Intelligence and the Development of Moral Judgment in Children

A hypothesized relationship between intelligence & development of children's moral judgment was studied. A moral judgment interview was administered to 100 elementary parochial schoolchildren. The interview consisted of a series of standardized situations covering four areas of moral judgment: objective responsibility, immanent justice, solutions to transgressions, & meaning of rules. Responses were scored & a variance analysis computed for the four areas. Results indicated that age was the best predictor of moral judgment quality in three areas, & intelligence was positively related with judgment maturity in two areas. Both age & intelligence were significant factors in objective responsibility. Age was significant in judgment of immanent justice. Older children tended to view the relationship between a moral standards violation & subsequent personal misfortune as accidental, while younger children did not. Sex was a significant variable in solutions to transgressions. Younger children of superior intelligence perceived rule meanings as moral obligations more than did those of average intelligence. Age was significant, favoring older children over younger regardless of intelligence. It is suggested that bright children internalize parental rules more strongly & are less flexible about rule changes. Religious influence might cause punitive responses not to decline with age or intelligence. 1 Table. Modified HA