Moral Judgment in Preschool Children

Moral judgment refers to an individual’s understanding of how people think and perceive regulations، customs، traditions، and norms that should be respected in the course of interactions. To examine a group of preschoolers’ moral judgments، which was the main purpose of the study، 108 children aged between five and six in Faruj، Iran were randomly selected and were subsequently interviewed on four moral concepts including lying، financial loss، theft، and justice taken from four stories. The results showed that with regard to lying، financial loss، and theft the preschoolers paid more attention to internal motivation; however، in case of justice they believed in unfairness. As the results signified، attention to internal motivation increased with age whereas attention to effects of deeds decreased with it. In their moral judgment against all concepts، the six-year old children paid more attention to internal motivation. Moreover، in the concepts of lying، financial loss، and theft girls paid more attention to the outcome as compared to boys; conversely، boys were more attracted towards internal motivation. Concerning the concept of justice، girls’ belief in fairness significantly differed from that of boys; that is، boys were more inclined towards equality in working. The findings، in line with Piaget، showed that as children grew older، they paid more attention to internal motivation. Nevertheless، attention of boys to internal motivation and their superiority in moral development over girls contradicted Piaget’s findings.