The Effect of Reciprocity Norms on Moral Judgment and Causal Attribution

Abstract

BERNDT, THOMAS J. The Effect of Reciprocity Norms on Moral Judgment and Causal Attribution. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1977, 48, 1322-1330. Kindergarten children and adults were shown slides with an accompanying taped soundtrack which portrayed reciprocal and nonreciprocal aggressive and prosocial interactions. Following each episode, subjects' evaluations of the actor and their attributions concerning the cause of his behavior were obtained. Based on principles of attribution theory and hypotheses about reciprocity norms, more situational attributions and less extreme evaluations were predicted for reciprocal behavior. The predictions were confirmed for both age groups. Moreover, the evaluations made by the 2 groups were not significantly different. The results suggest that kindergarten children and adults accept reciprocity norms and that they use a similar process of interpreting and evaluating reciprocal interactions. However, further results suggested that adults have a more complex view of psychological causation and they more explicitly consider reciprocity norms. Finally, the use of evaluations as a measure of children's moral criteria was discussed.