Abstract
In Study 1, ideas about morals, facts, ambiguous facts, and taste were investigated among younger children, first-, second-, and third-grade elementary school students (N＝253). Next, a child with the identical opinion (A) and a child with the opposite opinion (B) were identified. Participants were asked: “Do you think that only one belief is right, or are both beliefs are right?” (understanding of relativism) and “Do you want to play with Child A/Child B?” (tolerance). False-belief tasks were also conducted with younger children. Depending on the task, even younger children could understand relativism. Each age group of children made judgments about the four domains. In tolerance judgments, the moral domain became differentiated with increasing age. Understanding of relativism was not observed for taste, perhaps because the desirable taste of ice cream used in the task might have been positive for all children. There were also correlations between Theory of Mind and understanding of relativism. In Study 2, a supplemental experiment was conducted using vegetables, considered to be less attractive than ice cream for children. The results indicated that understanding of relativism increased for the vegetable task.
