NCJ Number
223478
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 37 Issue: 7 Dated: August 2008 Pages: 875-887
Date Published
August 2008
Length
13 pages
Annotation
The goal of this study was to examine whether or not aspects of conscience united in adolescence into dimensions similar to those in early childhood (i.e., moral affects and moral regulation) and whether these broader dimensions of conscience were related to parental discipline, temperament, and adolescent social behavior.
Abstract
The findings show two dimensions of conscience in the sample: moral affect, which includes guilt, shame, sympathy, and empathic anger; and moral cognition, which includes internalization of moral principles learned in childhood and prosocial moral reasoning. Parental discipline related to both dimensions of conscience, but in different ways. High levels of parental inductive discipline and low levels of parental power assertion were associated with high levels of moral affect; whereas, high levels of persistent discipline were associated with increased moral cognition. High negative responses were only associated with high levels of moral affect. Higher levels of moral affect were associated with prosocial behavior and moral conduct during bullying. Higher levels of moral cognition were linked with less participation in bullying, more altruistic behavior, and more frequent helping of bullying victims. A total of 113 adolescents (51 percent female and with a mean age of 15.88 years old) completed measures of sympathy, guilt, empathic anger, shame, moral reasoning, and internalization. Other instruments measured negative emotions (fear, distress, and anger); parenting disciplinary styles; prosocial behavior; and participation in bullying. 7 tables and 81 references