Consistencia entre cognición y acción moral: conducta solidaria en adolescentes en el contexto escolar

Resumen

El estudio analiza, en una muestra constituida por 170 adolescentes de 14 a 17 años, y en el ámbito de la solidaridad escolar, tres cuestiones: 1) Qué factores favorecen la consistencia entre lo que se piensa que se debe hacer y lo que se hace; 2) qué factores favorecen la conducta solidaria habitual; y 3) qué grado de relación existe entre cogniciones y emociones morales. Como variables predictoras de la consistencia y la conducta se analizan: juicio moral, importancia atribuida a actuar como se cree que se debe, empatía, culpa y diversas variables situacionales. Para el análisis de la primera y la segunda cuestión se aplica una prueba de regresión logística. El análisis de la tercera cuestión se realiza a través de un ANOVA. Entre los resultados, cabe destacar un importante peso de los factores situacionales y la empatía sobre la variable consistencia. En la conducta solidaria habitual se manifiestan como especialmente relevantes, junto al sentido de lo que se debe hacer, la culpa y la importancia disposicional. Se han encontrado correlaciones significativasentre las cogniciones y las emociones morales.

Abstract

In the context of school solidarity among adolescents, the study analysed the following questions: 1) which factors favour a consistency between what a person believes ought to be done and what is actually done; 2) which factors favour habitual solidarity behaviour; 3) how strong is the relationship between moral cognition and emotion. The predictor variables of consistency and behaviour analysed were: moral judgement, importance given to behaving as one believes one should, empathy, guilt, and several situational variables. The sample were 170 adolescents 14–17 years old. Logistic regression analyses were carried out to answer the first and second questions, while ANOVA were carried out to answer the third question. Particularly worth noting from the results is the substantial weight of situational factors and of empathy on consistency. Guilt and dispositional importance as well as the sense of what ought to be done were specially relevant in habitual solidarity behaviour. Significant correlations were found between moral cognition and emotions.

Extended Summary

It has been almost two decades since the debate on the numerous inconsistencies between moral cognition and moral action started (Kohlberg, 1975; Kohlberg and Candee, 1984; Aronfreed, 1976; Blasi, 1980, 1983). However, contributions to this question continue to be tentative, lacking sufficient empirical support. The study presented here thus is intended as a small contribution.

In the area of school solidarity in adolescent subjects, the study endeavoured to respond to three fundamental questions: 1) which factors favour consistency between what one believes ought to be done and what is actually done; 2) which factors favour habitual solidarity behaviour; 3) how strong a relationship exists between moral cognitions and actions.

The following predictor variables of consistency were analysed: moral judgement (justice reasoning), importance given to behaving in the way one believes one should, guilt as a consequence of not acting as one thinks one should, empathy towards the person who needs solidarity, and three situational variables (solidarity towards a peer or towards a teacher, confrontation with peers, other costs). In the case of habitual solidarity behaviour, what should be done is included as an additional predictor.

The sample were 170 adolescent boys and girls aged 14–17 years, in their 1st or 2nd year at high school or 1st year at technical school. Students' behaviour was measured through ten stories, each of which required some kind of solidarity behaviour: towards peers or teachers, with/without confrontation with classmates, and with/without other additional costs. For example, a story of solidarity towards a peer involving confrontation was the following:

“Marta is a really popular girl in the class. She is really funny. She gets along well with people and has lots of friends. She is a good companion. Luisa, on the other hand, is always pretty isolated. She is really ugly and hardly ever talks, except with the person sitting next to her. One day at break, no one knows why, Marta starts to pick on Luisa and to treat her in a humilliating way. The people who are watching don't do anything at all. What's more, in a way, they support Marta's attitude.”

Subjects were then asked, “Imagine that you are also watching. What do you do, or what would you really do in this situation?”.

The following were also employed as further measures of “solidarity behaviour”: 1) Two sociometric questionnaires in which each subject evaluated each of his/her classmates. 2) Two other sociometric questionnaires in which a counsellor evaluated each student.

In order to measure the consistency between what subjects believed ought to be done and what they do, the stories were read once again, but this time subjects were asked instead to state what they believed ought to be done in each situation. Specifically, they were asked, “In a situation like this, how do you think a person should act? What do you think should be done? and Why?”. The measures obtained in the first and second rounds of each story allowed us to classify subjects as “consistent” or “inconsistent” for each situation.

The results clearly showed the relevance of situational variables in explaining the phenomenon of consistency. Certain situational circumstances, particularly if the person benefiting is the teacher or the behaviour entails confrontation with peers, often lead subjects not to act the way they believe they should. Other variables which clearly emerged as relevant were situational empathy and guilt. Subjects with more situational empathy and who experienced more feelings of guilt when they did not behave as they believed they should were shown to be more consistent.

With respect to habitual solidarity behaviour, the sense of what ought to be done in situations calling for solidarity emerged as the most important predictive factor, followed by guilt experienced when one does not act accordingly, and the importance attributed to acting as one believes one should.

Finally, there were significant correlations between moral cognition and emotions. Situational empathy and guilt were significantly related with the sense of what should be done in almost all situations calling for solidarity. Moreover, empathy and guilt were closely related with subjects' stage of moral judgement. Subjects in stage 3 showed significantly higher levels of empathy and guilt than those in stage 2. This is a very interesting finding related to Kohlberg's theory.

Our results point to a close relationship between cognitive and affective elements in moral action. We believe that, given the current state of Moral Psychology, this aspect deserves particular attention.

Palabras clave:

• Consistencia moral
• conducta prosocial
• juicio moral
• cognición moral
• empatía
• culpa

Keywords:

• Moral consistency
• prosocial behaviour
• moral judgement
• moral cognition
• empathy
• guilt