Early Moral Development
We intend to conduct a series of sharing studies under the umbrella of “Self-Other Development”. The purpose of this cluster of projects is to further understand children’s development of a sense of self, a sense of others, and in particular a sense of self in relation to others. We are interested in children’s ability and capacity to take on the mindset of other people, and how they may use this understanding to negotiate ideas about the world and their place in it. These studies have been conducted in various countries around the world, and we continue to make new international contacts each year. Some of the places we have conducted our research include:
Some questions we have include the following: When are children able to inhibit their own thoughts and consider the thoughts of another individual? How do they manipulate their behavior and self-presentation in the presence of others? When do children understand ‘ownership’? How do they negotiate shared agreements with others? What does this say about their sense of self?
We believe that in order for a child to enter into negotiation, (s)he needs a strong sense of self…and a sense of self in relation to others. Negotiation involves an agreement of the value of things; thus, skillful negotiation involves the capacity to anticipate what others value. In others words, it involves the ability to see things from another persons point of view or to ‘put yourself in someone else’s shoes’.
Very little research has been done on negotiating or sharing behaviors of young children, and almost no research has addressed these issues as a cluster.
Back to Research Projects Page