Coordinating Deception in the Classroom: Sharing Food at Lunch (Poster 27)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Two
  In Poster Session: Theories and Practices in Moral Development and Education

Abstract

Sixty-three participants from two age groups (7-8, 15-16) were interviewed about hypothetical situations where the student shared lunch with another student, or did so towards white but not black students. Next, a teacher commanded that the student stop sharing, after which the student deceptively resumed their behavior. Participants evaluated and reasoned about each action described. Responses varied by equality condition, act type, domain of intention, and by age. Age based differences suggest participants differentially engaged in multifaceted reasoning about social situations when judgments were in opposition, and that reasoning about dictates and deception are not universal in either group, but used to promote equality consistent with their moral judgments, and increasingly with age, to maintain a sense of autonomy.

Author

• Michael W. Creane, College of the Holy Cross
  Presenting Author