| Following Kohlberg ’s theory of moral cognitive development,there are three major innovations in the theory of moral development in the United States.One of them is the social cognitive domain theory that focuses on cognitive development in different areas of society.It regards morality as an understandable domain,which is distinguished from social customs and personal realms.Based on the theory of social cognition domain theory,this study explores the characteristics of children’s moral cognition in moral conflicts.Moral conflict texts are two types of conflict stories,one is the conflict between moral and custom fields,and the other is the conflict between the moral and the personal field.The research uses interview and questionnaire research methods.Participants are children from grades 4 to 6 of a primary school in Changchun.Children’s cognition of concepts in different fields,and the influence of cognition in personal fields and social customs on moral cognition are analyzed in detail.The first is the understanding of the concept of domain,which is the result of children’s abstract generalization of events in different fields and the basis of children’s moral judgment.Children’s cognition of the moral concept theme--justice,rights and welfare have the characteristics of this age stage.Children’s cognition of justice is still regulated by reciprocity,but they have been able to consider the special needs of justice.Children’s cognition of well-being is also regulated by reciprocity.Children pay attention to the interests of others and themselves,but the "gray area" in morality may obscure children’s cognition and make children choose an immoral behavior.In the subject of moral rights,influenced by the expansion of individual autonomy,children are prone to generate confusion between moral requirements and individual choices.The desire for individual rights often makes children do what they like in the way they like.From the understanding of rules in the field of social customs,children show such cognitive characteristics: rules regulate people’s behavior and should be observed;however,if they conflict with moral requirements,they should attach importance to moral requirements;rules are constrained by social authority and fail to consider the social significance of rules beyond the prescribed context.With regard to the knowledge of individual fields,children can rationally choose their own preferences,but the expansion of individual freedom of choice makes children enter a stage of rebellion against tradition.The second is the impact of personal and social customs on moral judgment.In conflict stories,children’s attention to different fields will lead to different behavior choices.In the personal field,children ’s improvement and expansion of the concepts of personal autonomy and rights can lead to misunderstandings of moral rules.It is easy to regard certain unethical requirements as a personal choice of behavior.Therefore,in this study,attention to personal areas in conflict can weaken children ’s moral judgment.In the field of social customs,children in grades 4 to 6 have gradually deepened their understanding of social rules,but they have not yet had the ability to integrate social rules into social systems for analysis.The authority factor also influences children’s moral judgment to a certain extent.In moral conflict stories,situational factors often affect children ’s judgment on the distinction between story areas.When the moral significance in the story increases,children tend to make moral choices,and empathy for others will also induce children to make moral judgments,when the story does not involve conflict,children will have no choice dilemma,almost all children will choose moral behavior. |
