The Development and Implications of Moral Emotions

George Mason University, Fairfax VA

Investigators

Abstract

This project involves the continuation of work on a longitudinal study of the development and implications of moral emotions (shame, guilt and empathy). A secondary focus is on the development of constructive versus destructive anger management strategies. The on-going longitudinal family study is based on a cohort of 380 children, their parents and their grandparents. The diverse intergenerational sample was initially studied when the children were in the 5th grade. Information regarding children's psychological, social and academic attributes was provided by peers, teachers, and the children themselves. Parents and grandparents reported family environment, childrearing attitudes, and attachment style. Follow-up assessments were completed when the children were in the 7th/8th grade, and phone interviews were conducted with a sub-sample of the children at ages 18-19. These data can help to answer questions about individual differences in moral emotional style, and how those differences predict social, emotional and behavioral adjustment. The data also provide information about the developmental origins of moral emotional style, including the parental and family factors that shape children's emerging tendencies to experience shame, guilt and empathy, and the experiences in late childhood and adolescence that cause shifts in moral emotional style. One goal of the project is to understand how children develop adaptive as opposed to maladaptive means of handling anger. Together, the data collected over time and across generations should substantially extend the literature, providing clear directions for early intervention with children "at-risk" for the development of maladaptive patterns of moral affect and behavior. By identifying specific characteristics that are most highly associated with key moral behaviors, this project can help pinpoint specific avenues for intervention. The findings should be of broad interest to parents, teachers, and clinicians, and the results should inform those seeking to intervene with individuals who display a pattern of aggressive and antisocial behavior.