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114: GO IN ONE EAR AND OUT THE OTHER? PRESCHOOLERS DO NOT COMPLY WITH PEERS WHEN JUDGING MORAL TRANSGRESSIONS

This study is framed in the research field of testimony as a source of knowledge. The aim was to test how children acquire and modify concepts to the moral domain as a result of the social influence of the peer group. Individual interviews were conducted with 34 Spanish children aged 4 to 5 years, recruited from a middle SES school of Madrid. The participants were presented a short story of moral transgression (a theft among children), and they were asked to give their opinion on the facts. Afterwards, they were presented a video in which three unknown peers had given their opinion and valuation of the same story. The valuation of those other children always went in the opposite direction from which the participant had given. After having watched the peers’ video, the participants were asked once again to give their opinion and were allowed to change their mind, if they wanted to. Thus, the judgments of the participants were obtained before and after hearing the valuation of their peers, making them think that the other children would see only their final comments. The results revealed that most children (67%) valued negatively the story of theft, and most of them (73.5%) kept their criteria, even after hearing other children justify such behavior with reasoned arguments. The rest of the children (26.7%), changed their initial (negative) valuation of the theft story. It is concluded that at ages 4 and 5 years, the knowledge of the moral domain is stable and scarcely permeable to alternative views, despite being exposed to counterarguments that may justify the act of theft in some circumstances. The discussion focuses on the process of acquisition and renewal of knowledge in the moral sphere, and the meaning of ‘changing the mind’: Is it just social influence or a true renewed reflection?

Author(s):

Sonia Garijo    
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Spain

Ileana Enesco    
Uniersidad Complutense de Madrid
Spain

Irene Solbes    
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Spain