Introduction
Moral development is the process through which children learn how to act toward others and how to interact with society. It includes learning ideas like politeness, empathy, guilt, shame, and knowing the difference between right and wrong (Van Leeuwen, 2019). Moral standards in behavior, moral conscience, and moral deeds are all examples of morality. Since no scientific tool or scale quantifies moral rightness or wrongness, the individual must ultimately decide what is acceptable to believe (Thompson et al., 2019). As a result, morality becomes the foundation for one’s activities. Moral growth is required in order to have a sense of morality. Moral development concerns morality’s emergence, change, and comprehension from childhood to maturity (Garrigan et al., 2018). Like other developmental processes, moral development happens in phases during infancy and adolescence and is influenced by elements of a child’s environment. This might include the impact of religious and moral beliefs, family members, friends, and peers.
Religion
People’s views and attitudes are shaped by their experiences, environments, and even heredity. Their behaviors are, in turn, influenced and determined by their beliefs. Widely held beliefs become ingrained in people’s cultures and, in many ways, influence the society in which they live. The strongest belief system that has persisted across millennia is likely religion. In many respects, it serves as a set of guidelines, a manual that enables believers to behave in a civilized or non-primitive fashion. In reality, it is also thought that religious rituals are adaptive and have developed to maintain survival and reproductive benefits through gene selection or dynamics of gene-culture coevolution.
Therefore, it should come as no surprise that this system is important for thinking patterns and contributes significantly to developing a person’s sense of self and the community as a whole. These factors, in turn, influence attitudes, cultural norms, and both individual and group behavior. Children are more receptive to religious ideas and the notions of Gods and other supernatural beings, which results in a teleological bias that persists into adulthood in which explanations of occurrences are accepted based on the function they perform rather than their stated origins (Senland & Vozzola, 2022). These beliefs, as well as ones about God’s existence, immortality, and omnipresence, as well as those about the psychological traits of justice, compassion, and severity, as well as those about God’s causal participation and motivations in one’s life events, all influence one’s views.
Several religions have theme ideas, such as ideas of God and love, honesty, benevolence, miracle workings, and maintaining world peace. Every religion, however, has its own characteristics and philosophies. These ideological differences may not always be obvious and simple to spot, but they do exist and can cause a great deal of strife and disharmony. This is mostly caused by certain followers’ illogical and misconstrued interpretations of religious texts, which contradict basic concepts. Furthermore, it is a relatively new tendency for different religions to cohabit in the same town or country. Jihadists and the tens of thousands of deaths caused by the Witch Hunt. The Crusades, Sati System, Buddhist Burma, Jihadists, and the Witch Hunt, which claimed thousands of lives, are just a few notable examples of sacrifices and conflicts waged in the name of faith (Senland & Vozzola, 2022). Even more perplexing is the apparent dual purpose of religion, which includes instilling empathy and compassion for all people but also inspiring religious hate, bloodshed, and martyrdoms, particularly among extreme believers.
Most religions instill “god-fearing” principles in their sacred texts, such as the notions of karma and reincarnation in Hinduism, heaven-hell and salvation in Christianity, paradise, and hell in Islamism, a peaceful afterlife and reincarnation in indigenous Chinese folk religions, and the ability to break the cycle of rebirth and attain enlightenment in Buddhism, to name just a few. This was further supported by Garrigan et al. (2018) study, which discovered that people are more inclined to act morally or honorably when they believe in terrifying and vengeful supernatural beings. In their further research, they came to the conclusion that although the idea of hell exists to motivate individuals to behave morally and ethically, the idea of paradise (or its counterpart in other faiths) exists to elevate one’s mood and has a direct correlation to happiness. Another explanation for this, though, raises the possibility that it has nothing to do with religion. Instead, the religious texts or rituals prime us to behave morally and honestly by serving as a moral reminder.
Family Members
Parents and other close family members are important in moral formation since they are a person’s major social connections during childhood and adolescence. As a basic unit, family is the foundation upon which values are established. Moral ideals such as truthfulness, happiness, peace, and justice are imprinted in children’s minds through family education (Sengsavang & Krettenauer, 2019). As a result, a person establishes his values and regulates his life. If young family members are adequately trained on moral standards, the value system practiced in the family evolves spontaneously. A child’s perspective toward people and society is formed by his or her family. Families also promote the children’s mental development and their goals and ideals.
It makes sense that the happy and upbeat environment in the family fosters affection, amiability, open-mindedness, and compassion. A child often picks up on behavior from the people and things around him. In this aspect, the family is important since it aids in a kid’s socialization process, which greatly impacts how well the youngster develops (Sengsavang & Krettenauer, 2019). Nowadays, it is understood that having older family members contributes to the children’s moral and social growth. Additionally, it aids in eradicating the family’s young generation’s undesirable mental inclinations and instilling human values in them.
Peers and Friends
During adolescence, intimate relationships and social circles can also impact a person’s moral growth. According to Thompson et al. (2019), peers give teenagers more opportunities to make judgments and introduce them to new moral principles and their repercussions. Adolescents are forced to make challenging moral choices due to the formation of romantic relationships and exposure to dangerous activities like drinking or smoking during this period. This, combined with more independence, molds the moral code the teenager will uphold as an adult.
Conclusion
Moral development denotes learning the difference between right and wrong or good behavior toward others from childhood to maturity. Religion, family members, peers, and friends play crucial roles in developing these moral principles and values. Religion serves as a set of guidelines, a manual that enables believers to behave themselves in a civilized or non-primitive fashion. Furthermore, through their thematic preaching and ideas, the various religions can inculcate moral values and beliefs in young souls, which they grow up to embrace in adulthood. On the other hand, family serves as a foundation upon which moral values like justice are established, apart from reducing the young generation’s undesirable mental inclinations and instilling human values in them. Finally, children are more likely to copy and adapt the behaviors of their peers and friends since they mostly associate with them, which results in the development of certain moral values. My moral values have not changed that much before and after the class. However, I have understood and appreciated the core factors likely to shape our moral development and how to cope with them.
References
Garrigan, B., Adlam, A. L., & Langdon, P. E. (2018). Moral decision-making and moral development: Toward an integrative framework. Developmental Review, 49, 80-100.
Senland, A. K., & Vozzola, E. C. (2022). The role of faith, religion, and spirituality in morality. In Moral development (pp. 192-207). Routledge.
Sengsavang, S., & Krettenauer, T. (2019). Moral development in the family. The Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Development, 1-11.
Thompson, R. A., Laible, D., Padilla-Walker, L. M., & Carlo, G. (2019). Early moral development and attachment theory. The Oxford Handbook of Parenting and Moral Development, 21-39.
Van Leeuwen, M. (2019). Moral development, moral positioning, and decision-making. In Ethical dilemmas in the creative, cultural, and service industries (pp. 63-76). Routledge.