Work

Theory of mind and emotion understanding predict moral development in early childhood

Year: 2010

Type: article

Abstract: The current study utilized longitudinal data to investigate how theory of mind (ToM) and emotion understanding (EU) concurrently and prospectively predicted young children's moral reasoning and decision making. One hundred twenty-eight children were assessed on measures of ToM and EU at 3.5 and 5.5 years of age. At 5.5 years, children were also assessed on the quality of moral reasoning and decision making they used to negotiate prosocial moral dilemmas, in which the needs of a story protagonist conflict with the needs of another story character. More sophisticated EU predicted greater use of physical- and material-needs reasoning, and a more advanced ToM predicted greater use of psychological-needs reasoning. Most intriguing, ToM and EU jointly predicted greater use of higher-level acceptance-authority reasoning, which is likely a product of children's increasing appreciation for the knowledge held by trusted adults and children's desire to behave in accordance with social expectations.

Source: British Journal of Developmental Psychology

DOI: 10.1348/026151009x483056

Authors: Jonathan D. Lane, Henry M. Wellman, Sheryl L. Olson, Jennifer. LaBounty, David C. R. Kerr

Institutions: University of Michigan, Lewis & Clark College, Oregon State University

Language: English

Topic: Child and Animal Learning Development

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institute of Mental Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Awards: G100306670, G1811013830, The Child's Theory of Mind, SOCIAL RISK AND SELF REGULATION PROBLEMS IN CHILDHOOD, THE CHILD'S THEORY OF MIND