Children's Ideas about Self-Regulation by Situational Characteristics

상황의 특성에 따른 아동의 자기 규제에 대한 판단

The purpose of this study was to investigate children's ideas about self-regulation in such situational variables as the presence of explicit rules and the domains of social rules. The subjects were 6-, 9-, and 12-year-old children (344). To assess children's ideas about self-regulation, a procedure was devised in which children were presented with stories portraying a protagonist in a conflict between an implicit or an explicit rule and a personal desire. The children were asked to make a choice for the protagonist and to give reasons for their choice. Major findings as follows: (1) There was significant difference in children's self-regulation depending on the presence of explicit rules. (2) There was significant difference in children's self-regulation depending on the domains of social rules. In situations that involved no explicit rules for behaviors, there were significant differences depending on the domains. In situations that involved explicit rules for behaviors, for 6- and 9-year-old children, there was no significant difference depending on the domains. (3) Children's use of justifications for their choice of action varied as a function of the characteristics of the social rules.