| Abstract: | Examined the role of type of aggression, aggressor intentions, victim consequences, and stage of moral reasoning in the judgments of aggressive acts. 346 high school and college students who scored at Stages 2, 3, or 4 in L. Kohlberg's (1976) moral reasoning system read physical, verbal, or passive aggression scenarios in which the aggressor's intentions were harmful, instrumental, or altruistic and in which the victim's consequences were good or bad. Results indicate that each variable influenced ratings of aggression independently and that type of aggression and stage of moral reasoning interacted with aggressor intentions to influence the ratings. Similar results were found on ratings of inappropriateness. Victim consequences had a strong but independent influence on ratings of both aggressiveness and inappropriateness. It is concluded that stages of moral reasoning in adolescent and adult populations are important when considering judgments of aggression and that the Kohlberg framework can be usefully applied to these types of judgments. (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
