The Development of Children’s Understanding of Apology

The current research aims to identify: 1- Children’s understanding of apology according to the variables: A. Age (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) years. B. Gender (males, females(. 2- Statistically significant differences in children’s understanding of apology according to the variables: A. Age (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) years. B. Gender (males, females). The current research sample included (240) children from kindergartens and primary schools in Baghdad Governorate, both Karkh and Rusafa, for ages (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) years, with (40) children for each age group, equally divided between males and females. The researcher adopted the Apology Understanding Tool (Waddington,et al, 2022) designed to measure children’s understanding of apology. The researcher verified the psychometric properties of the tool by extracting validity and reliability. The researcher used a number of statistical methods, including the t-test for a single sample, analysis of two-way variance, the Kuder-Richardson equation - 20, the discrimination coefficient, and the Point-Baserial correlation coefficient). The current research reached the following results: Children aged (4) years do not have an understanding of apology. Children aged (5, 6, 7, 8, 9) years have an understanding of apology. There are statistically significant differences in understanding apology according to age, in favor of older ages, as understanding apology develops across ages and takes a gradual path. There are no statistically significant differences in understanding apology according to gender. Based on these results, the researcher reached a set of conclusions, recommendations and proposals.