Societies’ tightness moderates age differences in perceived justifiability of morally debatable behaviors
Research on age differences in moral judgment tends to focus on children and adolescents. The current study examined age differences in perceived justifiability of morally debatable behaviors across adulthood cross-culturally. A large cross-cultural dataset consisting of 25,142 individuals of varyin...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Springer Verlag
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34258 |
| _version_ | 1848754173522214912 |
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| author | Jiang, D. Li, T. Hamamura, Takeshi |
| author_facet | Jiang, D. Li, T. Hamamura, Takeshi |
| author_sort | Jiang, D. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Research on age differences in moral judgment tends to focus on children and adolescents. The current study examined age differences in perceived justifiability of morally debatable behaviors across adulthood cross-culturally. A large cross-cultural dataset consisting of 25,142 individuals of varying ages (15–95 years old) from 20 societies was drawn from the World Values Survey. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test age differences in perceived justifiability of morally debatable behaviors on issues pertaining to honesty and fairness as well as the moderating effect of societies’ tightness. Across societies, older adults judged moral transgression less leniently than did younger adults. However, this pattern was moderated by the societies’ tightness, such that age was a stronger predictor of perceived justifiability of morally debatable behaviors in loose societies relative to tight societies. The current study highlights the importance of examining moral development from the lifespan development perspective. The findings may illuminate potential mechanisms for inter-generational misunderstanding about moral issues. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:36:12Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-34258 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:36:12Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Springer Verlag |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-342582018-03-29T09:08:01Z Societies’ tightness moderates age differences in perceived justifiability of morally debatable behaviors Jiang, D. Li, T. Hamamura, Takeshi Research on age differences in moral judgment tends to focus on children and adolescents. The current study examined age differences in perceived justifiability of morally debatable behaviors across adulthood cross-culturally. A large cross-cultural dataset consisting of 25,142 individuals of varying ages (15–95 years old) from 20 societies was drawn from the World Values Survey. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test age differences in perceived justifiability of morally debatable behaviors on issues pertaining to honesty and fairness as well as the moderating effect of societies’ tightness. Across societies, older adults judged moral transgression less leniently than did younger adults. However, this pattern was moderated by the societies’ tightness, such that age was a stronger predictor of perceived justifiability of morally debatable behaviors in loose societies relative to tight societies. The current study highlights the importance of examining moral development from the lifespan development perspective. The findings may illuminate potential mechanisms for inter-generational misunderstanding about moral issues. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34258 10.1007/s10433-015-0346-z Springer Verlag restricted |
| spellingShingle | Jiang, D. Li, T. Hamamura, Takeshi Societies’ tightness moderates age differences in perceived justifiability of morally debatable behaviors |
| title | Societies’ tightness moderates age differences in perceived justifiability of morally debatable behaviors |
| title_full | Societies’ tightness moderates age differences in perceived justifiability of morally debatable behaviors |
| title_fullStr | Societies’ tightness moderates age differences in perceived justifiability of morally debatable behaviors |
| title_full_unstemmed | Societies’ tightness moderates age differences in perceived justifiability of morally debatable behaviors |
| title_short | Societies’ tightness moderates age differences in perceived justifiability of morally debatable behaviors |
| title_sort | societies’ tightness moderates age differences in perceived justifiability of morally debatable behaviors |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34258 |