The theories of moral development

FOUNDATIONS OF MORALITY

If you watch children's behavior and listen in on their conversations, you will find
many examples of their developing moral sense. By age 2, they react with distress
to acts that are aggressive or that otherwise might do harm, and they use words to
evaluate behavior as "good or "bad".
Throughout the world, adults take note of this budding capacity to distinguish right
from wrong. Some cultures have special words for it. By the end of early
childhood, children can state a great many moral rules, such as "You're not
supposed to take things without asking" or "Tell the truth! In addition, they argue
over matters of justice, as when they say, "You sat there last time, so it's my turn;'
or, "It's not fair. He got more!
All theories of moral development recognize that conscience begins to take shape
in early childhood. And most agree that at first, the child's morality is externally
controlled by adults. Gradually, it becomes regulated by inner standards. Truly
moral individuals do not just do the right thing when authority figures are around.
Instead, they have developed a compassionate concern for others and principles of
good conduct, which they follow in a wide variety of situations.
Although points of agreement exist among major theories, each emphasizes a
different aspect of morality. Psychoanalytic theory stresses the emotional side of
conscience development in particular, identification and guilt as motivators of good
conduct.
Social learning theory focuses on moral behavior and how it is learned through
reinforcement and modeling. And the cognitive-developmental perspective
emphasizes thinking - children's ability to reason about justice and fairness.

The Psychoanalytic Perspective

According to Freud, young children form a superego, or conscience, by identifying
with the same-sex parent, whose moral standards they adopt. Children obey the
superego to avoid guilt, a painful emotion that arises each time they are tempted to
misbehave. Moral development, Freud believed, is largely complete by 5 to 6 years
of age, at the end of the phallic stage.

A special type of discipline called induction, which helps the child notice feelings
by pointing out the effects of the child's misbehavior on others, supports
conscience formation. For example, a parent might say, "If you keep pushing him
he'll fall down and cry;' or, "She feels so sad because you won't give back her doll".
As long as the explanation matches the child's capacity to understand, induction is
effective with children as young as 2 years of age. Preschoolers whose parents use
it are more likely to make up for their misdeeds, and they
more often display prosocial behavior. Furthermore, Freud's theory places a heavy
burden on parents, who must ensure through their disciplinary practices that
children develop an internalized conscience. Although good discipline is crucial,
children's characteristics can affect the success of parenting techniques. Freud was
correct that guilt is an important motivator of moral action.
Inducing empathy- based guilt (expressions of personal responsibility and regret,
such as "I'm sorry I hurt him") by explaining how the child's behavior is harmful is
a way to influence children without using coercion. Empathy-based guilt reactions
are consistently associated with stopping harmful actions, repairing damage, and
acting prosocially. But guilt is not the only force that compels us to act morally.
And contrary to what Freud believed, moral development is not complete by the
end of early childhood. Instead, it is a far more gradual process, extending into
adulthood.
Social Learning Theory
Social learning theory does not regard morality as a special human activity with a
unique course of development. Instead, moral behavior is acquired just like any
other set of responses through reinforcement and modeling.
The Importance of Modeling. Operant conditioning - following up children's
good behavior with reinforcement in the form of approval, affection, and other
rewards-is not enough for children to acquire moral responses. For a behavior to
be reinforced, it must first occur spontaneously. Yet many prosocial acts, such as
sharing, helping, or comforting an unhappy playmate, do not occur often enough
at first for reinforcement to explain their rapid development in early childhood.
Instead, social learning theorists believe that children largely learn to behave
morally through modeling-by observing and imitating people who demonstrate
appropriate behavior. Once children acquire a moral response, such as sharing or
telling the truth, reinforcement in the form of praise increases its frequency.
Many studies show that models who behave helpfully or generously increase
young children's prosocial responses.
The following characteristics of models affect children's willingness to imitate:

