2-141 - How do Children Intervene Against Moral Transgressions?: The Development of Third-party Interventions in Childhood

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Developmental researchers have begun to study children’s interventions against transgressions as a way to enforce moral norms. This prior work has focused on punishment, in which third parties inflict cost on others who violate norms. This symposium broadens the scope beyond punishment to highlight the various ways in which children intervene not only by punishing transgressors, but also by tattling about their actions, condemning them, and compensating the victim. Moreover, most developmental research has tested children from Western cultures. Therefore, this symposium includes samples from a wide range of nations from 6 continents. Lastly, by summarizing work with children across a wide age range (3- to 12-year-olds), this symposium will address the developmental trajectory of third-party interventions.

The first talk presents experiments on young children’s tattling in moral transgressions. This talk illustrates the early forms of third-party interventions in children from Germany and the US.

The second talk summarizes studies on children’s reasoning about those who condemn moral transgressions. This talk shows how verbal condemnation can be another way to enforce norms.

The third talk presents children’s evaluations of different third-party interventions. This talk shows that compensation of victims is more preferred way to restore justice.

The final talk presents cross-cultural differences in the development of third-party punishment across 6 countries. This presentation includes samples from non-Western cultures as well as Western cultures.

Together, this symposium provides a multifaceted overview of third-party interventions in childhood by exploring different types of third-party interventions, various cultures and a wide age range.

Sub Unit

• Moral Development

Chair

• Young-eun Lee, University of Michigan

Individual Presentations

• Tattling as Punishment: Young Children Tattle to Enforce Moral Norms - Presenting Author: Amrisha Vaish, The University of Virginia; Non-Presenting Author: Meltem Yucel, University of Virginia

• When Children Treat Condemnation as a Signal: Inferring Moral Character From One’s Condemnation - Presenting Author: Hannah Hok, University of Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Alia Martin, Victoria University of Wellington; Non-Presenting Author: Zachary Trail, University of Chicago; Non-Presenting Author: Alex Shaw, University of Chicago

• Children’s Evaluations of Third-party Punishment and Compensation - Presenting Author: Young-eun Lee, University of Michigan; Non-Presenting Author: Felix Warneken, University of Michigan

• The Development of Costly Third-party Punishment Across Six Societies - Presenting Author: Katherine McAuliffe, Boston College; Non-Presenting Author: Tara Callaghan, St. Francis Xavier University; Non-Presenting Author: John Corbit, Saint Francis Xavier University; Non-Presenting Author: Henry Dixon, University of Auckland; Non-Presenting Author: Yarrow Dunham, Yale; Non-Presenting Author: Ann Finkel, Harvard University; Non-Presenting Author: Felix Warneken, University of Michigan