Children's Moral Emotion Attribution in the Happy Victimizer Task: The Role of Response Format

Michaela Gummerum, Belén López-Pérez, Tamara Ambrona, Sonia Rodríguez-Cano, Giulia Dellaria, Gary Smith, Ellie Wilson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Previous research in the happy victimizer tradition indicated that preschool and early elementary school children attribute positive emotions to the violator of a moral norm, whereas older children attribute negative (moral) emotions. Cognitive and motivational processes have been suggested to underlie this developmental shift. The current research investigated whether making the happy victimizer task less cognitively demanding by providing children with alternative response formats would increase their attribution of moral emotions and moral motivation. In Study 1, 93 British children aged 4-7 years old responded to the happy victimizer questions either in a normal condition (where they spontaneously pointed with a finger), a wait condition (where they had to wait before giving their answers), or an arrow condition (where they had to point with a paper arrow). In Study 2, 40 Spanish children aged 4 years old responded to the happy victimizer task either in a normal or a wait condition. In both studies, participants' attribution of moral emotions and moral motivation was significantly higher in the conditions with alternative response formats (wait, arrow) than in the normal condition. The role of cognitive abilities for emotion attribution in the happy victimizer task is discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-16
Number of pages16
JournalJournal of Genetic Psychology
Volume177
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 22 Jan 2016

Keywords

  • Child
  • Child Behavior/ethics
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cognition
  • Crime Victims/psychology
  • Decision Making
  • Female
  • Happiness
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Moral Development
  • Motivation
  • Social Perception
  • Spain
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • United Kingdom

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Children's Moral Emotion Attribution in the Happy Victimizer Task: The Role of Response Format'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this