Developmental Changes and Individual Differences in Young Children's Moral Judgments

Children were interviewed three times over the course of a year to explore individual trajectories of change in young children’s understanding of different moral criteria. The influence of age, sex, and temperament on moral development was specifically examined. Children’s understanding of moral transgressions as wrong (without an authority figure present) increased over time. Greater child extraversion and greater effortful control (a precursor to executive functioning) were associated with a better understanding of the generalizability of morality (knowing morality applies to everyone).