Warmth and responsiveness. Preschoolers are more likely to copy the prosocial
actions of an adult who is warm and responsive than those of an adult who is cold
and distant. Warmth seems to make children more attentive and receptive to the
model, and it is itself an example of a prosocial response.
Competence and power. Children admire and therefore tend to select competent,
powerful models to imitate the reason they are especially willing to copy the
behavior of older peers and adults.
Consistency between assertions and behavior. When models say one thing and
do another-for example, announce that "it's important to help others" but rarely
engage in helpful acts-children generally choose the most lenient standard of
behavior that adults demonstrate Models are most influential during the preschool
years. At the end of early childhood, children with a history of consistent exposure
to caring adults tend to behave prosocially regardless of whether a model is
present. By that time, they have internalized prosocial rules from repeated
observations of and encouragement by others.
Effects of Punishment. Many parents are aware that yelling at, slapping, or
spanking children for misbehavior are ineffective disciplinary tactics. Sharp
reprimands or physical force to restrain or move a child is justified when
immediate obedience is necessary-for example, when a 3-year-old is about to run
into the street. In fact, parents are most likely to use forceful methods under these
conditions. When they wish to foster long-term goals, such as acting kindly toward
others, they tend to rely on warmth and reasoning. And parents often combine
power assertion with reasoning in response to very serious transgressions, such as
lying and stealing. When used frequently, however, punishment promotes only
momentary compliance, not lasting changes in children's behavior. The more
physical punishment children experience, the more likely they are to display
depression, antisocial behavior, and poor academic performance in the future.
Harsh punishment has undesirable side effects. First, when parents spank, they
often do so in response to children's aggression. Yet the punishment itself models
aggression! Second, children who are frequently punished soon learn to avoid the
punishing adult. As a result, those adults have little opportunity to teach desirable
behaviors.
Alternatives to Harsh Punishment. Alternatives to criticism, slaps, and spankings
can reduce the undesirable side effects of punishment. A technique called time out
involves removing children from the immediate setting-for example, by sending
them to their rooms until they are ready to act appropriately. Time out is useful

when a child is out of control. It usually requires only a few minutes to change
behavior, and it also offers a "cooling off" period for angry parents. Another
approach is withdrawal of privileges, such as playing outside or watching a
favorite TV program. When parents decide to use punishment, they can increase its
effectiveness in three ways. The first is consistency. Permitting children to act
inappropriately on some occasions but scolding them on others confuses children,
and the unacceptable act persists. Second, a warm parent-child relationship is vital.
Children of involved, caring parents find punishment especially unpleasant and
want to regain parental warmth and approval as quickly as possible. Finally,
explanations help children recall the misdeed and relate it to expectations for future
behavior.
Positive Discipline. The most effective forms of discipline encourage good
conduct by building a positive relationship with the child, offering models of
appropriate behavior, letting children know ahead of time how to act, and praising
them when they behave well. When preschoolers have positive and cooperative
relationships with parents, they show firmer conscience development-in the form
of responsible behavior, fair play in games, and consideration for others' welfare.
These outcomes continue into the school years. Parent-child closeness leads
children to want to heed parental demands because children feel a sense of
commitment to the relationship. Parents who use positive discipline also reduce
opportunities for misbehavior. For example, on a long car trip, they bring along
back-seat activities that relieve restlessness and boredom. At the supermarket, they
engage preschoolers in conversation and encourage them to assist with shopping.
Adults who help children acquire acceptable behaviors that they can use to replace
forbidden acts greatly reduce the need for punishment.
The Cognitive-Developmental Perspective
The psychoanalytic and behaviorist approaches to morality focus on how children
acquire ready-made standards of good conduct from adults. In contrast, the
cognitive-developmental perspective regards children as active thinkers about
social rules. As early as the preschool years, children make moral judgments,
deciding what is right or wrong on the basis of concepts they construct about
justice and fairness. Three-year-olds know that a child who intentionally knocks a
playmate off a swing is worse than one who does so accidentally. By age 4,
children can tell the difference between truthfulness and lying. By the end of early
childhood, children consider a person's intentions in evaluating lying.

