Young Children's Evaluations of Acts Based on Beliefs Different from Their Own.

Abstract

Young children's judgments about social practices based on beliefs different from their own were examined. Children (N = 60), equally divided in three groups, ages 3, 5, and 7, were individually interviewed about events in which a character en gages in potentially harmful or unfair acts based on moral beliefs or informational beliefs not shared by the participants, or based on informational beliefs shared by the participants. Findings indicated that children at all ages accounted for informa tional beliefs in their judgments and that 5and 7-year-olds judged more positively practices based on informational beliefs different from their own than they did the same practices based on moral beliefs different from their own. Nevertheless, for the most part, children judged acts based on beliefs different from their own to be wrong. We discussed how young children's conceptualizations and judgments of other people's beliefs and practices constrain their abilities to understand and judge social practices not their own.

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