Various Measures of Moral Judgment as a Function of Social Pressure

Summary The purpose of the present study was to test fifth graders' (N = 210) reaction to pressure under peer, adult, and control conditions. Four measures of moral judgment were taken: resistance to temptation, severity of punishment, tendency to confess, and level of guilt feelings. The results show that in the peer-pressure condition, Israeli children tended to give less socially approved responses and to associate more severe punishment and guilt feelings with transgression than in either adult-pressure or control situtations. This was found to apply almost equally for boys and girls. The results are discussed in the context of moral socialization in the Israeli society.