Khan Umang, Jaffer-Diaz Maia, Najafizadeh Anahid, Starmans Christina
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Canada.
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Canada.
Cognition. 2023 Jul;236:105444. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105444. Epub 2023 Mar 21.
Philosophers and theologians have long distinguished between acts a good person is obliged to do, and those that are supererogatory-going above and beyond what is required. Across three studies (N = 796), we discovered a striking developmental difference in intuitions about such acts: while adults view supererogatory actions as morally better than obligatory actions, children view fulfilling obligations as morally better. This difference did not stem from differing views of what is obligatory-children agreed that supererogatory acts were not required. And this difference remained even when the very same actions were framed as either supererogatory or obligatory. These findings suggest that the intuition that supererogatory acts are especially morally good might be late-emerging and culturally specific.
长期以来，哲学家和神学家一直将一个好人有义务去做的行为，与那些额外的、超出要求的行为区分开来。在三项研究（N = 796）中，我们发现了关于此类行为的直觉存在显著的发展差异：虽然成年人认为额外行为在道德上比义务行为更好，但儿童认为履行义务在道德上更好。这种差异并非源于对义务的不同看法——儿童也认同额外行为并非是被要求的。而且，即使同样的行为被表述为额外行为或义务行为，这种差异仍然存在。这些发现表明，认为额外行为在道德上特别好的直觉可能是后期才出现的，并且具有文化特异性。
