A Cross-Cultural Study of Canadian and Chinese Adolescents’ Moral Judgments

Psychologists have frequently demonstrated the importance of sociocultural factors in the development of moral reasoning (cf. Fu et al., 2016). In the present study, Canadian (n=203) and Chinese (n=215) adolescents were randomly assigned to either Patriotism or Friendship narrative conditions, representing “collectivistic” and “individualistic” contexts respectively (cf. Oyserman, Coon & Kemmelmeir, 2002). Participants evaluated scenario characters’ deceptive and truthful statements respecting a sporting misdemeanor: Scenario characters told either truths that would expose their country/friend or lies that would protect their country/friend. Participants judged the statements on a 7-point Likert scale, from “very, very bad” (-3) to “very, very good” (+3).

Data from Canadian adolescents, who are considered comparatively more individualistic, have been analyzed. Independent-samples t-tests were applied to compare Judgment ratings between the truth- and lie-telling scenarios for both Patriotism and Friendship conditions. Canadian youths rated a truth against a friend (M=.211, SD=.15) less favorably than a truth against the country (M=.950, SD=.13); t(201)=3.683, p < .001. However, no differences in Judgment ratings were found between the lying for their country (M=-0.827, SD=1.17) and lying for their friend conditions (M=-0.520, SD=1.41); t(201)= -1.691, p=.092. These results partially confirm the expectation that Canadian youths are more likely to value protecting a best friend rather than their country in their cultural context of relative individualism. Comparable data collected in a more collectivistic Chinese community have just been received and they will be analyzed in the same way as the Canadian data have been. And then cross-cultural comparisons will be analyzed via ANOVAs and eventually presented at the conference. The hypothesis is that Chinese youths will favor Patriotic/collectivist over Friendship/individualist values. The cross-cultural and contextual comparisons will enlarge our understanding of the key role of culture and context in teenagers’ moral reasoning.