• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.1-12
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• 2012

This study examined the influences of age, offenders' intention, victims' emotional reactions on the moral emotional understanding of preschool children. Eighty eight children aged 4, 5, and 6 participated in this study, and were interviewed using four moral transgression stories. The responses of the children were then analyzed in terms of the levels of moral emotional understanding, from error through to the understanding of secondary emotions. The results indicated that older children showed higher levels of moral emotional understanding than younger children. Additionally, children's moral emotional understanding was higher in situations in which offenders' behaviors were intentional, and in which the victims expressed sadness. The attribution of moral emotions was influenced by victims' emotional reactions only in 6-year-old children. Discussion of these results also included the development of intervention programs for children with aggressive behaviors, as well as a number of suggestions for future study.