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identified during early childhood, hostile aggression and instrumental aggression (Berkowitz, 2003). Hostile aggression is characterized by the intent to harm or injure the victim, whereas instrumental aggression is directed at achieving a particular goal (e.g., hitting or threatening another child in order to obtain a toy or gain peer approval). Children who have not successfully developed age‐appropriate strategies for regulating aggressive behavior are at high risk for engaging in chronic aggressive and antisocial behavior.
Development of Prosocial Emotions and Behaviors
Young children can be remarkably sensitive to the emotional needs of others. Beginning in early childhood, many children begin to develop prosocial behaviors, or voluntary actions intended to benefit others (e.g., sharing, helping, and showing compassion). The two biggest aspects of prosocial behavior are empathy (the sharing of another person’s emotions and feelings) and sympathy (feelings of sorrow or concern for another person). Empathy is believed to provide the essential foundations for prosocial behavior (Eisenberg, Fabes, & Spinrad, 2006).
Peer Relationships
Peers play a powerful role in the lives of children and adolescents (Bukowski, Laursen, & Rubin, 2018). Peers have the power to influence and shape each other’s behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs, especially in adolescence.
Peer pressure and conformity
Young adolescents conform more to peer standards than children do. Conformity refers to the degree to which friends are similar to each other in their behavior, interests, style, and goals and aspirations for the future. Around the time of high school, conformity to peers—especially to their antisocial standards—peaks (Brown & Larson, 2009). At this point, adolescents are most likely to go along with a peer to skip class, paint graffiti, or steal items from a store. Adolescents tend to select friends that seem similar to them and share their same views. However, when adolescents are uncertain about their social identity or are in the presence of someone that they perceive to have a higher status than they do, they are much more likely to conform to peers (Prinstein & Giletta, 2016).
Dating and romantic relationships
Adolescents spend a considerable amount of time dating or thinking about dating (Furman, 2018). Romantic relationships are central to adolescents’ sense of belonging and group status (Collins, 2003). Research indicates that engaging in romantic relationships is associated with both positive (higher levels of social acceptance, friendship competence, and romantic competence) and negative outcomes (substance use, delinquency, and sexual behavior; Furman, Low, & Ho, 2009). Additionally, early dating has been linked to depression in adolescent girls, higher risk of teenage pregnancy, and problems at home and school (Starr et al., 2012).
Moral Development
Have you ever encountered a situation in which you were expected to choose between right and wrong? This distinction was likely influenced by your personal morals. Many of us are presented with issues of morality beginning in our early childhood years. Morality is defined as principles that determine how people treat one another in regard to justice, the welfare of others, and human rights (Turiel, 1983). Moral development is a process through which individuals decide whether or not to establish a moral identity (Hardy & Carlo, 2011).
Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development
In addition to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, he is also known for his theory of moral development, which focused on the degree to which a child’s awareness and understanding of the world translates to their progression through stages of morality (Piaget, 1932). The first stage of his theory, heteronomous morality, typically includes children under the age of 7 as they become aware of rules and view them as fixed and sacred. Children in this stage deem actions as “good” or “bad” based on their consistency with rules set by authority figures and believe that a child’s violation of rules makes one deserving of a punishment regardless of intentions or motives (Nobes & Pawson, 2003). Interacting with peers, learning that rules are not permanent, and considering the perspectives of others all prepare children for the second stage—autonomous morality. Around the age of 11, children begin to realize that people cooperate in order to set rules, determine “fit” punishments for violating rules, no longer blindly obey rules, and consider a person’s intentions when evaluating their actions.
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
Kohlberg (1958, 1963) contributed to research on moral development by constructing six stages. Preconventional morality is behavior that is influenced by external forces (e.g., rewards and punishments). This level includes stage 1, obedience and punishment, and stage 2, instrumentalism. Stage 1 is marked by blind obedience to authority, avoidance of punishment, and behavior guided by egocentrism, a child’s inability to take another person’s perspective. During stage 2, a child begins to understand that cooperation with others can result in mutual benefit, but the child still maintains a sense of self‐interest. Conventional morality is the second level of Kohlberg’s theory where youth start to comply with social rules and develop a conscience. Egocentrism has begun to dissipate, allowing consideration of other perspectives. Stage 3 of this level is often referred to as “good boy, good girl,” in which people’s actions are motivated by social approval. Stage 4, or “law and order” is when people find importance in “doing one’s duty” and maintaining a sense of order. Those in this stage accept society’s rules in order to prevent chaos and many people demonstrate conventional morality throughout their entire lives. The last level of Kohlberg’s theory, postconventional morality, focuses on personal moral principles instead of relying on conventional standards in society. Social contract and universal ethical principles are stages 5 and 6 and people may not reach these stages of morality in their lifetime. It is possible that people achieve postconventional morality in adolescence, but this level is more commonly seen in adulthood (Kohlberg, 1973).
Kohlberg’s theory has limitations: while he developed his theory with intentions of making it universal, evidence has indicated there are differences in moral reasoning between individualistic and collectivistic cultures. For example, postconventional morality appears to reflect values of Western intellectuals; therefore, it is difficult for non‐Westerners to progress through later stages (Snarey, 1985).
Gilligan’s Theory of Moral Development
Gilligan’s (1982) contribution to the study of moral development stems from a flaw in Kohlberg’s research—the lack of consideration of gender differences. Gilligan disagreed on generalizing Kohlberg’s findings to both males and females, given that his initial research was solely conducted with male participants. Gilligan focused on the different standards women have for making moral decisions. She also concluded that while men are more concerned with the morality of justice, women are more concerned with the morality of care, which results in women being placed lower on Kohlberg’s moral hierarchy. While influential, Gilligan’s theory has limitations. She has been criticized for stereotyping gender while research has concluded that gender differences regarding moral reasoning are small (Jaffee & Hyde, 2000).
Social Domain Theory
The Social Domain Theory suggests that children make judgments that are influenced by three social domains—moral, conventional, and personal (Turiel, 1998). Children may consider the moral domain by judging norms pertaining to human rights, fairness, and justice. The conventional domain consists of judging norms associated with social conventions and rules to ensure social organization (e.g., making appropriate decisions about table manners