Tina Malti

Children's Moral Motivation, Sympathy, and Prosocial Behavior

Two studies investigated the role of childrens moral motivation and sympathy in prosocial behavior. Study 1 measured other-reported prosocial behavior and self- and other-reported sympathy. Moral motivation was assessed by emotion attributions and moral reasoning following hypothetical transgressions in a representative longitudinal sample of Swiss 6-year-old children (N = 1,273). Prosocial behavior increased with increasing sympathy, especially if children displayed low moral motivation. Moral motivation and sympathy were also independently related to prosocial behavior. Study 2 extended the findings of Study 1 with a second longitudinal sample of Swiss 6-year-old children (N = 175) using supplementary measures of prosocial behavior, sympathy, and moral motivation. The results are discussed in regard to the precursors of the moral self in childhood.

The multifaceted phenomenon of 'happy victimizers': A cross-cultural comparison of moral emotions

This study examines whether German and Portuguese 5- to 6-, and 8- to 9-year-old children distinguish between the feelings attributed to a victimizer or to themselves if they were the victimizers in two hypothetical moral violations (stealing and breaking a promise), and how they morally evaluate the emotions they attribute to victimizers and the person of the victimizer. The results showed that in spite of some developmental and cultural differences, childrens attribution of negative emotions was substantively more frequent when they made attributions to themselves. Furthermore, most children judged the positive (immoral) emotions they had attributed to victimizers as not right and evaluated the person of the hypothetical victimizer negatively. The results clarify contradictory findings in the field and may provide a better understanding of the moral and developmental meaning of the positive and negative emotions attributed in acts of victimization.

The Effectiveness of Two Universal Preventive Interventions in Reducing Children's Externalizing Behavior: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

This article reports the effectiveness of two universal prevention programs in reducing externalizing behavior in elementary school children. A sample of 1,675 first graders in 56 Swiss elementary schools was randomly assigned to a school-based social competence intervention, a parental training intervention, both, or control. Externalizing psychopathology and social competence ratings were provided by the children, primary caregivers, and teachers at the beginning and end of the 2-year program, with a follow-up 2 years later. Intention-to-treat analyses revealed that long-term effects on teacher- and parent-rated externalizing behavior were greater for the social competence intervention than for the control. However, for most outcomes, no statistically significant positive effects were observed.

The Development of Moral Emotion Expectancies and the Happy Victimizer Phenomenon: A Critical Review of Theory and Application

The happy victimizer demarks a phenomenon in which there is a discrepancy between young childrens understanding of moral rules and their attribution of positive emotions to wrong-doers. In this paper, we argue why developmental transitions in this aspect of emotion understanding have both theoretical and applied value. First, the research literature on moral emotion expectancies is critically reviewed and methodological constraints of the happy victimizer experimental paradigm are discussed. Second, we elaborate on the connections between moral emotion expectancies and childrens understanding of human agency. It is argued that the coordination process involved in making moral emotion attributions and moral judgments is a key element in the evolving moral self. Third, the developmental significance of moral emotion expectancies for childrens and adolescents externalizing symptoms and adaptive behavior is discussed.

Aggressive and prosocial children's emotion attributions and moral reasoning.

Aggressive and prosocial childrens emotion attributions and moral reasoning were investigated. Participants were 235 kindergarten children (M=6.2 years) and 136 elementary-school children (M=7.6 years) who were selected as aggressive or prosocial based on (kindergarten) teacher ratings. The children were asked to evaluate hypothetical rule violations, attribute emotions they would feel in the role of the victimizer, and justify their responses. Compared with younger prosocial children, younger aggressive children attributed fewer negative emotions and were more likely to provide sanction-oriented justifications when evaluating rule violations negatively. Furthermore, age-, gender- and context-effects in moral development occurred. The context-effects included both effects of transgression type (i.e., prosocial morality vs. fairness) on emotion attributions and moral reasoning and the effects of the context of moral evaluation and emotion attribution on moral reasoning. Findings are discussed in terms of the role of emotion attributions and moral reasoning as antecedents of childrens aggressive and prosocial behavior.

