ERIC Number: EJ990053
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Sep
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0165-0254
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Children's and Their Friends' Moral Reasoning: Relations with Aggressive Behavior
Gasser, Luciano; Malti, Tina
International Journal of Behavioral Development, v36 n5 p358-366 Sep 2012
Friends' moral characteristics such as their moral reasoning represent an important social contextual factor for children's behavioral socialization. Guided by this assumption, we compared the effects of children's and friends' moral reasoning on their aggressive behavior in a low-risk sample of elementary school children. Peer nominations and teacher reports were used to assess children's aggressive behavior and friendships. During individual interviews, moral reasoning was measured by justifications following moral judgments and moral emotion attributions. Results revealed that, compared to individuals' moral reasoning, friends' moral reasoning was more consistently related to children's aggressive behavior. Moreover, friends' aggressive behavior mediated the relationship between friends' moral reasoning and children's aggressive behavior. The findings provide evidence for the important role that friends' moral development plays in children's behavioral socialization, and highlight the need for integrated, systematic approaches to moral development and friendship relations. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)
Descriptors: Evidence, Aggression, Socialization, Moral Development, Elementary School Students, Peer Relationship, Moral Values, Friendship, Comparative Analysis, Interviews, Teacher Attitudes, Role
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A

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