Lee et al (1997)

Question 1

define culture

Answer 1

the human-made part of the environment. the way in which people do things as well as beliefs, values, and norms

Question 2

what are individualistic cultures

Answer 2

people’s identities are defined by personal choices and achievements (self-reliance + rights of individuals to do their own thing emphasised)

Question 3

what are collectivist cultures

Answer 3

peoples identities are defined by the group they see themselves as apart of (extended family, tribe, nation etc) group goal takes place over individual goals, maintaining group harmony is important

Question 4

in general what do individualist cultures think about lying

Answer 4

it breaks social contract as you are denying another person their right to the truth

Question 5

in general what do collectivist cultures think about lying

Answer 5

it leads to social disruption and destabilises social harmony

Question 6

in terms of culture what was the aim of this study

Answer 6

to find out if the culture a child grows up in (individualist or collectivist) affects their views about truth telling and lying

Question 7

in terms of age what was the aim of this study

Answer 7

to find out if the views of children about truth-telling and lying change as they grow older

Question 8

what was the experimental design of this study

Answer 8

independent measures

Question 9

describe the sample for this study

Answer 9

228 participants
- 120 from China (equal split into ages 7, 9 and 11)
- 108 from Canada: age 7,9,11 | 36, 40, 32
- 108 male, 110 female

Question 10

which country in this study has a collectivist culture

Answer 10

china

Question 11

which country in this study has an individualist culture

Answer 11

Canada

Question 12

what are chinese children taught from a young age

Answer 12

taught about honesty and modesty (they should avoid boasting and to not brag about personal achievements, they should not seek teachers praise)

Question 13

what were the categories of the four stories read to the children

Answer 13

(prosocial-lie)(prosocial-tell truth)(antisocial-lie(antisocial-tell truth)

Question 14

what is the IV for this study

Answer 14

children from both cultures of different ages in different types of stories (prosocial vs antisocial)

Question 15

what is the DV for this study

Answer 15

ratings of the characters behaviour (when lying + telling the truth)

Question 16

how were the children split up in terms of stories

Answer 16

half had ‘social’ stories (had an impact on another child)
half had ‘physical’ stories (had an impact on the environment- eg tearing pages out of a book)

Question 17

what were the two questions children had to answer after every story

Answer 17

’ is what — did good or naughty’
‘ is what — said to their teacher (about what they had done) good or naughty’

Question 18

how did the children give their answers to the two questions

Answer 18

on a 7-point rating scale (3* = very very good)(-3* = very very naughty)

Question 19

describe the findings for pro-social stories (telling the truth about something good they had done)

Answer 19

culture interacted with age to influence the child’s response
- in regards to telling the truth about something pro-social they had done, children in China viewed this less positively as they got older- it was seen as ‘begging for’ or ‘wanting’ praise

Question 20

describe the findings for pro-social stories (lying about something good they had done)

Answer 20

culture interacted with age to influence the child’s response
- children in China viewed lying about something good more positively as they got older whereas children in Canada viewed the lying as something disapproving

Question 21

describe the findings for the antisocial stories

Answer 21

culture had no influence on the childs response
- telling the truth about something anti-social was rated very positively
- lying about something anti-social was viewed negatively, and it was viewed more negatively as children got older

Question 22

what side does this study sit on in relation to the nature-nurture debate

Answer 22

nurture- suggests our morals are influenced by the culture we grow up in

Question 23

what side does this study sit on in relation to the freewill-determinism debate

Answer 23

environmental determinism- suggests our morals are caused by our culture

Question 24

what side does this study sit on in relation to the reductionist-holism debate

Answer 24

holistic- suggests both age and culture are influences on moral development

Question 25

in what way can this study be argued as not being ethnocentric

Answer 25

it studies children from different countries and cultures (individualist and collectivist, canada + china)

Question 26

in what way can this study be argued as being ethnocentric

Answer 26

- cant guarantee Canada and China represent all individualist and collectivist cultures - translating into english and mandarin can have different direct translations (effecting telling of the prosocial/antisocial/truth/lying stories) - story is very western so may not be applicable to chinese culture

Question 27

what are the similarities between Lee et al and Kohlberg

Answer 27

- both cross-cultural - both involved children being given scenarios to comment upon

Question 28

how are both Lee et al and Kohlberg cross-cultural

Answer 28

- in Kohlberg many countries and cultures studied (Malaysia, Canada, USA, Taiwan, Mexico, Turkey, UK) - In Lee et al studied individualist and collectivist cultures (in Canada and China)

Question 29

how are both Lee et al and Kohlberg both involved in children being given scenarios to comment upon

Answer 29

- in Kohlberg children given different moral dilemmas to comment upon every 3 years for 12 years (eg Heinz dilemma) - in Lee et al children given 4 prosocial and antisocial stories about truth telling and lying to comment upon

Question 30

describe the differences between Lee et al and Kohlberg

Answer 30

- one longitudinal study, other snapshot - different gender mix of participants

Question 31

how do Lee et al and Kohlberg have different methods in study

Answer 31

- Kohlbergs study was longitudinal, it used the same people over 12 years from age 10-16 to 22-28 - Lee et als study was snapshot, it used different children in different age groups 7,9,11 at the same time

Question 32

how do Lee et al and Kohlberg have different gender mix of participants

Answer 32

- Kohlbergs study only studied 75 boys - Lee et als study studied both boys and girls (118 boys and 110 girls)

Question 33

how has this study changed our understanding of the key theme 'moral development'

Answer 33

- suggested that the culture a child grows up in can have an effect on the development of their moral thinking - it isn't talking about 'levels' or 'stages' of moral development

Question 34

how hasn't this study changed our understanding of the key theme 'moral development'

Answer 34

- both studies find that childrens moral thinking changes as they grow older - it doesn't find anything to challenge the idea of moral thinking developing in a sequence

Question 35

how hasnt this study changed our understanding of individual diversity

Answer 35

neither studies explore reasons for individual differences in moral thinking between children (regarding responses given in the study)

Question 36

how hasn't this study changed our understanding of individual diversity

Answer 36

neither studies explore reasons for individual differences in moral thinking between children (regarding responses given in the study)

Question 37

how hasn't this study changed our understanding of social diversity

Answer 37

both say the age a child is at will influence the way they think about issues of morality

Question 38

how has this study changed our understanding of social diversity

Answer 38

told about boys and girls, not just boys. told us about younger children aged 7, 9 and 11 and not children ages 10-28

Question 39

how has this study changed our understanding of cultural diversity

Answer 39

the culture a child grows up in does effect their moral thinking

Question 40

how hasn't this study changed our understanding of cultural diversity

Answer 40

canada was one of the countries data was collected from in both studies