ERIC Number: EJ1251057
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0305-7240
EISSN: N/A
Representation of Morality in Children: A Qualitative Approach
Maftei, Alexandra; Holman, Andrei
Journal of Moral Education, v49 n2 p194-208 2020
Previous research on children's moral reasoning usually used a quantitative approach and a pre-determined set of methods in order to establish early moral landmarks. We proposed a qualitative perspective on the basis of which we have formulated three main objectives: 1) to identify the main categories of behaviors that children spontaneously associate with the notion of morality, in line with Turiel's Domain Theory; 2) to investigate children's conceptions of moral and social-conventional rules and 3) to assess the gender differences in the use of care and justice reasoning, in line with Gilligan's assertion that females are care-oriented and that males consistently use the justice orientation and infrequently use the care orientation. Ninety-two children (57% boys, mean age was 8.19 years) were required to describe morality in behavioral terms without being guided by specific indications from the researchers. Our results reflected a tendency towards morality perceived through behaviors directed towards others, namely through altruism, and also the domination of moral norms as compared to social ones, partially confirming Gilligan's theory concerning gender specificities regarding moral reasoning in the questions of care and justice.
Descriptors: Children, Moral Values, Social Values, Standards, Gender Differences, Caring, Justice, Altruism, Foreign Countries
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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: Romania
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A