Este estudo teve como objetivo investigar como variáveis sociodemográficas (idade, sexo, religião e cidade), níveis de empatia dos participantes e fatores específicos da pesquisa em exclusão (grau de contato, experiência como vítima de preconceito, opinião acerca da homossexualidade e percepção de influência) se relacionam com julgamentos de situações de exclusão contra homossexuais. Essa pesquisa defende a tese de que a exclusão motivada por homofobia é um fenômeno complexo, multifacetado e que precisa ser compreendido também a partir de uma leitura da Psicologia do Desenvolvimento Moral, visto que as noções de equidade e considerações com o bem-estar do outro têm impacto direto sobre a visão do outro como humano que deve ser respeitado em sua dignidade e liberdade. Essa leitura está amparada teoricamente na Teoria do Domínio Social com a compreensão de que os juízos dos adolescentes acerca da realidade estão amparados por conhecimentos de diferentes domínios moral, convencional e pessoal e que além de ponderar entre todos os territórios esses ainda são atravessados por dimensões afetivas, cognitivas e sociais construídas em uma história de vida com experiências complexas. A amostra foi composta por 643 sujeitos. Destes, 45% eram moradores da cidade de Petrolina PE e 55% de São Paulo SP; 44% dos participantes eram do sexo masculino e 56% do sexo feminino, com idades entre 12 e 18 anos (M = 14,6; DP = 1,86). Os dados foram coletados em escolas públicas. Os questionários foram aplicados individualmente em formato autoadministrado e analisados através de procedimentos qualitativos e quantitativos. Os dados demonstraram que apesar da maioria dos adolescentes julgarem a homossexualidade como errada ou nem certa nem errada, isso não torna a exclusão certa, visto que esta foi majoritariamente avaliada como errada por questões morais. As variáveis sociodemográficas estiveram associadas a diferentes julgamentos, e destaca-se o papel importante do gênero nas diferenças dos julgamentos, podendo essa diferença estar associada diretamente as demais variáveis investigadas visto que as meninas apresentaram maiores níveis de empatia e experiências como vítimas de sexismo, bem como, maior contato com pessoas homossexuais e opiniões mais positivas acerca da homossexualidade. Quanto maior o contato com homossexuais, mais vivencias de vitimização de preconceito, maiores níveis de empatia e opinião positiva acerca da homossexualidade, mais os adolescentes avaliaram a exclusão como errada, baseados em critérios morais, convencionais e pessoais. Por outro lado, essas experiências (com exceção da vitimização) fizeram com que eles discordassem mais de razões convencionais e pessoais de que é certo excluir. Em relação às influências de pais, professores e amigos, observa-se pouca influência dos pais e professores nos julgamentos adolescentes, sendo mais evidente a influência de outros adolescentes tanto em relação aos conteúdos de igualdade e quanto na manifestação de afetos negativos em relação à homossexuais. Os resultados demonstraram ainda claramente a coexistência dos domínios nos julgamentos dessa temática. Por fim, destaca-se que esse estudo buscou contribuir para a compreensão de um fenômeno complexo sob a ótima da Psicologia do Desenvolvimento Moral, sendo esse um campo ainda pouco explorado / The purpose of this study was to investigate how sociodemographic variables (age, sex, religion and city), levels of empathy of participants and specific factors of exclusion research (degree of contact, experience as victim of prejudice, opinion about homosexuality and perception of influence) relate to judgments of situations of exclusion against homosexuals. This research defends the thesis that exclusion motivated by homophobia is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, and that needs to be understood also from Moral Development Psychology, since the notions of equity and considerations with the well-being of the other have a direct impact on the vision of the other as a human who must be respected in their dignity and freedom. This reading is theoretically supported in the Social Domain Theory with the understanding that the adolescents\' judgments about reality are supported by knowledge of different domains - moral, conventional and personal - and that besides pondering between all the territories these are still crossed by affective, cognitive and social dimensions built on a life story with complex experiences. The sample consisted of 643 subjects. Of these, 45% were residents of the city of Petrolina - PE and 55% of São Paulo - SP; 44% of the participants were male and 56% female, with ages between 12 and 18 years (M = 14.6; SD = 1.86). Data were collected in public schools. The questionnaires were individually applied in a self-administered format and analyzed through qualitative and quantitative procedures. The data showed that although most adolescent judge homosexuality to be wrong, neither right nor wrong, it does not make the right exclusion, since it was mostly judged to be wrong on moral domain. The sociodemographic variables were associated with different judgments, and the important role of gender in the differences of the judgments is highlighted, and this difference may be directly associated with the other variables investigated since the girls presented higher levels of empathy and experiences as victims of sexism as well such as greater contact with homosexual people and more positive opinions about homosexuality. The greater the contact with homosexuals, the more experiences of victimization of prejudice, higher levels of empathy and positive opinion about homosexuality, the more adolescents evaluated the exclusion as wrong, based on moral, conventional and personal criteria. On the other hand, these experiences (with the exception of victimization) made them disagree more with conventional and personal reasons that it is certain to exclude. Regarding the influences of parents, teachers and friends, there is little influence of parents and teachers in adolescent judgments, being more evident the influence of other adolescents both in relation to the content of equality and in the manifestation of negative affections towards homosexuals. The results also demonstrated clearly the coexistence of domains in the judgments of this theme. Finally, it is emphasized that this study sought to contribute to the understanding of a complex phenomenon under the optimum of Moral Development Psychology, being a field still little explored

