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Children's Narratives about Hypothetical Moral Dilemmas and Objective Measures of Their Conscience: Mutual Relations and Socialization Antecedents
Author(s) -
Kochanska Grazyna,
Padavich Darcie L.,
Koenig Amy L.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1996.tb01805.x
Subject(s) - conscience , psychology , narrative , socialization , assertion , developmental psychology , social psychology , assertiveness , moral dilemma , predictive power , moral development , epistemology , philosophy , linguistics , computer science , programming language
We explored children's conscience using narrative measures that utilized responses to hypothetical moral dilemmas and objective measures (observed moral conduct and mothers' reports). Children and mothers were studied at Time 1 ( N = 103, 26–41 months) and at Time 2 ( N = 99, 43–56 months). The first goal was to examine correspondence between both sets of measures. There were meaningful links between the narratives, administered at Time 2, and children's observed and mother‐reported conscience at Times 1 and 2. Children who produced many antisocial narrative themes were less internalized, whereas children who produced many themes of commitment to and concern about good behavior were more internalized on the objective measures. The second goal was to test the prediction that maternal power assertion is detrimental to conscience. Children who experienced more power‐assertive maternal discipline produced fewer themes of commitment to and concern about good behavior in their narratives and were more poorly internalized on observed and mother‐reported measures at Time 1 and Time 2. Girls were more internalized on the narrative and objective conscience measures.