著者

越中 康治

出版者

広島大学大学院教育学研究科

雑誌

広島大学大学院教育学研究科紀要 第三部 教育人間科学関連領域 (ISSN:13465562)

巻号頁・発行日

no.55, pp.227-235, 2006

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The present study examined preschoolers' right and wrong judgments about provocative, retaliative, and punitive aggression. Fifty-three preschoolers (range 32 to 76 months) were presented with three picture stories in which the main character showed either provocative, retaliative, or punitive aggression. Following each story, the children were asked to judge (1) whether the aggression was right or wrong, (2) whether they would like to play with the main character, and (3) whether they would behave like the main character. The results were as follows: (1) Younger children (range 32 to 53 months) judged all types of aggression to be wrong. However, older children (range 55 to 76 months) allowed retaliative and punitive aggression, whereas they judged provocative aggression to be wrong. (2) Younger children reported that they would like to play with all of the main characters to the same extent. However, older children rejected to play with the main character who showed provocative aggression. (3) Children reported that they would show punitive aggression in some degree, but that they would never show provocative aggression. The results indicate that judgments of older children are based on the concepts of harm and retributive justice (i.e., they possess moral concepts that are independent of authority), whereas judgments of younger children tend to be oriented toward authority (e.g., aggression is wrong because it is punished by adults).