Israeli children’s reactions to moral judgment dilemmas as a function of pressures from adults and peers: A developmental study

A study was conducted of the Developmental differences in children’s moral judgment reactions to social pressure from adults vs peers vs control conditions. Israeli boys and girls (N = 724) from three age groups, 8-9 years, 11-12 years, and 14-15 years, participated. It was found that the moral judgment of the 5s aged 8-9 and 14-15 was stable across the treatment conditions. The moral judgment of the 5s at the age of 11-12, however, was affected differently by the various social pressure situations. Some differences were also found between boys’ and girls’ reactions to the treatment conditions. These results are discussed within Piaget’s moral and cognitive theory of Development.