The Normative Turn in Early Moral Development

Abstract

The Cooperation Theory of moral development starts from the premise that morality is a special form of cooperation. Before 3 years of age, children help and share with others prosocially, and they collaborate with others in ways that foster a sense of equally deserving partners. But then, at around the age of 3, their social interactions are transformed by an emerging understanding of, and respect for, normative standards. Three-year-olds become capable of making and respecting joint commitments, treating collaborative partners fairly, enforcing social norms, and feeling guilty when they violate any of these. The almost simultaneous emergence of a normative attitude in all of these interactional contexts demands explanation. We suggest a transactional causal model: the maturation of capacities for shared intentionality (adaptations for cultural life) makes possible new forms of cooperative social interaction, and these new forms of cooperative social interaction foster and guide moral development.

The moral psychology of obligation

“…Humans are thus adapted not just for cooperation with individuals, but also for life in a cultural group. These adaptations for group life begin to emerge ontogenetically at around the third birthday, as children begin to display an emerging group-mindedness and sense of “objectivity” in many domains of life (Tomasello 2018; 2019). Of special importance in the current context, it is at this age that children's cooperative interactions with others begin to take a “normative turn”: they begin to discern how “we” in this group should act, that is, how a collective commitment to the group – created through identification with the group and its social norms – obligates us to act.…”

The Development of Prosocial Emotions

“…The prosocial emotions described here are complex as they require advanced social-cognitive capacities, including subscribing to certain social standards or norms and evaluating ourselves and others according to those standards or norms. This “normative turn” occurs between 2 and 3 years of age (Schmidt, Rakoczy, & Tomasello, 2019; Tomasello, 2018). It is thus around these ages that we generally see the first evidence of these complex prosocial emotions.…”

The nature of obligation's special force

“…Humans are thus adapted not just for cooperation with individuals, but also for life in a cultural group. These adaptations for group life begin to emerge ontogenetically at around the third birthday, as children begin to display an emerging groupmindedness and sense of "objectivity" in many domains of life (Tomasello 2018;. Of special importance in the current context, it is at this age that children's cooperative interactions with others begin to take a "normative turn": they begin to discern how "we" in this group should act, that is, how a collective commitment to the groupcreated through identification with the group and its social normsobligates us to act.…”