Reasoning about Social Conflicts in Different Cultures: Druze and Jewish Children in Israel

This study examined how children of different cultural backgrounds weigh competing considerations in complex social situations. 351 children from Druze and Jewish communities in Israel (mean ages 8-10, 10-9, 12-11, 14-11, and 16-8) were presented with conflicts between 2 concerns: ( a ) Justice-Authority, ( b ) Justice-Interpersonal, ( c ) Personal-Interpersonal, and ( d ) Personal-Authority. For each conflict, subjects selected the course of action to be followed and evaluated the desirability of each behavioral alternative. Both similarities and differences were found in the ways children from each group weigh social concerns and change their priorities with age. Furthermore, judgments in both groups were complex and heterogeneous. These findings demonstrated that the weighing of social concerns in conflict situations is not done solely according to an overriding cultural orientation.     

Social Class Effects on Northeastern Brazilian Children's Conceptions of Areas of Personal Choice and Social Regulation

2 studies examined middle- and lower-class Brazilian children's concepts of personal choice and social regulation. In Study 1, interviews of 40 middle- and lower-class children (9 and 15 years old) revealed that children across classes distinguished moral from conventional issues on the bases of rule contingency and act generalizability criteria. Lower-class children, however, were less likely to view conventions as rule contingent and more likely to generalize conventional acts. In Study 2, interviews of 240 middle- and lower-class children (ages 8, 12, 16 years) found that across classes, children distinguished prudential issues from matters they treated as personal. Prudential issues were seen as subject to parental authority. Middle-class children were more likely to treat personal issues as matters of choice. With age, lower-class children increasingly tended to treat personal items as matters of choice, and by adolescence there were no class differences. Findings show that Brazilian children maintain a heterogeneous orientation to rules and authority which includes a domain of personal choice. Class differences indicate that hierarchical social structures affect children's sense of autonomy. However, developmental effects indicate that a domain of personal choice emerges among children across social classes.     

Bender-Gestalt Test and social interactions of kindergarten children: Effects of socialization practices

The present study assessed the extent to which kindergarten children's performance on the Bender-Gestalt Test is related to sex and sociocultural variables on the one hand, and to children's social behavior on the other hand. Two distinetly different Israeli populations were included: (a) The Druze—representing the traditional-authoritative culture, and (b) The Jews—representing the Westernized democratic society. Generally, the Jewish children were more socially active, and could differentiate and integrate the neutral elements of the Bender-Gestalt Test much more often than did the Druze children. Significant correlations between perceptual indicators and social behaviors were found and suggest that the Bender-Gestalt Test can be used for assessing and understanding the nature of the child's social interactions and struggle for a position within the constraints of his/her culture.     

Children's Reasoning about Interpersonal and Moral Conflicts

2 studies were conducted to determine if children make judgments about both justice and interpersonal relations in conflictful situations. In Study 1, 48 subjects (24 males and 24 females) in the third, sixth, and ninth grades (mean ages = 8.40, 11.38, 14.38 years) were administered 2 stories entailing conflicts between justice and interpersonal concerns. Children judged and justified acts in 4 conditions systematically varying interpersonal and justice concerns. Children generally gave priority to justice and rights over friendship, based primarily on considerations of welfare or rights. In Study 2, 76 subjects (39 males and 37 females) in the third, sixth, and ninth grades (mean ages = 9.08, 12.10, 14.92 years) were presented with 3 stories entailing conflicts between justice and interpersonal relations. Subjects gave greater priority to interpersonal considerations in Study 2 than in Study 1, and their evaluations varied according to the salience of the different concerns. In both studies, few gender differences were obtained. The results demonstrate that across development, concerns with justice and interpersonal relationships coexist in judgments of male and female children, and that the ways they are applied depend on the situation.     

God's Word, Religious Rules, and Their Relation to Christian and Jewish Children's Concepts of Morality

2 studies were conducted of children's concepts of moral and nonmoral religious rules. In Study 1, 64 Amish-Mennonite children (ages 10, 12, 14, 16) were asked to evaluate 4 moral and 7 nonmoral religious rules as to rule alterability, generalizability, and whether the status of the acts was contingent on the word of God. As a second aspect of Study 1, 64 Dutch Reform Calvinist children were asked to determine whether God's commands could make a harmful act morally right. Study 2 replicated the basic design of Study 1 with 64 Conservative and 32 Orthodox Jewish children. Findings were that subjects differentiated between moral and nonmoral religious issues. Moral rules and some nonmoral rules were seen as nonalterable by religious authorities. The status of moral (but not nonmoral) acts was generalized to members outside the religion and was not viewed as contingent on the existence of statements from God. Judgments regarding moral issues were justified in terms of justice and human welfare considerations; nonmoral issues were evaluated in terms of their normative status. Some denominational and age effects were found. Findings supported the proposition that social knowledge is constructed within conceptual systems that represent fundamental categories of social experience.     

