Self-control and cooperation in childhood as antecedents of less moral disengagement in adolescence.

Zehra Gülseven,Deborah Lowe Vandell,Nicole Zarrett,Mark Vincent B. Yu,Sandra D. Simpkins

doi:10.1017/s0954579421000584

Abstract

Moral disengagement is a social cognition people use to engage in wrongdoings even when they know it is wrong. However, little is known about the antecedents that predict moral disengagement. The current study focuses on the development of self-control and cooperation during middle childhood as two antecedents of moral disengagement among 1,103 children (50% female; 77% White, 12% Black, 6% Hispanic, and 5% other). Children's self-control at age 8 and growth in self-control from age 8 to 11 were positively linked to adolescents seeing themselves as having self-control at age 15, which then predicted less moral disengagement at age 18. Children's cooperation at age 8 also was positively linked to adolescents' self-views of cooperation at age 15, which in turn, was associated with less moral disengagement at age 18. These findings demonstrate the potential of self-control and cooperation as intrapersonal and interpersonal strengths during middle childhood for mitigating moral disengagement 10 years later.

Highlights

Being able to distinguish right from wrong does not always mean that people behave (Bussey, 2020)
Some previous research using the NICHD SECCYD data set studied the trajectories of self-control in relation to problem behavior (Holmes et al, 2019; Vazsonyi & Huang, 2010; Vazsonyi & Jiskrova, 2018) and examined the relations between the trajectories of self-control and cooperation with relations to early parenting behaviors (Gülseven et al, 2021), the current study extends the literature by examining the relations between the trajectories of self-control and cooperation and later moral disengagement
Higher reports of self-control and cooperation at all ages based on all reporters typically were related to lower reports of moral disengagement at age 18 (r values ranged from −.09 at p < .05 to −.28 at p < .01)

Summary

Introduction

Being able to distinguish right from wrong does not always mean that people behave (Bussey, 2020). The current study seeks to test these propositions in social cognitive theory by considering the development of self-control and cooperation during middle childhood as two separate antecedents of moral disengagement. Guided by social cognitive theory and a developmental cascade framework, and using longitudinal data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD), we examined how children’s initial levels and growth in self-control during middle childhood as reported by parents and teachers predict the extent to which youth internalize these strengths and view themselves as exhibiting self-control in middle adolescence, which predicts less moral disengagement in late adolescence.

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