ABSTRACT
Developmental trajectories and individual differences in 70 American middle-income 2½- to 4-year olds' moral judgments were examined 3 times across 1 year using latent growth modeling. At Wave 1, children distinguished hypothetical moral from conventional transgressions on all criteria, but only older preschoolers did so when rating deserved punishment. Children's understanding of moral transgressions as wrong independent of authority grew over time. Greater surgency and effortful control were both associated with a better understanding of moral generalizability. Children higher in effortful control also grew more slowly in understanding that moral rules are not alterable and that moral transgressions are wrong independent of rules. Girls demonstrated sharper increases across time than boys in understanding the nonalterability of moral rules.
Subject(s)
Individuality , Judgment , Moral Development , Child, Preschool , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Interview, Psychological , Male , Moral Obligations , Personality Assessment , Sex Factors , Social Control, Formal , SocializationABSTRACT
Disclosure and lying to mothers and fathers about different activities, as defined within social domain theory, were examined as a function of Latino family values in 109 Puerto Rican lower socioeconomic status middle adolescents (M=15.58 years, SD=1.18) living in the United States. Questionnaires revealed that teens sometimes disclosed to parents about their risky prudential (unhealthy or unsafe) and peer activities. Lying was infrequent, although greater for risky than for peer issues. In general, path analyses demonstrated that teens' greater adherence to Latino family values and trust in parents were associated with more disclosure and less lying to mothers. However, these findings were moderated by the type of issue considered and perceptions of parents' Latino family values.
Subject(s)
Deception , Hispanic or Latino/psychology , Parent-Child Relations/ethnology , Risk-Taking , Self Disclosure , Social Values/ethnology , Adolescent , Age Factors , Humans , Psychology, Adolescent , Puerto Rico/ethnology , Sex FactorsABSTRACT
Daily variations in secrecy with mothers and fathers were examined in 108 poor, urban, diverse middle adolescents (M=15.16 years, SD=0.89). Adolescents completed online diaries over 14 days assessing secrecy from parents about school, personal, and multifaceted activities (e.g., staying out late), and bad behavior. Three-level hierarchical linear models indicated that there were significant daily fluctuations in adolescents' secrecy with mothers and that adolescents kept more secrets from mothers about personal than other activities. Secrecy with mothers also was associated with greater involvement in problem behavior. For both mothers and fathers, secrecy on the current day was associated with greater secrecy on the previous day and with poorer overall relationships (as aggregated across study days) with that parent. Thus, for mothers, secrecy appeared to be associated with both stable factors and daily variations, whereas for fathers, secrecy was associated primarily with stable factors. The results provide a detailed picture of secrecy in diverse adolescents' everyday lives.
Subject(s)
Adolescent Behavior/psychology , Deception , Father-Child Relations , Mother-Child Relations , Truth Disclosure , Adolescent , Adolescent Behavior/ethnology , Female , Humans , Internet , Juvenile Delinquency/psychology , Linear Models , Male , New England , Poverty , Time Factors , Urban PopulationABSTRACT
A sample of 118 predominantly European American families with early and middle adolescents (M(ages)= 12.32 and 15.18 years) and 1 parent evaluated hypothetical conflicts between adolescents' and parents' requests for assistance versus the other's personal desires. Evaluations differed by level of need, but in low-need situations, adolescents viewed teens as more obligated to help parents than did parents, whereas parents rated it as more permissible for teens to satisfy personal desires than did teenagers. Justifications for helping focused on concern for others, role responsibilities, and among parents, psychological reasons. Middle adolescents reasoned about role responsibilities more and viewed satisfying personal desires as less selfish than did early adolescents, but satisfying personal desires was seen as more selfish by parents of middle than early adolescents. Implications for adolescent-parent relationships are discussed.
Subject(s)
Cooperative Behavior , Family Conflict/psychology , Helping Behavior , Parent-Child Relations , Psychology, Adolescent , Social Responsibility , Adolescent , Age Factors , Child , Decision Making , Defense Mechanisms , Female , Humans , Male , Moral Development , Personality Assessment , Sex FactorsABSTRACT
Disclosure, disclosure strategies, and justifications for nondisclosure for prudential, peer, multifaceted, and personal acts were assessed using a sorting task with 118 lower-middle class early and middle adolescents (Ms=12.77 and 15.68 years). Adolescents were less involved in prudential than other behaviors, although prudential behavior was greater among middle than early adolescents; adolescents disclosed more about prudential and personal than multifaceted and peer behaviors. Nondisclosure was primarily due to concerns about parental disapproval (for prudential acts), claims that acts were personal or not harmful (for personal acts), and their mixture (for peer and multifaceted acts). When concerned about parental disapproval, older adolescents fully disclosed less (and lied somewhat more) than younger adolescents, whereas adolescents primarily avoided discussing the issue when they viewed acts as personal. Full disclosure was associated with better relationships with parents and less depressed mood; lying was associated with more parental behavioral control over personal issues and poorer relationships with fathers.
