IMMEDIATE AND LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCED SOCIAL INFLUENCE IN MODIFICATION OF ADOLESCENTS MORAL JUDGMENTS

24 morally realistic and 29 morally relativistic 13-yr-old Ss were exposed to classical social influence procedures. Ss of both sexes and moral orientations evidenced significant yielding to peer influence in their responses to a series of moral dilemmas that were designed to tap various aspects of Piaget's autonomous and heteronomous stages of moral development. Morally realistic Ss showed immediate and long-term shifts in their judgmental styles. Morally relativistic Ss, while evidencing short-term responsiveness to social influence, showed a significant diminution of these effects over the 100 days of the experiment. Long-term changes in judgmental style were a direct, decreasing, monotonic function of initial yielding to social influence. Results are discussed in terms of the differential long-term effectiveness of social influence in promoting progressive vs. retrogressive changes in moral development. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.