Moral and social reasoning and perspective taking in later life: a longitudinal study.
In this study 27 older adults (ages 64-80) and 23 middle-aged adults (ages 35-54) were tested for moral stage, integrative complexity of social reasoning, and perspective-taking levels twice over a 4-year period. Moral reasoning stage levels did not change over time for either age group. Older adults, but not the middle-aged, showed a significant decline over time in level of moral perspective taking. Complexity of reasoning about several interpersonal social issues declined modestly in both age groups. More social-cognitive support, a higher education level, and better self-reported health were all found to be protective factors in forestalling declines in mature adults' sociocognitive reasoning, consistent with other research on cognitive measures in later life.
Pratt
M W
MW
Department of Psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Diessner
R
R
Pratt
A
A
Hunsberger
B
B
Pancer
S M
SM
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009014:Morals; D010553:Personality Development; D011340:Problem Solving; D012938:Social Perception; D012945:Social Values