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Young children's understanding of justifications for breaking a promise.
- Source :
-
Cognitive Development . Oct2021, Vol. 60, pN.PAG-N.PAG. 1p. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- There are sometimes legitimate reasons for breaking a promise when circumstances change. We investigated 3- and 5-year-old German children's understanding of promise breaking in prosocial (helping someone else) and selfish (playing with someone else) conditions. In Study 1 (n = 80, 50% girls), preschoolers initially kept their own promise in all conditions. When they eventually broke their promise, 3-year-olds' justifications mostly referenced salient events, whereas 5-year-olds also referenced social norms. In Study 2 (n = 65, 49% girls), 5-year-olds preferred others' promise-breaking more in prosocial than selfish conditions; 3-year-olds showed the reverse pattern. Three-year-olds' justifications focused on desires, whereas 5-year-olds focused on relevant events. Overall, 3-year-olds were able to offer justifications, but 5-year-olds started to distinguish what counted in the eyes of others as "good" and "bad" reasons for promise breaking. • We studied children's understanding of promise-breaking in prosocial and selfish conditions. • 3- and 5-year-olds kept their own promises in all conditions. • 3- and 5-year-olds reasoned differently about others' promise-breaking. • 5-year-olds distinguish good and bad justifications for promise-breaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *SOCIAL norms
*PRESCHOOL children
*MORAL development
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 08852014
- Volume :
- 60
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Cognitive Development
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 153528323
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2021.101127