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Observed and parent‐reported conscience in childhood: Relations with bullying involvement in early primary school
Author(s) -
Jansen Pauline W.,
Zwirs Barbara,
Verlinden Marina,
Mieloo Cathelijne L.,
Jaddoe Vincent W. V.,
Hofman Albert,
Verhulst Frank C.,
Jansen Wilma,
van Ijzendoorn Marinus H.,
Tiemeier Henning
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
social development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.078
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1467-9507
pISSN - 0961-205X
DOI - 10.1111/sode.12233
Subject(s) - conscience , psychology , cheating , developmental psychology , empathy , population , intervention (counseling) , clinical psychology , social psychology , medicine , psychiatry , environmental health , political science , law
This exploratory study aimed to examine which components of early childhood conscience predicted bullying involvement around school entry. In the population‐based Generation R Study, teacher reports of bullying involvement and parent reports of conscience were available for 3,244 children ( M age = 6.7 years). Higher levels of overall conscience predicted lower bullying perpetration scores, independently of intelligence quotient, temperamental traits and sociodemographic characteristics. Particularly, the subscales guilt, confession, and internalized conduct, and to a lesser extent empathy, predicted bullying perpetration. Conscience was not related to victimization. Similar results were found using observations during so‐called ‘cheating games’ (subsample N = 450 children). Findings suggest that improving children's understanding of moral standards and norms may be a potential target for bullying intervention programs in early primary school.