Effects of a Universal Parenting Program for Highly Adherent Parents: A Propensity Score Matching Approach

This paper examines the effectiveness of a group-based universal parent training program as a strategy to improve parenting practices and prevent child problem behavior. In a dissemination trial, 56 schools were first selected through a stratified sampling procedure, and then randomly allocated to treatment conditions. 819 parents of year 1 primary school children in 28 schools were offered Triple P. 856 families in 28 schools were allocated to the control condition. Teacher, primary caregiver and child self-report data were collected at baseline, post, and two follow-up assessments. Analyses were constrained to highly adherent parents who completed all four units of the parenting program. A propensity score matching approach was used to compare parents fully exposed to the intervention with parents in the control condition, who were matched on 54 baseline characteristics. Results suggest that the intervention had no consistent effects on either five dimensions of parenting practices or five dimensions of child problem behavior, assessed by three different informants. These findings diverge from findings reported by program developers and distributors. Potential explanations for the discrepancy and implications for future research are discussed.

Study on alexithymia in adult non-patients

OBJECTIVE We tested the purported complex relationships between alexithymia and somatization, depression, borderline pathology and general health. METHODS A total of 139 medical students and 84 members of nursing personnel completed questionnaires. RESULTS Thirteen (6%) alexithymic participants indicated more depression and borderline pathology and worse mental health. Path analysis confirmed a significant positive effect of borderline pathology and a significant negative effect of mental health on alexithymia but did not reveal any effects of somatization and depression. CONCLUSION Presence of borderline pathology may indicate higher probability of alexithymia.

Children's moral emotions and moral cognition: Towards an integrative perspective

This chapter presents a brief introduction to the developmental and educational literature linking childrens moral emotions to cognitive moral development. A central premise of the chapter is that an integrative developmental perspective on moral emotions and moral cognition provides an important conceptual framework for understanding childrens emerging morality and designing developmentally sensitive moral intervention strategies. The subsequent chapters present promising conceptual approaches and empirical evidence linking childrens moral emotions to moral cognition. Examples of integrated educational interventions intended to enhance childrens moral development are presented and discussed.

The Role of Moral Emotions in the Development of Children's Sharing Behavior.

This study investigated the role of moral emotions in the development of childrens sharing behavior (N = 244 4-, 8-, and 12-year-old children). Childrens sympathy was measured with both self- and primary caregiver-reports, and participants anticipated their negatively and positively valenced moral emotions (i.e., feeling guilty, sad, or bad; and feeling proud, happy, or good) following actions that either violated or upheld moral norms. Sharing was measured through childrens allocation of resources in the dictator game. Childrens self-reported sympathy emerged as a significant predictor of sharing in early childhood. For children with low levels of sympathy, sharing was also predicted by negatively valenced moral emotions following the failure to perform prosocial actions. In addition, results demonstrated an age-related increase in sharing for boys between ages 4 and 8 and a decrease in sharing for boys between ages 8 and 12. We discuss the findings in relation to the emergence of 2 compensatory emotional pathways to sharing, 1 via sympathy and 1 via negatively valenced moral emotions.

The relation of elementary-school children's externalizing behaviour to emotion attributions, evaluation of consequences, and moral reasoning

This study examined the relation of elementary-school childrens externalizing behaviour to emotion attributions, evaluation of consequences, and moral reasoning. Externalizing behaviour was rated by the parents using the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL/4 – 18). Moral development was assessed by three stories describing different types of rule violation and a moral conflict in friendship including obligations and self-interest. The children were asked about the emotions they would attribute to the hypothetical victimizer (or protagonist) and the self-as-victimizer (or protagonist), the evaluation of the interpersonal consequences of the rule violation (or action decision) as well as their justifications. Boys who made selfish action decisions and attributed positive emotions to the protagonist of the moral dilemma displayed more externalizing behaviour than girls. Furthermore, boys with consistent moral (negative) emotion attributions to the self-as-victimizer across the rule violations showed less externalizing behaviour than boys with inconsistent moral emotion attributions. Younger children who anticipated negative interpersonal consequences of transgressions displayed higher rates of externalizing behaviour than younger children who anticipated less negative consequences. Moral reasons in the context of emotion attributions to the self-as-victimizer were negatively associated with externalizing behaviour.