Furthermore, preschoolers distinguish moral imperatives, which protect people's

rights and welfare, from two other types of action: social conventions, or customs
such as table manners and dress styles; and matters of personal choice, which do
not violate rights and are up to the individual. Three-year-olds judge moral
violations (stealing an apple) as more wrong than social-conventional violations
(eating ice cream with fingers).How do young children arrive at these distinctions?
According to cognitive developmental theorists, they do so by actively make sense
of their experiences. They observe that after a moral offense, peers react
emotionally, describe their own injury or loss, tells another child to stop, or
retaliate. And an adult who intervenes is likely to call attention to the rights and
feelings of the victim. In contrast, peers seldom react to violations of social
convention. And in these situations, adults tend to demand obedience without
explanation or point to the importance of obeying rules or keeping order.
The Other Side of Morality: Development of Aggression
Beginning in late infancy, all children display aggression from time to time as they
become better at identifying sources of anger and frustration. By the early
preschool years, two forms of aggression emerge. The most common instrumental
aggression in which children want an object, privilege, or space, and in trying to
get it, they push, shout at, or otherwise attack a person who is in the way. The other
type, hostile aggression, is meant to hurt another person. Hostile aggression comes
in two varieties. The first is overt aggression, which harms others through
physical injury or the threat of such injury-for example, hitting, kicking, or
threatening to beat up a peer. The second is relational aggression, which damages
anothers person relationships, as in social exclusion or rumor spreading. "Go
away, I'm not your friend!" and "Don't play with Mary, she's bad" are examples.
Both the form of aggression and the way it is expressed change during early
childhood.
Physical aggression is gradually replaced by verbal aggression. And instrumental
aggression declines as preschoolers learn to compromise over possessions. In
contrast, hostile outbursts rise over early and middle childhood. Older children are
better able to recognize malicious intentions and, as a result, more often retaliate in
hostile ways. On average, boys are more overtly aggressive than girls, a trend that
appears in many cultures. The sex difference is due in part to biology-in particular,
to male sex hormones, or androgens. Androgens contribute to boys' greater
physical activity, which may increase their opportunities for physically aggressive
encounters.

The Family as Training Ground for Aggressive Behavior. "I can't control him,
he's impossible;' complained Nalini, Rajesh's mother, to Leela one day. When
Leela asked if Rajesh might be troubled by something going on at home, she
discovered that Rajesh's parents fought constantly and resorted to harsh,
inconsistent discipline. The same childrearing practices that undermine moral
internalization-love withdrawal, power assertion, physical punishment, and
inconsistency-are linked to aggression from early childhood through adolescence,
in children of both sexes. Compared with siblings in typical families, preschool
siblings who have critical, punitive parents are more verbally and physically
aggressive to one another. Destructive sibling conflict, in turn, contributes to poor
impulse control and antisocial behavior by the early school years. Highly
aggressive children tend to be rejected by peers, to fail in school, and (by
adolescence) to seek out deviant peer groups, which lead them toward violent
delinquency and adult criminality.
Television and Aggression. The television programs between 6 A.M. and 11 P.M.
contain violent scenes, often in the form of repeated aggressive acts that go
unpunished. In fact, most TV violence does not show victims experiencing any
serious harm, and few programs condemn violence or depict other ways of solving
problems. Of all TV programs, children's cartoons are the most violent.
Young children are especially likely to be influenced by television. One reason is
that below age 8, children do not understand a great deal of what they see on TV.
Because they have difficulty connecting separate scenes into a meaningful story
line, they do not relate the actions of a TV character to motives or consequences.
Young children also find it hard to separate true-to-life from fantasized television
content. Not until age 7 do they fully realize that fictional characters do not retain
the same roles in real life. These misunderstandings increase young children's
willingness to uncritically accept and imitate what they see on TV. Furthermore,
television violence "hardens" children to aggression, making them more
willing to tolerate it in others. Heavy TV viewers believe that there is much more
violence and danger in society, an effect that is especially strong for children who
perceive televised aggression as relevant to their own lives. As these responses
indicate, violent television modifies children's attitudes toward social reality so
they increasingly match what children see on TV.

