Adolescent Concepts of Responsibility in Different Types of Moral Dilemmas

1286

Abstract

The paper presents results of an empirical study of adolescents' concepts of responsibility in different types of moral dilemmas characterized by violations of moral norms. The study proved that the type of moral dilemma and the context of interaction of its participants determine the adolescents' readiness to recognize the responsibility of the main character of the dilemma for violating the norm. In dilemmas of asocial type adolescents are more willing to recognize the responsibility of the offender whose behavior leads to obvious damage for one of the participants in the interaction. As for prosocial dilemmas and dilemmas of confronting norms, adolescents tend to deny the responsibility of the offender. The paper provides a comparative analysis of empirically identified types of adolescent concepts of responsibility, including the differentiated responsibility with egoistic orientation, high responsibility, low responsibility and ‘polar’ responsibility. The authors highlight the ambiguity of the relationship between adolescents’ evaluation of behavior, their readiness to recognize responsibility in moral transgression, and their judgment about the necessity of punishment. The paper concludes with the discussion concerning the relationship between the level of development of moral judgments/moral reasoning and the concepts of responsibility in adolescents.

General Information

Keywords: responsibility, moral dilemma, punishment, moral consciousness, moral judgments, context of interaction

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/chp.2017130409

For citation: Molchanov S.V., Almazova O.V. Adolescent Concepts of Responsibility in Different Types of Moral Dilemmas. Kul'turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya = Cultural-Historical Psychology, 2017. Vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 81–90. DOI: 10.17759/chp.2017130409. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

References

  1. Bein A. Emotsii i volya: per. s angl. [Emotions and will]. Saint-Petersburg: Publ. brat’ev Bashinskih, 1865. 347 p.
  2. Ionas G. Printsip otvetstvennosti: Opyt etiki dlya tekhnologicheskoi tsivilizatsii: per. s nem. [Principle of responsibility: the ethic experience for technological civilization]. Moscow: Airis-Press, 2004. 480 p.
  3. Leont’ev D.A. O nekotorykh aspektakh problemy «kul’tura i lichnost’» [Some aspects of problem “culture and personality”]. Kul’turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya [Cultural-historical psychology], 2013, no. 1, pp. 22—30. (In Russ., abstr. in Engl.)
  4. Molchanov S.V. Moral’ spravedlivosti i moral’ zaboty: zarubezhnye i otechestvennye podkhody k moral’nomu razvitiyu [Justice moral and care moral: foreign and domestic approaches]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta, seriya 14: Psikhologiya [Moscow University Psychological Bulletin, series Psychology], 2011, no. 2, pp. 59—72.
  5. Molchanov S.V., Poskrebysheva N.N., Zapunidi A.A., Markina O.S. Razvitie lichnostnoi avtonomii kak uslovie formirovaniya orientatsii podrostka v moral’noi sfere [Development of personal autonomy as condition to develop adolescent’s orientation in moral sphere]. Kul’turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya [Cultural-historical psychology], 2015, no. 4, pp. 22—29. (In Russ., abstr. in Engl.). doi:10.17759/ chp.2015110402
  6. Molchanov S.V., Almazova O.V., Poskrebysheva N.N., Zapunidi A.A. Lichnostnaya avtonomiya kak faktor razvitiya otvetstvennosti podrostkov [Personal autonomy as factor of development of adolescent’s responsibility]. Natsional’nyi psikhologicheskii zhurnal [National psychological journal], 2017, no. 1 (25), pp. 84—90. doi: 10.11621/npj.2017.0110
  7. Muzdybaev K. Psikhologiya otvetstvennosti [Psychology of responsibility]. 2-e izd.: Moscow: Publ. URSS, 2010. 248 p.
  8. Piazhe Zh. Moral’noe suzhdenie u rebenka: per. s fr. [The moral judgment of the child]. Moscow: Akademicheskii proekt, 2006. 480 p. (In Russ.).
  9. Khaidegger M. Evropeiskii nigilizm [European nigilism]. In Gurevich P.S. (ed.). Problema cheloveka v zapadnoi filosofii [Problem of human being in western philosophy]. Moscow: Publ. Progress, 1988, pp. 261—313.
  10. Carpendale J.I., Krebs D.L. Situational variation in moral judgments in a stage or on a stage? Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 1992. Vol. 21, pp. 203—224.
  11. Carpendale J.I., Krebs D.L. Selfish incentive, moral choice and moral justification. Journal of Personality, 1995. Vol. 63, pp. 289—313.
  12. Colby A., Kohlberg L., Speicher B., Hewer A., Candee D., Gibbs J.,Power C. The Measurement of Moral Judgment. Theoretical Foundation and Research Validation. Vol. 1. NY: Cambridge University Press, 1987. 397 p.
  13. Denton K., Krebs D.L. From the scene to the crime: the effect of alcohol and social context on moral judgment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1990. Vol. 59, pp. 242—248.
  14. Eshleman A. Moral Responsibility. In Zalta E.N. (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2009. URL: https://plato.stanford.edu/ archives/win2009/entries/moral—responsibility/ (Accessed 1.06.2017).
  15. Gilligan C. In a different voice: Women’s conceptions of self and morality. Harvard Educational Review, 1977. Vol. 47, pp. 1—26.
  16. Krebs D.L ., Denton K., Vermeulen S.C., Carpendale J.I., Bush A. The structural flexibility of moral judgment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1991. Vol. 61, pp. 1012—1023.
  17. 17. Krebs, D., Denton K. The forms and functions of real—life moral decision making. Journal of Moral Education, 1997. Vol. 26, issue 2, pp. 131—146.
  18. 18. Rest J.R. Moral development. Advances in research and theory. New York: Praeger, 1986. 224 p.
  19. 19. Rest J.R. Background: Theory and research. In J.R. Rest, D. Narvaez (Ed). Moral development in the professions: Psychology and applied ethics, Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1994, pp. 1—26.
  20. 20. Wark G., Krebs D.L. Gender and dilemma differences in real—life moral judgment. Developmental Psychology, 1996. Vol. 32, pp. 220—230.

Information About the Authors

Sergey V. Molchanov, PhD in Psychology, Associate Professor, Department of Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5147-3551, e-mail: s-molch2001@mail.ru

Olga V. Almazova, PhD in Psychology, Associate Professor, Developmental Psychology Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8852-4076, e-mail: almaz.arg@gmail.com

Metrics

Views

Total: 2656
Previous month: 32
Current month: 5

Downloads

Total: 1286
Previous month: 3
Current month: 0