ERIC Number: EJ1274870
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Nov
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0165-0254
EISSN: N/A
The Development of Intent-Based Moral Judgment and Moral Behavior in the Context of Indirect Reciprocity: A Cross-Cultural Study
Li, Jing; Hou, Wenwen; Zhu, Liqi; Tomasello, Michael
International Journal of Behavioral Development, v44 n6 p525-533 Nov 2020
The current study aimed to investigate the cultural differences in the developmental origins of children's intent-based moral judgment and moral behavior in the context of indirect reciprocity. To this end, we compared how German and Chinese children interpret and react to antisocial and prosocial interactions between puppets. An actor puppet performed either a positive or negative act toward a prosocial or antisocial target puppet with the intention to cause harm or not; 197 three and five-year-old children participated as a third party and were asked to judge the actor puppet's behavior and to distribute stickers. Results showed that 3-year-old Chinese children were able to take intention and context into account when making moral judgments and distributing resources, whereas German children did not show sensitivity to intention until the age of 5. These findings suggest that culture may mediate children's intent-based moral judgment and moral behavior in the context of indirect reciprocity.
Descriptors: Moral Values, Decision Making, Preschool Children, Foreign Countries, Cross Cultural Studies, Cultural Differences, Antisocial Behavior, Prosocial Behavior, Comparative Analysis, Puppetry, Behavior Patterns, Intention, Cognitive Ability, Age Differences, Interaction, Moral Development, Task Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China; Germany
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A