Abstract
In response to scenario-based questions about moral and conventional transgressions, 8- to 10-year old children consistently made inferences about protagonists' pro-social behaviors following both guilt-inducing and shame-inducing situations. In addition, adults made the inference that when transgressions in response to shame-inducing situations were less serious, protagonists would display asocial behavior that mediated feelings of shame. Twelve-year olds sometimes made adult-like inferences and sometimes behaved like younger children. The finding that 12-year olds' inferences were adult-like yet not entirely the same indicated that the developmental transition to adult understanding may continue during adolescence. This study also indicated that a functionalist approach to socio-emotional development, without use of the terms "guilty" or "ashamed", will be useful in future investigation.
