EARLY MORAL CONSCIENCE: THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MORAL SHORT PLAYED STORIES PROCEDURE

Abstract

We set up a cross-sectional study to investigate how moral core self's mental representations develop from age 3 to 6 years. An ad hoc instrument (Moral Short Played Stories Procedure; MSPSP) was developed to tap into how moral emotions, conducts, and cognitions referred to moral and nonmoral characters. A total of 143 preschoolers completed the MSPSP and moral dilemmas procedures, together with attachment and behavioral inhibition assessment. The main results confirm the hypothesis of a mild developmental trend characterized by the prominence of moral conduct over moral emotion and cognition. In addition, our results stress the emergence of a developmental turning point at around age 4 when procedural moral activation in children predicts the declarative feature of moral conscience.

Keywords: Internalisierung; Sorge um andere; concern for other; declarative and procedural; declarativo y procedimental; deklarativ und prozedural; desarrollo moral; déclaratif et procédural; développement moral; inquiétude pour l'autre; internalisation; internalización; internalization; moral development; moralische Entwicklung; preocupación por el otro; 他者への思いやり; 内化; 内在化; 宣言性と手続き性; 對别人的關注; 道徳発達; 道德發展; 陳述和程序化.