Peer rejection and social information-processing factors in the development of aggressive behavior problems in children

The relation between social rejection and growth in antisocial behavior was investigated. In Study 1,259 boys and girls (34% African American) were followed from Grades 1 to 3 (ages 6-8 years) to Grades 5 to 7 (ages 10-12 years). Early peer rejection predicted growth in aggression. In Study 2,585 boys and girls (16% African American) were followed from kindergarten to Grade 3 (ages 5-8 years), and findings were replicated. Furthermore, early aggression moderated the effect of rejection, such that rejection exacerbated antisocial development only among children initially disposed toward aggression. In Study 3, social information-processing patterns measured in Study 1 were found to mediate partially the effect of early rejection on later aggression. In Study 4, processing patterns measured in Study 2 replicated the mediation effect. Findings are integrated into a recursive model of antisocial development.     

Reading self‐concepts and task choices for children with reading difficulties

Abstract

This project examined the personal and the social basis of children's self‐concepts about reading. Study 1 [N= 55] was a correlational study. Results suggest a stronger personal than social basis for children's self‐concepts about reading. In particular, children made stronger comparisons among content areas than gender groups. Study 2 [N= 18] was an intervention study. The focus was on the personal basis of self‐concepts, for children with reading difficulties. Results showed that self‐concepts were responsive to the intervention, with associated change in task choices. Findings support a self‐categorization approach to understanding children's self‐concepts, and imply that this approach would be useful in motivating children about reading.

Reading is regarded as integral to general living skills and is central to children's learning across many areas of schooling. This means that we need to understand more about the self‐concepts that motivate children to take up and persist with reading activities. H is a particularly pressing issue for children who experience difficulties with reading. This project therefore examined the personal and social basis of children's self‐concepts about reading. The focus was the salience of children's personal and social categorisations about reading that underpin reading self‐concepts and associated choices of reading tasks.     

“By Taste and the Spirit of the Times …”

The authors examine how the social status of the university professor has evolved in Russia in recent centuries in light of the historical concepts about the enslavement and emancipation of social groups proposed by Sergey Solovyov and Aleksandr Gradovsky. They use the metaphor of the “slave” [nevol’nik] to describe the dependent position of the professor in the university. The word encapsulates administrative tyranny, the spread of subordinate and submissive mentality in the university environment, and the curtailment of opportunities for professional self-fulfillment. The authors present the university administration as the main agent responsible for enslaving professors. Administrators represent bureaucratic power and act to advance their own social ambitions.     

Social Interactions in Preschool Classrooms and the Development of Young Children's Conceptions of the Personal

Two studies examined preschool teacher and child interactions regarding personal, moral, and social-conventional issues in the classroom and the development of personal concepts in young children. In Study 1, 20 preschool classrooms, 10 with 3-year-olds and 10 with 4-year-olds, were observed to assess children's and teachers' interactions regarding personal, moral, social-conventional, and mixed events. Teachers used more direct messages regarding moral and social-conventional events than personal and mixed events. Teachers offered children choices, but they rarely negotiated personal events with children. Children responded with personal choice assertions when adults offered them choices, but adults did not differ in the frequency that they negated or affirmed children's assertions of personal choice. In Study 2, 120 preschool children, nearly evenly divided between males and females at 3, 4, and 5 years of age, were interviewed regarding their conceptions of personal events in the classroom and home. With age, children judged that they should retain control over personal decisions in both contexts. In both judgments and social interactions, teachers and children identified a personal domain in which children can and should make choices about how to structure their activities and assert their independence in the classroom.     

