The Role of Conversations in Moral Development

This chapter takes a constructivist perspective on moral development that considers conversations with others as contexts for children and adolescents to develop their understandings of the moral domain. We review the unique role of conversations, as compared to individual reflection, in supporting children’s moral understandings. Next, we consider how the affordances of children’s relationships with others frame the ways in which conversations about moral concerns are likely to unfold with different partners. Finally, we describe various content and process features of conversations that are linked to the moral meanings that children derive, as well as the sociomoral outcomes associated with different types of conversations. In particular, we describe how conversations support children’s understandings of the psychological underpinnings of their own and others’ moral actions and help them ponder the broader meanings of their experiences. Throughout the chapter, we describe how features of children’s sociocultural milieu frame their conversations with others about morally laden experiences. We end with suggestions for future research in this area.