Moral and social antecedents of young adults’ attitudes toward social inequality and social justice values
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14301/llcs.v8i1.397Keywords:
civic competence, moral development, relationships, longitudinal study, developmental trajectoriesAbstract
In light of growing social stratification, there have been calls to better understand the developmental antecedents of attitudes and values related to social inequality. In this study we predicted attitudes toward social inequality and social justice values from moral and social antecedents in a representative sample of Swiss adolescents (N = 1,258) at 15 (Time 1), 18 (Time 2), and 21 years of age (Time 3). We assessed children’s sympathy and morals in the context of individuals’ decision-making and anticipation of emotions in moral dilemmas. Social-contextual factors included relationship quality, which was assessed by the quality of one’s closest friendship and education level. Adolescents who reported higher friendship quality and sympathy showed stronger attitudes toward social inequality later. Interestingly, adolescents’ own education level at age 18 positively predicted attitudes toward social inequality at age 21 above and beyond parent education level, but only marginally at a younger age. Social justice values at age 18 were predicted by sympathy and the anticipation of moral emotions at age 15, and social justice values at age 21 were associated with sympathy at age 18. Results are discussed with respect to the potential significance of morality and social-contextual factors in the development of attitudes toward social inequality and social justice values in early adulthood.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who published with Longitudinal and Life Course Studies Volumes 1–9 agreed to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the Journal right of first publication with the work, simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Following first publication in this Journal, Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal, provided always that no charge is made for its use.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g. in institutional repositories or on their own website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.