How Emotions Influence Moral Development

There are two ways that emotions influence moral development. They are: First we feel guilt when we do something wrong or defy authority. For example, the first time a child cheats in school they feel guilty for cheating. They feel guilty because they know cheating is wrong and they've defied authority because they know the teacher and probably the parent will be mad and give out a consequence for cheating.

The second way that emotions influence moral development is we feel good when we've followed the rules and behaved in a socially approprate way. So, if a child's parent tells them not to go be part of the group after school that is going to cause a riot over a racial issue and the child goes home after school they feel good for following the rules and doing what the parent asked.

The emotion of guilt and being proud of oneself influence moral development as the child either feels good about themselves for following the rules or feels guilt over their poor choice. Other emotions such as happy, sad or frustrated also help develop moral development as children make choices and then deal with whatever emotion the choice leaves them feeling.