Awareness of a guilty consciousness in early childhood:

Analysis of the response of children to the childcare practitioners’ instruction not to violate rules.

Abstract

We sought to clarify how guilty consciousness of children develops by evaluating their emotional distress, mental stress, and gaze avoidance. Observation study of interactions between an attending childcare practitioner and children (9–18 months old) at a daycare center was conducted to reveal a relationship between children’s guilty consciousness and their behavior of checking the childcare practitioner. Indication of guilty consciousness was observed; however, the children did not apologize or correct their behavior, probably due to the lack of knowledge and experience. Children’s behavior of checking the childcare practitioner was considered to be accompanied by their guilty consciousness, indicating that the checking behavior may play a role in confirming the childcare practitioner’s emotional state and intention. These findings suggest that children aware a guilty consciousness based on trust relationship with a childcare practitioner and learn to realize themselves as persons to be assessed by others.