Heteronomous Morality: What It Is, Characteristics And Functioning In Childhood
Boys and girls do not judge the same as us, something that is obvious, but how do they consider what is right and what is wrong? They don’t really think about it, but rather they learn it. Social norms are instilled in them and they accept that they must comply with them.
Before the age of 9, children think in terms of heteronomous morality That is, their morality is based on the acceptance of external rules that they consider that, if they are violated for whatever reason, it is undoubtedly an act that should entail consequences.
Trying to summarize in a few introductory sentences how interesting heteronomous morality is is somewhat complicated and that is why we invite you to continue reading to understand it more thoroughly.
Heteronomous morality is the form that children’s ethics take during their first years of life. This morality is based on the acceptance of external standards as if they were absolute instead of establishing their own code of conduct, based on their opinions and experiences, as is characteristically adopted in more mature stages of their development.
Boys and girls under the age of 9 consider that the rules imposed on them from outside must be met without questioning them. They see the rules as something sacred, unchangeable and to be obeyed regardless of their content.
In this type of morality, the children who manifest it They evaluate acts not by their nature or ethics behind them, but by the need to obey the authority of adults Subjects with this type of morality must obey the rules imposed by adults because they consider that what they command is good and what they prohibit is bad. In short, heteronomous morality is the morality that occurs in individuals who do not question the rules that come from a certain authority.
Heteronomous morality was first studied by Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, who was interested in discovering why children behaved the way they did. Within this object of study, he was also interested in the way in which they understood morality, wondering how children understand the rules, What do they think about individual responsibility and what concept of justice did they have?
Philosophers, psychologists, and other researchers have been especially interested in the development of morality. It is believed that understanding the way our morality develops and where it comes from, how it changes in children as they grow, can help us understand our own ethics and the way in which moral norms appear in society. Maybe we are already adults.
How does this type of morality arise?
Heteronomous morality is what occurs in the minds of boys and girls when they begin to reflect on how the world works and it lasts until approximately 9 years old, although it usually disappears between 6 and 8 years old.
Before reaching that age, children do not question how valid or fair the social norms and rules that they have inherited from their parents are, but rather blindly accept them.
It is related to moral realism, which, in fact, is considered a pattern of thought derived from this type of morality. Children believe that a person’s obligations and values are determined by the norm without taking into account factors such as the context and the possible intentions that have involved carrying out a certain behavior, even if it involves some type of infraction or violation of a rule.
This way of understanding what is moral and what is correct has to do with the fact that they have not yet developed the ability to put themselves in the shoes of others (mentalism) and, therefore, children They cannot understand what reasons may have caused a person to break some rules In his mind, someone who doesn’t follow a rule is someone who has done something wrong, and that is not debatable.
Added to this, at this time they do not have a critical sense, which means they are not able to question the words of their parents and other references. This translates to They consider that everything adults say is correct, must be respected and failure to do so must always entail negative consequences. They blindly accept what they are told because they believe that older people are infallible. They cannot conceive the idea that an adult as important as their father, their mother, their teacher or their grandparents could make a mistake.
It is all these characteristic features of children under 9 years old that serve as keys to understanding why heteronomous morality arises, a morality that, as its name suggests “comes from outside”, is introduced to them.
However, upon reaching the age of 10, changes begin to occur in thought structures that cause the child to stop seeing rules as something inflexible and absolute. Thus, pre-adolescents and adolescents do question the norms, understanding that the rules are not absolute truths but social impositions this being the birth of autonomous morality.
The characteristics of heteronomous morality
Heteronomous morality differs greatly from autonomous morality, the first being the one before reaching 9-10 years of age and the second being the one that comes after. There are several characteristics of moral realism that we can highlight.
1. Acceptance of external standards
The most distinctive feature of heteronomous morality is the fact that Boys and girls automatically accept all the norms and beliefs that are imposed on them especially if they are instilled in them by their parents, teachers, legal guardians or any other reference adult.
This is because in childhood we see our parents as true authorities, people who are never wrong and who have natural power over their children. Their words are not questioned and it is for this reason that everything adults say will be taken as an absolute and unquestionable rule.
2. Punishment as a consequence of the violation
Unlike autonomous morality, in which those who possess it are more concerned about whether an action is ethically justifiable or not, children with heteronomous morality usually worry about obeying to avoid punishment at all costs. At these ages, children interpret that breaking a rule or doing something that they have been told is bad always implies negative consequences.
The more severe the punishment, the worse the action they have been told is wrong will be viewed In this type of thinking, the possible reasons that have caused a person to have committed an infraction are not taken into account, but rather the fact that he has committed that infraction.
In the stage of heteronomous morality, punishment is seen as something automatic and natural. Boys and girls understand justice as a kind of revenge, something that is based on the most basic principle of retribution such as “an eye for an eye.”
Therefore, if someone commits an infraction, a person who thinks in terms of heteronomous morality He will believe that he must be inevitably punished, without ever considering the possibility of getting rid of any negative consequences
3. Little relevance to intentionality
Children with heteronomous morals They do not take as relevant the intention behind the commission of a specific infraction The main measure of the severity of how wrong the violation was is how harmful the violation itself was. That is, the greater the infraction, the more morally reprehensible it will be.
So that we understand it: an 8-year-old child will see it as much worse that his little brother has accidentally broken his grandmother’s china than that his other brother has taken a plate and deliberately broken it. The 8-year-old child doesn’t care about intentionality, the important thing is how many broken dishes he has.
This mentality of not appreciating the fact that it was an accident or not is because you are not yet able to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. He cannot assess his intentions nor the weight it has on what he does.
Children in the heteronomous moral stage They consider that the punishment should be proportional to the damage caused, regardless of whether there was intention or not. However, after a few years and entering the stage of autonomous morality, intentionality takes on more weight when judging the actions of others and, therefore, it is taken as an important factor when considering whether a punishment is appropriate or appropriate. No.