Helping Children and Parents Control Aggression. Treatment for aggressive

children must begin early, before their antisocial behavior becomes so well
practiced that it is difficult to change. Breaking the cycle of hostilities between
family members and replacing it with effective interaction styles is crucial. Parents
can participate in social problem-solving training. Common conflicts, discuss
effective and ineffective ways of resolving them, and practice successful strategies.
Children who receive such training show gains in social competence.
GENDER TYPING
The process of developing gender roles or gender linked preferences and
behaviors valued by the larger society, is called gender typing. Early in the
preschool years, gender typing is well under way. Children tended to play and
form friendships with peers of their own sex. Girls spent more time in the
housekeeping, art, and reading corners, whereas boys gathered more often in
spaces devoted to blocks, woodworking, and active play.
The same theories that provide accounts of morality have been used to explain
gender-role development. Social learning theory, with its emphasis on modeling
and reinforcement, a n d cognitive-developmental theory, with its focus on
children as active thinkers about their social world, is major current approaches.
Consequently, a third perspective that combines elements of both, called gender
schema theory, has gained favor.
Gender-Stereotyped Beliefs and Behavior
Even before children can label their own sex consistently, they stereotype their
play world. When shown pairs of gender stereotyped toys (vehicles and dolls), 18month-olds look longer at one stereotyped for their own gender. As soon as gender
categories are established, children sort out what they mean in terms of activities
and behavior. Preschoolers associate many toys, articles of clothing, tools,
household items, games, occupations, and even colors (pink and blue) with one sex
as opposed to the other. And their actions fall in line with their beliefs-not only in
play preferences but in personality traits as well. We have already seen that boys
tend to be more active, assertive, and overtly aggressive, whereas girls tend to be
more fearful, dependent, compliant, emotionally sensitive, and relationally
aggressive.
13.5.2 Genetic Influences on Gender Typing
The sex differences just described appear in many cultures around the world.
Certain of them-the preference for same-sex playmates as well as male activity
level and overt aggression and female warmth and sensitivity-are also widespread
among mammalian species. According to an evolutionary perspective, the adult life

of our male ancestors was oriented toward competing for mates, that of our female
ancestors toward rearing children. Therefore, males became genetically primed for
dominance and females for intimacy and responsiveness. Evolutionary theorists
claim that family and cultural forces can affect the intensity of biologically based
sex differences, leading some individuals to be more gender typed than others. But
experience cannot eradicate those aspects of gender typing that served adaptive
functions in human history.
Environmental Influences on Gender Typing
A wealth of evidence reveals that family influences, encouragement by teachers
and peers, and examples in the broader social environment combine to promote the
vigorous gender typing of early childhood.
The Family Beginning at birth, parents hold different perceptions and expectations
of their sons and daughters. Many parents state that they want their children to play
with "gender-appropriate" toys, and they also believe that boys and girls should be
reared differently. Parents are likely to describe achievement, competition, and
control of emotion as important for sons and warmth, "ladylike" behavior, and
closely supervised activities as important for daughters. These beliefs carry over
into actual parenting practices. Parents give toys that stress action and competition
(such as guns, cars, tools, and footballs) to boys. They give toys that
emphasize nurturance, cooperation, and physical attractiveness (dolls, tea sets,
jewelry, and jump ropes) to girls. Parents also actively reinforce independence in
boys and closeness and dependency in girls. For example, they react more
positively when a son plays with cars and trucks, demands attention, or tries to take
toys from others. In contrast, they more often direct play activities, provide help,
encourage participation in household tasks, and refer to emotions when interacting
with a daughter. Furthermore, mothers more often label emotions when talking to
girls, thereby teaching them to "tune in" to others' feelings. In contrast, they more
often explain emotions, noting causes and consequences, to boys-an approach that
emphasizes why it is important to control the expression of emotion
.
Teachers. Besides parents, teachers encourage children's gender typing. Several
times, Leslie caught herself responding in ways that furthered gender segregation
and stereotyping in her classroom. One day, she called out, "Will the girls line up
on one side and the boys on the other?" Then, as the class became noisy, she
pleaded, "Boys, I wish you'd quiet down like the girls!" As at home, girls get more
encouragement to participate in adult-structured activities at preschool. They can
frequently be seen clustered around the teacher, following directions in

