussed on the role of intergroup factors (group membership, ingroup identification, group norms, and social–moral reasoning) in the development of prosocial bystander intentions. Findings showed that prosocial bystander intentions declined with age. This effect was partially mediated by the ingroup norm to intervene and perceived severity of the verbal aggression. However, a moderated mediation analysis showed that only when the victim was an ingroup member and the aggressor an outgroup member did participants become more likely with age to report prosocial bystander intentions due to increased ingroup identification. Results also showed that younger children focussed on moral concerns and adolescents focussed more on psychological concerns when reasoning about their bystander intention. These novel findings help explain the developmental decline in prosocial bystander intentions from middle childhood into early adolescence when observing direct intergroup aggression.     

不同目击者对儿童道德情绪判断与归因的影响

本研究考察不同权威目击者对儿童道德情绪判断与归因的影响。实验以90个7~8岁儿童为被试,采用3(行为情境)×3(目击权威类型)的组间设计,考察了不同权威目击者条件下儿童对不同行为者的道德情绪判断和归因。结果发现,目击权威的类型对儿童道德情绪判断与归因的影响在不同的行为情境条件下是不同的。成人权威目击条件下,儿童对亲社会行为者的道德情绪判断分数最高,即更多判断他们会感到高兴,对损人者的道德情绪判断分数最低,即更多判断他们会感到不高兴。而同龄权威和非权威目击条件下儿童对不同行为者的情绪判断分数不存在显著差异。不同权威目击条件下儿童对行为者的情绪归因存在显著差异,奖惩定向更多出现在成人权威目击条件。研究显示,成人权威对儿童道德情绪的培养具有重要意义,能够显著影响儿童的道德情绪判断与归因。