I bambini mostrano segni di moralità già prima di avere effettiva esperienza del mondo.
Recenti ricerche sulla moralità infantile dimostrano che, a partire dai 14 mesi di età, i bambini aiutano gli altri spontaneamente, senza aspettarsi alcuna ricompensa (Warneken & Tomasello, 2007).
Nel corso dell’ultimo decennio c’è stato un boom della ricerca sulla moralità infantile. Oggi studi sperimentali dimostrano che i bambini mostrano tendenze innate ad aiutare gli altri sin dalla prima infanzia.
Consideriamo i recenti studi condotti sui bambini con l’ausilio di pupazzi: un pupazzo aiuta (un individuo), un altro ostacola (un individuo diverso). I bambini osservano i comportamenti premurosi e quelli scostanti, e già a tre mesi di età reagiscono in maniera diversa ai due pupazzi.
Anche a sei mesi di età i bambini reagiscono positivamente agli individui che aiutano gli altri. A 18 mesi, i bambini stessi aiutano prontamente le altre persone a raggiungere i loro obiettivi. È dimostrato che la pro-socialità emerge sin dai 2 anni di età, e così via.
Per quanto diffusa, l’erronea credenza secondo cui gli umani nascono di per sé egoisti e diventano poi gradualmente morali tramite gli insegnamenti religiosi, è priva di fondamento. Ne è un esempio l’esperimento in cui una persona cerca di raggiungere un oggetto, senza successo. La maggior parte dei bambini l’aiuta, porgendoglielo. Persino i bambini di soli 14 mesi si muovono in suo aiuto. In questi esperimenti, i bambini offrono aiuto in media entro 6,9 secondi.
Lo sviluppo precoce del comportamento morale getta luce sul motivo per cui le varie fedi religiose e visioni del mondo non sono necessarie alla nascita della moralità. Coperatività, giudizio morale, egalitarismo, valutazione sociale e assistenza proattiva sono tratti innati e universali.
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The studies linked on this page are accessible via the researchers' websites and other public domain sources. If not linked, those studies are only available via academic journals.
