Young Children’s Moral Judgments, Justifications, and Emotion Attributions in Peer Relationship Contexts
Child DevelopmentSmetana, J. G., & Ball, C. L.
2017
Children (n = 160, 4‐ to 9‐year‐olds; Mage = 6.23 years, SD = 1.46) judged, justified, attributed emotions, and rated intent for hypothetical physical harm, psychological harm, and resource distribution transgressions against close friends, acquaintances, disliked peers, or bullies. Transgressions against bullies were judged more acceptable than against friends and disliked peers and less deserving of punishment than against acquaintances and disliked peers. Transgressions against friends were judged least intended and resulting in more negative emotions for transgressors; actors transgressing against disliked peers, as compared to bullies or acquaintances, were happy victimizers. Across relationships, children viewed moral transgressions as wrong independent of rules and authority, based primarily on welfare and fairness justifications. Peer context colors but does not fundamentally change moral evaluations.
View more
Current research on parenting styles, dimensions, and beliefs
Current Opinions in PsychologySmetana, J. G.
2017
For decades, parenting has been characterized in terms of
broad global styles, with authoritative parenting seen as most beneficial for children’s development. Concerns with greater sensitivity to cultural and contextual variations have led to greater specificity in defining parenting in terms of different parenting dimensions and greater consideration of the role of parenting beliefs in moderating links between parenting and adjustment. New research includes ‘domain-specific’ models that describe parents as flexibly deploying different practices depending on their goals, children’s needs, and the types of behaviors towards which parenting is directed. These trends are described, and directions for future research are discussed.
View more
Evaluations of Conflicts Between Latino Values and Autonomy Desires Among Puerto Rican Adolescents
Child DevelopmentVillalobos-Solis, M., Smetana, J. G., & Tasopoulos-Chan, M.
2016
Puerto Rican adolescents (N = 105; Mage = 15.97 years, SD = 1.40) evaluated hypothetical situations describing conflicts between Latino values (family obligations and respeto) and autonomy desires regarding personal, friendship, and dating activities. Adolescents judged that peers should prioritize Latino values over autonomy, which led to greater feelings of pride than happiness. However, they believed that teens would prioritize autonomy over Latino values, which led to greater feelings of happiness than pride. Adolescents reasoned about autonomy desires as personal issues, whereas reasoning about Latino values was multifaceted, including references to conventions and concerns for others. Furthermore, judgments and reasoning depended on the type of autonomy desire and Latino value and sometimes, by participants’ age and sex.
View more
Adolescent development in interpersonal and societal contexts
Annual Review of PsychologySmetana, J. G., Campione-Barr, N., Metzger, A.
2006
In this chapter we review theoretical and empirical advances in research on adolescent development in interpersonal and societal contexts. First, we identify several trends in current research, including the current emphasis on ecological models and the focus on diversity in and relational models of adolescent development. Next, we discuss recent research on interpersonal relationships, with an eye toward identifying major research themes and findings. Research on adolescents' relationships with parents, siblings, other relatives, peers, and romantic partners, and adolescents' involvement in community and society is reviewed. Future directions in research on adolescent development are discussed.
View more
Social–cognitive domain theory: Consistencies and variations in children's moral and social judgments
Handbook of Moral DevelopmentKillen, M., Smetana, J. G.
2006
The social world is complex. It is structured by many social expectations and rules, which are enforced in diverse social situations and in the context of different social relationships and societal arrangements. Through the process of development, children must acquire an understanding of these different social expectations and rules, including an awareness of the regularities that are specific to particular social contexts, as well as an understanding of which expectations and rules are more broadly applicable and obligatory across contexts. Moreover, although morality regulates social relationships, not all social rules are moral; some rules may be functional in regulating social interactions but lack the prescriptive and obligatory basis of moral rules. This chapter describes theory and research from the social-cognitive domain perspective on moral and social development (Helwig & Turiel, 2003; Nucci, 2001, 2002; Smetana, 1995b; Turiel, 1998, 2002, chap. 1 this volume) that describes how children come to understand, interpret, accept, and sometimes reject these diverse aspects of their social world.
View more