This study investigates the development of, and relationships between, religiosity, spirituality, moral thinking and social attitudes among religious adolescents participating in an early morning weekday religious education program in Australia. Students participating in the Early Morning Seminary program of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints form the population of interest for this study. These students demonstrate high levels of religious practice, making them an important group to research when seeking greater understanding of the outcomes of religious and spiritual developmental arising from such programs and when investigating how religiosity relates to moral and attitudinal aspects in the lives of religious youth. The research is survey based and entails the administering of four waves over a two-year period, enabling longitudinal observations to be examined. A sample of convenience is used consisting of Seminary students from South Australia and Victoria. Various survey instruments are used to measure characteristics such as family background, educational background, student religious activity, Seminary program involvement, relationships with God, moral decision making and social attitudes. Data analysis includes the use of Rasch scaling procedures, path analysis and Hierarchical Linear Modelling software in order to investigate multilevel effects on change in key dimensions over time. The fact that specific research regarding highly religious youth in Australia is not common and that research regarding Latter-day Saint youth in Australia is almost non-existent makes this study an important and seminal contribution in the Australian religious research field. This study provides several other important contributions to the field as it explores developmental outcomes of a specific religious education program across a range of religious and psychosocial dimensions. The oft-reported strong influence of the family on the religiosity of teenagers is reflected in the findings of this study. There is also evidence to indicate that private religious activity is especially important for the level of spirituality among students. The findings indicate that spirituality, rather than public or private religious practice, influences moral reasoning. Furthermore, private religious practice tends to have more positive influence than spirituality on social attitudes. Participation in the Seminary program appears to influence religiosity and spirituality significantly and independently of other variables included in the study, although the influence of participation is mediated by the feelings of students concerning the program. Generally, students show a decline in both participation levels and feelings towards the Seminary program over time. However, there is evidence of increased positive attitude toward a religious lifestyle, religious belief and awareness of God’s influence in life. Religious practice appears to influence change in several practical, attitudinal and spiritual dimensions positively. The findings indicate that the developmental role of Seminary participation is largely through the influence of the class environment. From this study it appears that religious participation in both public and private forms can have a major influence on key dimensions of spirituality and that religious and spiritual characteristics can have some influence on moral decision making and the forming of social attitudes. Participation in a religious education program, such as the Latter-day Saint Seminary program, can influence these dimensions especially if there is a positive attitude towards the program on the part of students and the class the environment is appropriate. In recent decades, the role of religion in psychological and social reality has seen greater attention and acceptance in academic circles. Accordingly, the body of academic research regarding religion and associated fields has increased and diversified opening the way for further exploration of the role of religion in the broader context of human life as is found in this study.

The video game is, as we know, one of the most popular and quickly growing mediums in the United States and the world in whole. Because of its success, the video game industry has been able to use their resources to advance technology of many kinds. Two very important technologies which have been advanced by the game industry are artificial intelligence and graphic design. With advances in the videogame industry constantly increasing the realism of gaming, those who game are finding themselves rapidly transported into new worlds. The Combination of the elements of narrative transportation, character identification, a videogames ability to enable mediated experience create a situation in which players may be able to rapidly learn very complex concepts. This project begins with a classification of videogame moral systems, both on a theoretical and logistic level. Given this understanding of how videogames themselves define moral involvement, the project then seeks to answer how the players understand their own moral involvement in the game by directly involving player/participants in the conversation. The data produced strongly suggests that videogames have great potential to teach even the most complex concepts of right and wrong to players.

The video game is, as we know, one of the most popular and quickly growing mediums in the United States and the world in whole. Because of its success, the video game industry has been able to use their resources to advance technology of many kinds. Two very important technologies which have been advanced by the game industry are artificial intelligence and graphic design. With advances in the videogame industry constantly increasing the realism of gaming, those who game are finding themselves rapidly transported into new worlds. The Combination of the elements of narrative transportation, character identification, a videogames ability to enable mediated experience create a situation in which players may be able to rapidly learn very complex concepts. This project begins with a classification of videogame moral systems, both on a theoretical and logistic level. Given this understanding of how videogames themselves define moral involvement, the project then seeks to answer how the players understand their own moral involvement in the game by directly involving player/participants in the conversation. The data produced strongly suggests that videogames have great potential to teach even the most complex concepts of right and wrong to players.

Thesis (M.A.)--Lancaster Bible College, Graduate School, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-90).

