ISSN : 1229-0718
Relations among prosicial moral reasoning, classroom behavior, and sociometric status(social preference) were investigated in a sample of 189 lst, 2nd, and 3rd graders. Students were differentiated into 3 levels of hedonistic, needs-oriented, and approval/interpersonal-oriented prosocial reasoning. Results showed that hedonistic and needs-oriented moral reasoning were differently related to teachers' ratings of classroom behavior and to social preference. Among boys, hedonistic moral reasoning was associated with the lack of social competencies, acting-out behavior, and low social preference. Girls did not show this kind of associations. Moral reasoning was found to affect social preference only indirectly, but not directly. Results support Eisenberg's (1986) claim that hedonistic and needs-oriented reasoning are qualitatively distinct.