Development of moral reasoning in situational and cultural contexts |
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| Authors: | Jesse Ho-Yin Lo Genyue Fu Kang Lee Catherine Ann Cameron |
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| Institution: | 1. Psychology Department, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canadalojesse@hotmail.com;3. Psychology Department, Zhejiang Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, P.R.China;4. Psychology Department, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada;5. Psychology Department, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada |
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| Abstract: | ABSTRACTThis article examines relationships between children and youths’ judgments and their justifications of truth telling and verbal deception, in situational and cultural contexts. Han Chinese, Euro-Canadians and Chinese-Canadians, seven- to 17-years of age were presented competitive scenarios in which protagonists told either lies to protect, or truths to harm, various levels of collectivity. Participants evaluated protagonists’ statements, using a 7-point scale, and justified their judgments. Cultural variations in moral evaluations emerged among the three groups of participants. Older Chinese participants reflected significant collective cultural values in their judgements; by contrast, Euro-Canadians identified more individualistically; and Chinese-Canadians demonstrated notable variability between these perspectives in their judgments. The article enhances understanding of situational and cultural sources in the development of moral reasoning within a sociocultural framework. |
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| Keywords: | cross-cultural developmental values verbal deception |
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