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Moral Dev & Peer & FamilyInfluences in

Middle ChildhoodPsychology 313Lecture 15/16

Social Development

Change amt time spent w/parents & w/peers 40% with peers Twice what spent with peers during preschool years

Less adult supervision,content of peer interactionsand forms of social controlare different

Changes in Social Roles

With family social roles & sense of self are predefined

With peers must form new identities appropriate to new

contexts

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Relations with Parents

Parents cannot successfully demandunquestioned obedience

Socialization techniques become more indirect

Change in parents’ expectations Parents expect child to behave self

Children should be more capable &responsible

Decrease in overt affection

Parental Influences on Peer Relations

1. Patterns of parent-child interactionprovide working models of how peopleshould interact with each other

2. The way parents keep track ofand organize children’s interactions withpeers

Moral Development

Piaget – middle childhood – child Negotiating plans, settling disagreements, enforcing

rules Social rules provides structure that makes cooperation

with others possible Peer groups can be self-governing

Members are capable of moral thinking

Heteronomous morality- based on externally imposedcontrols

Older people announce rules, compel conformity and decide“right/wrong”

Autonomous morality- based on understanding of rules asarbitrary agreements that can be changed if everyoneagrees

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Piaget’s Account (Marbles)

Early childhood: Little regardfor rules, no competition

Middle childhood: Try to winaccording to preexisting rules

At first, heteronomous moral thinking Between ages of 9 and 11

autonomous moral thinking

Neo-Piagetians View of Moral Dev

Lawrence Kohlberg Six stages of moral development- Childhood ->

adulthood

Heinz DilemmaIn Europe, a woman was near death from cancer. One drug might

save her, a form of radium that a druggist in the same town hadrecently discovered. The druggist was charging $2K; ten timeswhat the drug costs to make. The sick woman’s husband, Heinz,went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could gettogether only about half of what it cost. He told the druggist thathis wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him paylater. But the druggist said no. The husband got desperate andbroke into the man’s store to steal the drug for his wife. Shouldthe husband have done that? Why?

Kohlberg’s Moral Stages

Egocentric point ofview

Actions areconsidered inphysical ratherthan psychologicalterms

Confusion ofauthority’sperspective withone’s own

Avoidance ofpunishment

Superior power ofauthorities

Adherence to rulesbacked bypunishment

Obedience for its ownsake

Avoidance of physicaldamage to personsand property

LEVEL IPreconventional

STAGE 1Heteronomousmorality(begins at ages5 or 6)

Social PerspectiveWhy Do RightWhat Is RightLevel/Stage

• Focus on moral reasoning about harm and justice (stories)

• Total of 6 stages, grouped in 3 levels(Preconventional, Conventional, Postconventional or Principled)

• First 3 stages correspond to middle childhood

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Kohlberg’s Moral Stages

Concreteindividualisticperspective

Aware that all havetheir own interestsand that these mayconflict

Right is relative

To serve one’s ownneeds or interestsin a world whereother people havetheir own interests

Following rules whenit is in one’simmediate interest

Acting to meet ownneeds and lettingothers do the same

Seeing fairness as anequal exchange

LEVEL IPreconventional

STAGE 2Instrumentalmorality(begins at ages7 or 8)

Perspective of anindividual inrelationship withothers (i.e., sharedfeelings, expecta-tions, agreements)

Ability to relatepoints of view viaGolden Rule

Need to be a goodperson in own andothers’ eyes

Caring for othersBelief in the Golden

RuleDesire to maintain

rules and authority

Living up to whatothers close to youexpect of you

Having good motivesand showingconcern for others

Keeping mutualrelationships byloyalty and respect

LEVEL IIConventional

STAGE 3Good-childmorality(begins at ages10 or 11)

Social PerspectiveWhy Do RightWhat Is RightLevel/Stage

Moral Reasoningand Theories of Mind

Theory of mind: The ability to think about otherpeople’s mental states

Younger children: Objective view of responsibility,an understanding that responsibility depends onobjective consequences alone

Older children and adults: Subjective view ofresponsibility that take intentions into account

With increasing age, children become morecompetent at interpreting a person’s objectivebehavior in light of her subjective mental state

Peer Relations & Social Status

Four basic social types

1. Popular children

2. Rejected children

3. Neglected children

4. Controversial children

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Social Competence

The set of skills and abilities that collectively contribute tochildren’s social functioning with peers, including:

Athletic ability Academic success Leadership ability; confidence Cooperativeness; helpfulness Competence in entering peer activities Physical attractiveness Non-aggressiveness Happy, positive affect during social interactions Social skills, including problem solving skills Social-cognitive skills, including role taking Competence in understanding nonverbal emotional info

Cross-Gender Relations

Middle childhood: Sexually segregated groups

Due primarily to preferences for different kindsof activities and styles of interaction

Friendship: A Special Relationship

Children without best friends arelonelier than children with bestfriends Controversial & neglected

children are not usudistressed by their relativelack of social success (usuhave at least 1 BF)

Failure to form such friendshipsin childhood creates a socialdeficit that is difficult to remedylater

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Friendship: A Special Relationship

Friendships determined byproximity and similarities Focus in early childhood:

Pretend play

Focus in middle childhood:Belonging, social acceptance

Focus in adolescence:Exchange of intimate personalknowledge; also more generous,cooperative, and helpful witheach other

Significance of Peer Relations

Children who are successful w/peers are ontrack for adaptive & psych healthy outcomes

E.g., peer status & friendship in MidCh predict a good deal about kindsof successes/difficulties children willhave in later years

Greatest problems for rejected(aggressive) children and for bullies