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Με τον όρο «ενσυναίσθηση», ο Hoffman εννοεί την ικανότητα του ανθρώπου να κατανοεί τα συναισθήματα των άλλων και σε μια δεδομένη στιγμή να βιώνει την ίδια συναισθηματική κατάσταση με ένα άλλο πρόσωπο το οποίο πάσχει. Ο ίδιος επικεντρώνει το ενδιαφέρον του ιδιαίτερα στα κίνητρα και τα συναισθήματα της ηθικής συμπεριφοράς. Υποστηρίζει ότι υπάρχει στον άνθρωπο εγγενής προδιάθεση να συμπάσχει με το συνάνθρωπο και να επιθυμεί να προσφέρει τη βοήθειά του. Τόσο η «ενσυναίσθηση» όσο και η «ενοχή» λειτουργούν ως ηθικά κίνητρα στη συμπεριφορά του ανθρώπου και τον προδιαθέτουν στο να επιδιώκει το καλό για το συνάνθρωπο και να αποφεύγει εκείνο που βλάπτει τους άλλους. / By the term "empathy", the Hoffman means the human ability to understand the emotions of others and at a given time to experience the same emotional state with another person who is suffering. He focuses particularly on the motives and feelings of moral behavior. He argues that there is an inherent tendency in man to empathize with our fellow man and wishes to offer his help. Both the "empathy" and the "guilt" as a moral act motivated human behavior and predispose to seek the good of our fellow man, and to avoid what harms others.

Two moral orientations in men and women‟s reasoning about moral dilemmas have dominated the literature: an orientation to rights, fairness, and justice and another based on care, compassion and concern for others. It is widely accepted that exposure to violence has a number of adverse effects on children and adolescents‟ psychosocial development. Recent research has begun to explore whether, and how, exposure to violence impacts on moral development. Studies examining the nature of this association, however, have yielded contradictory results. While there is evidence to suggest that exposure to violence adversely affects moral development, it has also been shown that exposure to violence simply influences which moral reasoning style is likely to predominate – justice or care. Beginning with a brief review of moral development theories and of the psychosocial effects of exposure to violence, the present research explored the association between exposure to violence and moral development. This study aimed to determine whether there is an association between gender, moral orientation, and exposure to violence. Based on the literature, it was hypothesised that men would exhibit a justice moral orientation, while women would exhibit a moral orientation based on care. Further, it was expected that men would show higher levels of exposure to violence than women. Exposure to violence was expected to be significantly positively correlated with justice reasoning. A significant association was anticipated between gender, exposure to violence and moral orientation. In particular, it was hypothesised that greater exposure to violence would have an adverse effect on moral development. This association, in turn, was expected to be significantly related to gender. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

The overall goal of this study was to develop a comprehensive model of moral development to explicate the complexities of everyday morality. Based on a holistic and complementary perspective, the model relates the constructs of “worldview” and “self-view” to represent the influence of cultural individualism-collectivism and personality on moral development. It posits that worldview shapes self-view and moral inclusiveness [what is included in one’s moral consideration (Carter, 1980)] and then worldview, self-view, and moral inclusiveness jointly influence moral orientation (the main hypothesis). Interacting with situational factors, moral orientation would further influence moral judgment and behavior, thus connecting habitual morality with reflective morality. The specific objectives were: (a) to examine the relational structures among worldview, self-view, moral inclusiveness, and moral orientation; and (b) to construct a moral orientation index that measures various moral orientations, including egocentric, family, care, norm, justice, biocentric, and religious orientations, reflecting the corresponding worldviews, self-views, and levels of moral inclusiveness. Moral inclusiveness was operationalized as relationship closeness to different social groups at expanding levels of moral inclusiveness: (1) self only, (2) family, (3) peers, (4) society, (5) humanity, (6) nature, and (7) God. Survey data were gathered from 640 Grades 8-12 students and 472 adults. Structural equation models (SEM) were developed using the student data while making some comparative references to the adult data. Results of SEMs generally supported the main hypothesis. For example, individuals scoring higher on vertical individualism, social Darwinism, and independent self scored higher on egocentric orientation; individuals scoring higher on vertical collectivism and closeness to family scored higher on family orientation; and individuals scoring higher on horizontal collectivism and interdependent self scored higher on care orientation, at Levels 1, 2, and 3 respectively. Individuals scoring higher on collectivism, horizontal worldview, and moral self scored higher on justice orientation, but individuals scoring higher on closeness to nation scored lower on justice orientation at Level 5. The primacy of worldview, particularly collectivism, over self-view and moral inclusiveness in moral orientation development has implications for education. Exploring the roots of habitual morality, this study advances theory by integrating different schools of moral psychology with cultural psychology.

This study examined self-reported emotions and emotional facial expressions following moral transgressions using an ethnically diverse sample of 242 4-, 8-, and 12-year-old children. Self-reported emotions were examined in response to three transgression contexts: an intentional harm, an instance of social exclusion, and an omission of a prosocial duty. Children’s emotional expressions of sadness, happiness, anger, fear and disgust were analyzed immediately after being asked how they would feel if they had committed one of the described transgressions. Emotional expressions were scored using automated emotion recognition software. Four-year-olds reported significantly more happiness as compared to 8- and 12-year-olds. In addition, self-reports of sadness decreased between 8- and 12-year-olds, while self-reported guilt increased between these age groups. Furthermore, 4- and 8-year-olds demonstrated higher levels of facially expressed happiness than 12-year-olds. These findings highlight the role of automatic affective and controlled cognitive processes in the development of children’s emotions following moral transgressions.