3-171 - Group Identity, Group Norms and Children’s Moral Judgments in Diverse Competitive Intergroup Contexts

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Children living in diverse contexts throughout the world have to make moral judgments about who to share resources with and who to help. They have to consider whether to be fair to all, but also whether to favor those who share their group identity or attend to their group’s norm about how they should behave. Reconciling concerns about both morality and group identity is a challenge in diverse competitive contexts, since they make group identities highly salient, especially when intergroup conflict results from this competition. Yet, developmental scientists rarely study the emergence of children’s moral judgments in diverse competitive intergroup contexts. This symposium brings together international researchers who investigate children’s moral judgments under competitive conditions in diverse settings within the USA, Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Canada, Iran, Kosovo and Macedonia. The first paper shows that group identity and advantaged status are related to how children make moral judgments. The next paper demonstrates there is a developmental shift from childhood to adolescence in the coordination of goals and ingroup norms when allocating resources between groups. The third paper indicates that both Canadian and Iranian children’s resource allocation decisions are based upon the recipient’s group membership, whereas among adults this was only evident among Iranians. The final paper shows that a decrease in pro-social helping with age is related to an increased preference for ingroup symbols. Overall, these papers demonstrate how group identity and groups norms are important influences on children’s moral judgments in diverse competitive intergroup contexts.

Sub Unit

• Diversity, Equity & Social Justice

Chair

• Adam Rutland, Goldsmiths, University of London

Individual Presentations

• Children’s Moral Judgments are Related to Group Identity and Advantage in a Competitive Peer Context - Non-Presenting Author: Alexander D'Esterre, University of Maryland; Presenting Author: Bonnie Woodward, University of Maryland; Non-Presenting Author: Melanie Killen, University of Maryland

• The Development of Intergroup Resource Allocation: The Coordination of Ingroup Norms and Moral Goals - Presenting Author: Luke McGuire, Goldsmiths, University of London; Non-Presenting Author: Michael T. Rizzo, University of Maryland; Non-Presenting Author: Melanie Killen, University of Maryland; Non-Presenting Author: Adam Rutland, Goldsmiths, University of London

• Helping Kids! Antecedents of Peace-building in Divided Societies - Presenting Author: Laura K Taylor, Queen's University Belfast; Non-Presenting Author: Jocelyn B Dautel, Queen's University, Belfast; Non-Presenting Author: Ana Tomovska Misoska, University American College Skopje; Non-Presenting Author: Edona Maluko Bërdyna, Rochester Institute of Technology; Non-Presenting Author: Risa Rylander, Queen's University, Belfast