Adolescents' and Young Adults' Conceptions of Civil Liberties: Freedom of Speech and Religion

This study examined adolescents' and young adults' conceptions of freedom of speech and religion (civil liberties). 48 adolescents and young adults in 3 grade levels (mean ages 12-8, 16-10, and 19-6) were administered a structured interview containing assessments of civil liberties in general, in straightforward (unconflicted) applications, and in conflict with other social and moral concerns, including law, physical and psychological harm, and equality of opportunity. Freedom of speech and religion were conceptualized as universal rights and applied to social events in unconflicted contexts at all ages. A diverse array of rationales, differentiated according to type of freedom, were used at all ages to ground conceptions of universal freedoms. Judgments of civil liberties in conflicts exhibited several sources of variation, including developmental differences, situational or contextual variation determined by the particular types of issues in conflict, and individual differences. Results are consistent with the proposition that judgments of civil liberties reflect age-related patterns of coordination of delimited social and moral concepts rather than general orientations.     

Called into crucible: Vocation and moral injury in U.S. public school teachers

This article reports some of the results of interviews with 120 Israeli Druze, 60 middle-aged adults and 60 young adults, regarding values, views of the Druze community, and personal identity. All participants expressed commitment to and love for traditional Druze values of familial respect, respect for others, modesty in dress and behavior, and commitment to Druze beliefs about one, all-powerful God and the reincarnation of Druze souls within the Druze community. Because the Druze religion is secret, open for study only to those Druze who live according to the letter of the religious law, most Druze today are not religious, defining themselves as traditional. Education in Druze values, mostly in the family, is the extent of their religious education. Most participants expressed a need for there to be some religious concessions made by the sheiks who set and enforce religious policy, in order that more people may pursue higher education and work outside the village and also study the inner secrets of their religion. Without this the Druze religion may be in danger. Connection is drawn between the Druze and other traditional religious societies.     

Who's the Boss? Concepts of Social Power Across Development

Power differences are observed in children's early relationships, yet little is known about how children conceptualize social power. Study 1 recruited adults (n = 35) to assess the validity of a series of vignettes to measure five dimensions of social power. Using these vignettes, Study 2 (149 three‐ to nine‐year‐olds, 42 adults) and Study 3 (86 three‐ to nine‐year‐olds, 22 adults) showed that children visiting a science museum at a middle class university town are sensitive to several dimensions of social power from a young age; however, an adult‐like breadth of power concepts does not develop until 7–9 years. Children understand social power whether the powerful character is malevolent or benevolent, though malevolent power is easier to detect for children and adults.     

Social and personal aspects of self knowledge: a balance of individuality and belonging

Concerns with persistent self-stereotyping by adolescents about academic achievements and body image focus attention on sources of self concepts. A self categorization approach to self concepts highlights a sense of individuality at a personal level, and a sense of belonging at a social level. This study investigates developmental trends in these social aspects of self knowledge for adolescent girls and boys (N=461) 11 to 17 years old. Results suggest that Individuality and Belonging are separate constructs, with considerable variability among adolescents. On average, a sense of individuality seems stronger for older adolescents and a sense of belonging seems more moderate for older adolescents. The implications are for individual differences as well as age-related variations in the personal and social basis of adolescent self concepts.     

Conceptions of moral,social-conventional,and personal events among Chinese preschoolers in Hong Kong

Sixty-one Chinese preschoolers from Hong Kong at 2 ages (Ms = 4.36 and 6.00 years) were interviewed about familiar moral, social-conventional, and personal events. Children treated personal events as distinct from moral obligations and conventional regulations. Children judged the child as deciding personal issues, based on personal choice justifications, whereas children judged parents as deciding moral and conventional issues. With age, children granted increased decision-making power to the child. In contrast, children viewed moral transgressions as more serious, generalizably wrong, and wrong independent of authority than other events, based on welfare and fairness. Punishment-avoidance justifications for conventional events decreased with age, whereas conventional justifications increased. Young Chinese preschool children make increasingly differentiated judgments about their social world.     

Resistance and Subversion in Everyday Life

The main thesis of this article is that resistance and subversion are part of everyday life in most cultures, and that they are integral to the process of development. Many of our theories of social and moral development either fail to account for resistance, and treat it largely as anti-social, or view it as unusual activity sometimes undertaken by those who have reached a high level of development. Several examples are presented to illustrate that resistance and subversion are common among people in positions of little power in the social hierarchy--especially on the part of women in patriarchal societies. Moreover, research has demonstrated that social conflict and resistance based on moral aims occur in childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Especially among adults, conflicts occur over inequalities embedded in the structure of social systems that allow greater power and personal entitlements to some groups (e. g. social hierarchies based on gender, socio-economic class, ethnic or racial status). In their everyday lives adults come into conflicts with others and resist moral wrongs embedded in cultural practices that serve to further the interests of those in higher positions in the social hierarchy. Resistance frequently entails deceptive actions aimed at transforming aspects of the social system judged unfair and detrimental to the welfare of groups of people.     

