Sociomoral Reasoning Skills during Childhood: A Comprehensive and Predictive Approach
Sociomoral reasoning (SMR) is an essential component of social functioning allowing children to establish judgments based on moral criteria. The progressive emergence and complexification of SMR during childhood is thought to be underpinned by a range of characteristics and abilities present in the...
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MDPI AG
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Brain Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/12/9/1226 |
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| author | Frédérick Morasse Annie Bernier Gabrielle Lalonde Sébastien Hétu Miriam H. Beauchamp |
| author_facet | Frédérick Morasse Annie Bernier Gabrielle Lalonde Sébastien Hétu Miriam H. Beauchamp |
| author_sort | Frédérick Morasse |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Sociomoral reasoning (SMR) is an essential component of social functioning allowing children to establish judgments based on moral criteria. The progressive emergence and complexification of SMR during childhood is thought to be underpinned by a range of characteristics and abilities present in the preschool years. Past studies have mostly examined concurrent associations between individual factors and SMR. Using a more comprehensive and predictive approach to identify early predictors of school-age SMR would contribute to a more complete picture of SMR development. This study aimed to investigate the contribution of four domains of preschool predictors to SMR at school-age: demographic (age, sex, parental education), cognitive (executive and sociocognitive functions), behavioral (internalizing and externalizing behaviors), and familial (parent–child interactions, parental stress) factors. Parents of 122 children 3 to 5 years (M = 3.70, SD = 0.66 years, 51% girls) completed questionnaires and children were administered executive and sociocognitive tasks. Parent–child interactions were assessed using an observational approach. SMR was measured four years later using the SoMoral task. A four-step hierarchical regression analysis revealed that executive functions and internalizing problems were significant independent predictors of SMR. These findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of the early precursors of SMR during childhood. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T00:33:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fb5ef1a61b7f47fca1e73b995a7beac8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T00:33:59Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-fb5ef1a61b7f47fca1e73b995a7beac82023-11-23T15:21:22ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252022-09-01129122610.3390/brainsci12091226Sociomoral Reasoning Skills during Childhood: A Comprehensive and Predictive ApproachFrédérick Morasse0Annie Bernier1Gabrielle Lalonde2Sébastien Hétu3Miriam H. Beauchamp4Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC H3C 3J7, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC H3C 3J7, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC H3C 3J7, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC H3C 3J7, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC H3C 3J7, CanadaSociomoral reasoning (SMR) is an essential component of social functioning allowing children to establish judgments based on moral criteria. The progressive emergence and complexification of SMR during childhood is thought to be underpinned by a range of characteristics and abilities present in the preschool years. Past studies have mostly examined concurrent associations between individual factors and SMR. Using a more comprehensive and predictive approach to identify early predictors of school-age SMR would contribute to a more complete picture of SMR development. This study aimed to investigate the contribution of four domains of preschool predictors to SMR at school-age: demographic (age, sex, parental education), cognitive (executive and sociocognitive functions), behavioral (internalizing and externalizing behaviors), and familial (parent–child interactions, parental stress) factors. Parents of 122 children 3 to 5 years (M = 3.70, SD = 0.66 years, 51% girls) completed questionnaires and children were administered executive and sociocognitive tasks. Parent–child interactions were assessed using an observational approach. SMR was measured four years later using the SoMoral task. A four-step hierarchical regression analysis revealed that executive functions and internalizing problems were significant independent predictors of SMR. These findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of the early precursors of SMR during childhood.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/12/9/1226sociomoral reasoningchildrenlong-term predictorssocial cognition |
| spellingShingle | Frédérick Morasse Annie Bernier Gabrielle Lalonde Sébastien Hétu Miriam H. Beauchamp Sociomoral Reasoning Skills during Childhood: A Comprehensive and Predictive Approach Brain Sciences sociomoral reasoning children long-term predictors social cognition |
| title | Sociomoral Reasoning Skills during Childhood: A Comprehensive and Predictive Approach |
| title_full | Sociomoral Reasoning Skills during Childhood: A Comprehensive and Predictive Approach |
| title_fullStr | Sociomoral Reasoning Skills during Childhood: A Comprehensive and Predictive Approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sociomoral Reasoning Skills during Childhood: A Comprehensive and Predictive Approach |
| title_short | Sociomoral Reasoning Skills during Childhood: A Comprehensive and Predictive Approach |
| title_sort | sociomoral reasoning skills during childhood a comprehensive and predictive approach |
| topic | sociomoral reasoning children long-term predictors social cognition |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/12/9/1226 |
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