Dissertation Information for Peter H. Kahn Jr.NAME:
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SCHOOL: ADVISORS: COMMITTEE MEMBERS: MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected Title: Children's conceptions of obligatory and discretionary morality Abstract: This study examined relations between children's obligatory and discretionary moral judgments, and whether such judgments are sensitive to the degree of cost to the agent and the type of situation, positive or negative. Positive situations entail those where moral action can be performed, negative where immoral action can be refrained from. Seventy-two subjects participated in this study, comprised of 12 males and 12 females in each of three grade levels: 2nd, 5th, and 8th. Subjects were individually administered a semistructured interview consisting of three brief stories, each with two conditions. Two of the stories entailed positive morality. In the first condition, obligation was promoted by highlighting the welfare needs of a destitute family and showing that the family's situation could be improved at small personal cost to the agent. In each story, the condition was then changed such that the personal cost increased. The third story entailed negative morality. In the first condition, obligation was promoted by highlighting a minor case of stealing where the cost to the agent for not stealing was minimal. This condition was then changed such that the personal cost for not stealing increased. |
MPACT Scores for Peter H. Kahn Jr.A = 0 Advisors and Advisees Graph |