Developmental Changes in Children’s Ethical Guilt and the Association between Ethical Guilt and Prosocial Behavior

This study examined developmental changes in ethical guilt and their effects on prosocial behavior in a sample of Japanese children. Participants were lower-, middle-, and upper-grade elementary school students (N=286). A social-emotional responding task, sharing task, and an assessment of sympathy were conducted. Ethical guilt increases with childhood development and positively affects prosocial behavior; additionally, ethical guilt moderates the relationship between sympathy and prosocial behavior. This study confirmed that low sympathy does not significantly inhibit prosocial behavior if ethical guilt is high; however, prosocial behavior is inhibited if ethical guilt is also low.