Heteronomous morality: what it is, characteristics and functioning in childhood

Children do not judge the same as we do, something that is obvious, but how do they consider what is right and what is wrong? They don't really think about it, they learn it. Social norms are instilled in them and they accept that they must comply with them.

Before the age of 9, children think in terms of heteronomous morality, that is, their morality is based on the acceptance of external norms that they consider that, in case of infringing them for whatever reason, is undoubtedly an act that should bring with it consequences.

Trying to summarize in a few introductory sentences how interesting heteronomous morality is is somewhat complicated and therefore we invite you to continue reading to understand it more thoroughly.

• Related article: "The Dyadic Theory of Morals: the keys to this model by Kurt Gray"

What is heteronomous morality?

Heteronomous morality is the form that the ethics of children takes during their first years of life. This morality is based on the acceptance of external norms as if they were absolute

, instead of establishing their own code of conduct, based on their opinions and experiences, as is the characteristic that is adopted in more mature stages of their development.

Boys and girls under the age of 9 consider that the rules imposed on them from outside must be complied with without question. They see the rules as something sacred, unchangeable and to be obeyed regardless of their content.

In this type of morality, the children who manifest it they evaluate acts not because of their nature or ethics behind them, but because of the need to obey the authority of adults. Subjects with this type of morality must obey the norms imposed by adults because they consider that what they are commanded is good and what is prohibited is bad. In short, heteronomous morality is the morality that occurs in individuals who do not question the norms that come from a certain authority.

Heteronomous morality was first studied by the Swiss psychologist Jean piaget, who was interested in discovering why children behaved the way they did. Within this object of study, their interest in the way they understood morals was also found, wondering how children understand norms, what they think about individual responsibility and what concept of justice they had.

Philosophers, psychologists, and other researchers have been especially interested in the development of morality. It is believed that by understanding how our morals develop and where it comes from, how it changes in children as they grow up, they can help us understand our own ethics and the way in which moral norms appear in society once we are adults.

• You may be interested in: "Lawrence Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development"

How does this type of moral arise?

Heteronomous morality is the one that occurs in the minds of children when they begin to reflect on the functioning of the world, and is maintained until approximately 9 years although it usually disappears between 6 and 8 years.

Before reaching that age, children do not question the validity or fairness of the norms and social rules that they have inherited from their parents, but accept them blindly.

It is related to moral realism, which, in fact, is considered a thought pattern derived from this type of morality. Children believe that a person's obligations and values ​​are determined by the norm, regardless of factors such as context and possible intentions that may have involved carry out a certain conduct, even if it involves some type of infraction or violation of a rule.

This way of understanding what is moral and what is correct has to do with the fact that we have not yet have developed the ability to put themselves in the place of others (mentalism) and, therefore, kids cannot understand what reasons may have caused a person to break some rules. In his mind, someone who does not meet a standard is someone who has done something wrong, and that is not debatable.

Added to this, at this time they do not have a critical sense, with which they are not able to question the words of their parents and other references. This translates to they consider that everything that adults say is correct, must be respected and not doing so must always entail negative consequences. They blindly accept what they are told because they believe that older people are infallible. They do not conceive the idea that an adult person as important as their father, mother, teacher, or her grandparents can err.

It is all these characteristic features of children under 9 years of age that serve as keys to understand why heteronomous morality arises, a morality that as its name suggests “comes from outside”, it is introduced.

However, when they reach the age of decade, changes in the thought structures begin to occur that make the child stop seeing the rules as something inflexible and absolute. Thus, Pre-adolescents and adolescents do question the norms, understanding that the rules are not absolute truths but social impositions, this being the birth of autonomous morality.

• Related article: "The 10 types of values: principles that govern our lives"

The characteristics of heteronomous morality

Heteronomous morality differs greatly from autonomous morality, the first being one's own before the age of 9-10 and the second the one that comes after. There are several characteristics of moral realism that we can highlight.

1. Acceptance of external standards

The most distinctive feature of heteronomous morality is the fact that children automatically accept all the norms and beliefs that are imposed on them, especially if they are instilled by their parents, teachers, legal guardians or any other adult of reference.

This is because in the childhood We see our parents as true authorities, people who are never wrong and who have natural power over their children. His words are not in doubt and it is for this reason that everything that adults say will be taken as an absolute and unquestionable rule.

• You may be interested in: "The 9 most important types of standards"

2. Punishment as a consequence of the offense

Unlike autonomous morality, in which the person who owns it is more concerned with whether an action is ethically justifiable or not, in children with heteronomous morals, the usual thing is that they worry about obeying to avoid punishment at all costs. At these ages, children interpret that breaking a rule or doing something that they have been told is wrong always implies negative consequences.

The more severe the punishment, the worse the action that they have been told is wrong will be seen.. This type of thinking does not take into account the possible reasons that have caused a person to have committed an offense, but rather the fact that he has committed that offense.

In the stage of heteronomous morality, punishment is seen as something automatic and natural. Children understand justice as a kind of revenge, something that is based on the most basic principle of retribution such as an “eye for an eye”.

Therefore, if someone commits an offense, a person who thinks in terms of heteronomous morality will believe that he must be inevitably punished, without ever considering the possibility of getting rid of any negative consequences.

• You may be interested in: "What is punishment in psychology and how is it used?"

3. Little relevance in intentionality

Children with heteronomous morals do not take as relevant the intentionality that may be behind the commission of a certain offense. The main measure of the severity of how wrong the violation has been is how damaging that violation itself was. That is, the greater the offense, the more morally reprehensible it will be.

So that we understand: an 8-year-old child will see how much worse that his little brother has broken the dishes of grandmother's porcelain accidentally that her other brother took a plate and smashed it to post. The 8-year-old does not care about intentionality, what matters is how many broken dishes there are.

This mentality of not appreciating the fact that it was an accident or not is because he is not yet able to put himself in the other person's shoes. He cannot assess his intentions or the weight he has on what he does.

Children in heteronomous moral stage consider that the punishment should be proportional to the damage produced, regardless of whether there has been intentionality or not. However, after a few years and entered the stage of autonomous morality, intentionality takes more weight when it comes to judge the actions of others and is therefore taken as an important factor when considering whether a punishment is appropriate or not.