I like to do it, I'm able, and I know I am: longitudinal couplings between domain-specific achievement, self-concept, and interest

The longitudinal development of the intraindividual coupling between academic achievement, interest, and self-concept of ability (SCA) was analyzed in a sample of approximately 1,000 children between grades 1 and 12 (ages 6-17). Across all calculated indexes, the average level of coupling was positive. Individuals generally felt competent and interested in domains where they achieve well, and were interested in domains where they perceive their personal strengths. The degree of coupling was the highest between interest and SCA and the lowest between interest and achievement. For all indexes, evidence for an increase in coupling across time was found. Female gender was related to a lower level of coupling. There was evidence for a positive effect of conscientiousness on the amount of coupling.     

Verbal retelling abilities in adolescents with and without language-learning disabilities for social studies lectures

Verbal retelling abilities for social studies lectures were examined and compared in 20 adolescent boys, ages 12-5 to 14-7, with language-learning disabilities (LLD) and 29 with normal language abilities (NL). Participants viewed one videotaped social studies lecture with a comparison expository discourse structure and one with a causation discourse structure. Following each lecture presentation, participants verbally retold the lecture. Results of several repeated-measures analyses of variance indicated that the group with LLD produced a significantly smaller number of T-units, subordinate clauses, subordinate clauses per T-unit, T-units per second, lecture components per second, and percentage of lecture components in their retellings, compared with the group with NL, regardless of lecture type. Both groups produced a significantly greater number of T-units and subordinate clauses for the comparison lecture. By contrast, both groups recalled a significantly greater number of lecture components per T-unit and per second for the causation lecture. Results indicated that the comparison discourse structure facilitated more substantive and elaborate retellings, whereas the causation discourse structure facilitated more efficient, concise retellings in both groups. Research and instructional implications are discussed.     

两性关系的变迁及其伦理审视

传统社会中,在两性关系上倡导“男尊女卑”、“夫为妻纲”的伦理道德规范,这使得女性一生都处于卑下的从属地位。鸦片战争后,伴随着社会结构的根本性变化,人们关于男女角色的观念也发生了巨大的变化,对传统的男尊女卑观念进行了猛烈的抨击,这大大促进了女性的觉醒。随着改革开放的不断深入,女性投身到家庭以外的社会领域,其自身价值得到了进一步的实现与提高,从而为保障人身与人格的独立提供了现实的经济基础。     

Relationship Reciprocation Modulates Resource Allocation in Adolescent Social Networks: Developmental Effects

Adolescence is characterized as a period of social reorientation toward peer relationships, entailing the emergence of sophisticated social abilities. Two studies (Study 1: N = 42, ages 13–17; Study 2: N = 81, ages 13–16) investigated age group differences in the impact of relationship reciprocation within school‐based social networks on an experimental measure of cooperation behavior. Results suggest development between mid‐ and late adolescence in the extent to which reciprocation of social ties predicted resource allocation. With increasing age group, investment decisions increasingly reflected the degree to which peers reciprocated feelings of friendship. This result may reflect social‐cognitive development, which could facilitate the ability to navigate an increasingly complex social world in adolescence and promote positive and enduring relationships into adulthood.     

Social Activities and Health of Korean Elderly Women by Age Groups

The objective of this study was to examine the extent to which the association between different types of social activities and multiple dimensions of health outcomes varies by age groups among Korean elderly. This study employed regression models with data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Social activities were associated with various dimensions of health status of adult women after adjusting for background variables. The association between social activities and health status does not show a great difference between adults of ages 45–64 and of those aged over 65 years. Compared to informal family relationships, involvement in social activities was positively associated with various health outcomes. While previous studies emphasized the importance of informal family relationships among the elderly, which increase with age, this study showed that social activities have a significant influence on the health of elderly females. This influence is equally significant for adults older than 65 years of age as well as 45- to 64-year-old adults. This finding suggests that social policy to get older females more involved in a wide array of social activities helps keep them in good health status.