an activity. In contrast, boys more often choose areas of the classroom where
teachers are minimally involved. As a result, boys and girls engage in very
different social behaviors. Compliance and bids for help occur more often in adultstructured contexts, whereas assertiveness, leadership, and creative use of materials
appear more often in unstructured pursuits.
Peers. Children's same-sex peer groups strengthen gender-stereotyped beliefs and
behavior. By age 3, same-sex peers positively reinforce one another for gendertyped play by praising, imitating, or joining in. In contrast, when preschoolers
engage in "cross-gender" activities-for example, when boys play with dolls or girls
with cars and trucks-peers criticize them. Boys are especially intolerant of "crossgender" play in their male companions. A boy who frequently crosses gender lines
is likely to be ignored by other boys even when he does engage in "masculine"
activities!
The Broader Social Environment. Although children's everyday environments
have changed to some degree, they continue to present many examples of gendertyped behaviorin occupations, leisure activities, entertainment TV, and
achievements of men and women. Children do more than imitate the many genderlinked responses they observe. They also start to view themselves and their
environment in gender-biased ways, a perspective that can seriously restrict their
interests, experiences, and skills.
Gender Identity
As adults, each of us have a gender identity - an image of oneself as relatively
masculine or feminine in characteristics. By middle childhood, we can measure
gender identity by asking children to rate themselves on personality traits. A child
or adult with a "masculine" identity scores high on traditionally masculine items
(such as ambitious, competitive, and self-sufficient) and low on traditionally
feminine items (such as affectionate, cheerful, and soft-spoken). Someone with a
"feminine" identity does just the reverse. Although most people view themselves in
gender-typed terms, a substantial minority (especially females) have a gender
identity called androgyny, s coring high on both masculine and feminine
characteristics.
Gender identity is a good predictor of psychological adjustment. Masculine and
androgynous children and adults have higher self-esteem, whereas feminine
individuals often think poorly of themselves, perhaps because many of their traits
are not highly valued by society. Also, androgynous individuals are more adaptable

in behavior-for example, able to show masculine independence or feminine

sensitivity, depending on the situation. Research on androgyny shows that it is
possible for children to acquire a mixture of positive qualities traditionally
associated with each gender-an orientation that may best help them realize their
potential.
Emergence of Gender Identity. How do children develop a gender identity?
According to social learning theory, behavior comes before self-perceptions.
Preschoolersfirst acquire gender-typed responses through modeling and
reinforcement. Only then do they organize these behaviors into gender-linked ideas
about themselves.
In contrast, cognitive developmental theory maintains that self-perceptions come
before behavior. Over the preschool years, children first acquire a cognitive
appreciation of the permanence of their sex. They develop gender constancy, the
understanding that sex is biologically based and remains the same even if clothing,
hairstyle, and play activities change. Then children use this idea to guide their
behavior. Because many young children do not see members of the opposite sex
naked, they distinguish males and females using information they do have-the way
each gender dresses and behaves. Although preschoolers who know about genital
differences usually say a doll dressed in other-sex clothing is still the same sex,
they do not justify their answer by referring to sex as an innate, unchanging quality
of people. This suggests that cognitive immaturity, not social experience, is
responsible for preschoolers' difficulty grasping the permanence of sex.
Gender Schema Theory. It is an information-processing approach to gender
typing that combines social learning and cognitive-developmental features. It
emphasizes that both environmental pressures and children's cognitions work
together to shape gender-role development. At an early age, children respond to
instruction from others, picking up gendertyped preferences and behaviors. At the
same time, they start to organize their experiences into gender schemas, or
masculine and feminine categories, that they use to interpret their world. A young
child who says, "Only boys can be doctors;' or, "Cooking is a girl's job;' already
has some well-formed gender schemas. As soon as preschoolers can label their
own sex, they select gender schemas consistent with it, applying those categories
to themselves.
As a result, their self-perceptions become gender-typed and serve as additional
schemas that children use to process information and guide their own behavior.

Reducing Gender Stereotyping in Young Children

Adults can begin by eliminating gender stereotyping from their own behavior and
from the alternatives they provide for children. For example, mothers and fathers
can take turns making dinner, bathing children, and driving the family car. They
can provide sons and daughters with both trucks and dolls and pink and blue
clothing. Teachers can make sure that all children spend time in both adultstructured and unstructured activities. Also, efforts can be made to shield children
from television and other media presentations that portray rigid gender differences.
Once children notice the vast array of gender stereotypes in their society, parents
and teachers can point out exceptions. For example, they can arrange for children
to see men and women pursuing nontraditional careers. And they can reason with
children, explaining that interests and skills, not sex, should determine a person's
occupation and activities. Research shows that such reasoning is very effective in
reducing children's tendency to view the world in a gender-biased fashion. A
rational approach to child rearing promotes healthy, adaptable functioning in many
other areas as well.