Citation

Campagna AF, Harter S. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 1975; 31(2): 199-205.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1975, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/h0076318

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A total of 44 mental age- and IQ-matched 10-13 yr old normal and sociopathic boys were administered L. Kohlberg's moral development interview and the WISC. Results reveal that level of moral reasoning was higher for normal than for sociopathic Ss at both mental age levels. Within each group, high-mental-age Ss tended to have higher moral judgment scores than low-mental-age Ss, suggesting the presence of a general cognitive factor underlying moral development. The poorer performance of the sociopathic Ss was interpreted as supporting the formulation that sociopathy is related to an arrest in moral development. Discussion focuses on the relative lack of opportunities for role-taking and identification in the families of sociopathic children. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)