Moral Development and Impulse Control in Boys Ages 9 to 14 Diagnosed as Behavior Disorder, Psychoneurotic, and Normal.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the usefulness of a profile of moral attributes in the psychodiagnosis of character pathology in children. Forty male children diagnosed as behavior disorder of childhood were compared with forty male psychoneurotic and forty male normal children--of similar age, intelligence, and socioeconomic status--on measures of (1) internalized moral st and ards, (2) moral judgment, and (3) impulse control. It was hypothesized that, in comparison to the psychoneurotic and normal groups, the behavior disorder group would exhibit less maturity of functioning in all three personality factors. Maturity of internalized moral st and ards was measured by an analysis of subject response to five moral transgression story completion items. Six indices were utilized for this analysis, each based on a different form of moral response scored in the story endings. The behavior disorder group exhibited significantly less maturity than the other two groups on five of the six measures utilized. In their story completions, they were (1) less likely to acknowledge self-blame or feelings of guilt; (2) more likely to acknowledge feelings of pride, indifference, or fear of external sanctions; (3) less likely to depict self-corrective activity of reparation, reformation, apology, or confession; (4) more likely to depict further irresponsible activity or expectations of getting away with the transgression; and (5) more likely to describe acts of corrective activity (when depicted) where the degree of self-initiation is low. The behavior disorder group was not more likely than the other two groups to change the reality events of the story so as to minimize acknowledgement of self-critical evaluation. These results show that, for the behavior disorder group, social controls tend to be more externally based, while for the other two groups, social controls tend to be more internally based. Maturity of moral judgment was measured by an analysis of subject response to eight moral judgment stories. Four indices were utilized for this analysis, each representing a Piaget-based dimension of moral judgment. The behavior disorder group exhibited significantly less maturity than the other two groups on two of the four measures utilized. In their moral judgment decisions, they were (1) more likely to exhibit belief in the concept of moral realism, and (2) more likely to exhibit belief in the concept of retributive justice. The three groups were not significantly differentiated in their expressions of belief in the concepts of immanent justice and efficacy of severe punishment. These results further highlight the accentuated focus of the behavior disorder group on external consequences, compared to the greater focus of the other two groups on internal motives. Maturity of capacity for impulse control was measured by an analysis of subject scores on (1) a self-report measure of behavioral impulsivity, (2) two stories requiring a choice between immediate or future-term gratifications, and (3) two story beginnings requiring completion within a specified time frame. On these measures, the behavior disorder group exhibited (1) less self-reported control over behavior impulsivity than the other two groups; (2) less capacity to delay gratification than the normal group, but not the psychoneurotic group; and (3) a more immediate, short-term time perspective than the psychoneurotic group, but not the normal group. It was also shown that, in comparison with age, IQ, and SES, diagnostic category was the best single predictor of subject scores on the various moral devlopment and impulse control measures; and that the three diagnostic groups were best differentiated by a combination of measures from all three areas of concentration, i.e., internalized moral st and ards, moral judgment, and impulse control.