2-197 - The emergence of and mechanisms underlying the development of moral norms

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Starting from a young age, children understand and enforce moral norms, which are aimed at preserving the rights and welfare of others. Children also distinguish moral norms from other types of norm (such as conventional norms). This symposium explores the development of moral norms and in particular, how children, adolescents, and adults perceive and distinguish moral norms from other norms. The first paper investigates the role of affective arousal in distinguishing moral from conventional norms. It shows that 3-year-olds, 4-year-olds, and adults all show greater physiological arousal (pupil dilation) during moral norm violations than conventional norm violations. The second paper investigates the role of culture and shows that 3.5-year-olds not only react more to moral norm violations, but their reactions to such violations vary less by culture as compared to conventional norm violations. The third paper demonstrates that preschoolers do not blindly accept rules conveyed by authorities but instead critically evaluate the rules based on moral and pragmatic considerations. The final paper investigates the role that context and experience play in children’s and adolescents’ understanding of moral norms (such as norms of inclusion). This paper shows that when making decisions about including in- or out-group peers in ethnic groups, children demonstrate not only an understanding of its moral implications but also an understanding that peers or authority figures may prioritize other considerations. Together, these four papers bring together studies from multiple perspectives and ages to provide nuanced insights into the emergence of and mechanisms underlying moral norms.

Sub Unit

• Moral Development

Chairs

• Meltem Yucel, University of Virginia

• Amrisha Vaish, The University of Virginia

Individual Presentations

• Norms with affect: Young children and adults show higher arousal to moral than conventional transgressions - Presenting Author: Meltem Yucel, University of Virginia; Non-Presenting Author: Robert Hepach, Leipzig University; Non-Presenting Author: Amrisha Vaish, The University of Virginia

• The distinction between conventional and moral norms depends on culture - Presenting Author: anja gampe, university of zurich; Non-Presenting Author: Julia Fenkl, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg; Non-Presenting Author: Moritz M Daum, University of Zurich

• Preschoolers’ Evaluations of Rules: Moral and Pragmatic Constraints - Presenting Author: Charles Baxley, University of California, Santa Cruz; Non-Presenting Author: Audun Dahl, University of California Santa Cruz

• Perspectives on inclusive norms: Generic versus group specific - Presenting Author: Aline Hitti, University of San Francisco; Non-Presenting Author: Melanie Killen, University of Maryland