“She’s just a kid!” How Perceptions of Children’s Mental Capacities Influence Moral Character Judgments
Year: 2022
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Why are children and adults held to different standards when they commit immoral transgressions? One answer may be how we perceive the minds of children versus adults. Mind perception is essential when evaluating moral status (who is morally responsible and protected from harm). Developmental changes may influence how adults perceive the mental capacities of children across the lifespan, which may affect judgments of moral responsibility and moral character. Experiment 1 assessed lay intuitions as to why children are seen as less morally culpable than adults. We found that lack of moral knowledge and malleability of character were the most common explanations. In Experiment 2, we find that with age perceptions of mental capacities related to moral knowledge, theory of mind, and self-control increase while malleability of character decreases. Additionally, as these capacities change, judgments of moral character become harsher with age whereas judgments of an immoral action remain the same.
Source: TSpace (University of Toronto)
Author: Sacchi, Alexa
Institution: University of Toronto
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7052712759