Children's Concepts of Good and Bad Behavior

Abstract

Spontaneous definitions of good and bad acts were acquired from 30 children, ages 6 to 12 yr. As predicted, 15 younger children ( M = 8 yr.) expressed concepts of good that were largely dependent upon the negation or absence of bad behavior, e.g., “Being good is not breaking windows,” while their concepts of bad did not require such negation for definition. However, 15 older children ( M = 11⅔ yr) offered definitions of both good and bad behavior which stressed prosocial and adverse effects on other people, respectively.