| Description |
YOUNG CHILDRENS' JUDGMENTS ABOUT BELIEFS DIFFERENT FROM THEIR OWN, AND THE PEOPLE WHO HOLD THOSE BELIEFS WERE EXAMINED. CHILDREN (N=96), EQUALLY DIVIDED INTO THREE AGE GROUPS, WERE INDIVIDUALLY INTERVIEWED. INTERVIEWS CONSISTED OF STORIES IN WHICH ONE CHARACTER IN THE STORY AGREED WITH THE CHILD AND ONE DISAGREED ABOUT ONE OF FOUR DOMAINS OF DISAGREEMENT (TASTE, INTERPRETATION, FACT AND MORAL). IN HALF OF THE STORIES, THE DISAGREEING CHARACTER WAS AN ADULT, AND IN THE OTHER HALF THE DISAGREEING CHARACTER WAS A CHILD. THE INCLUSION OF THE ADULT CHARACTER WAS TO EXPLORE THE EFFECTS OF AN AUTHORITY FIGURE ON TOLERANCE OF DISAGREEMENT, BUT EXPECTED RESULTS IN THIS RESPECT WERE NOT FOUND. PARTICIPANTS JUDGED BOTH THE BELIEFS AND THE CHARACTERS IN EACH DOMAIN. FINDINGS INDICATED THAT DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCES WERE DEPENDENT UPON ON THE DOMAIN. THREE AND FOUR YEAR OLDS WERE RELATIVELY INTOLERANT ACROSS ALL DOMAINS, JUDGING BOTH DISAGREEING BELIEFS AND THE PEOPLE WHO HELD THEM HARSHLY. FIVE AND SIX YEAR OLDS WERE IN A STATE OF TRANSITION BETWEEN TOLERANCE LEVELS. EIGHT AND NINE YEAR OLDS WERE, OVERALL, THE MOST TOLERANT, BUT THEY SHOWED INTOLERANCE IN THE FACTUAL DOMAIN. THE DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRESSION OF TOLERANCE WITHIN INDIVIDUAL DOMAINS AND THE PARTICIPANTS' LEVELS OF TOLERANCE ARE DISCUSSED. |
