The Development of Socio-moral Meaning Making: Domains, Categories, and Perspective-taking

This chapter presents an integrative approach to social cognitive and moral development by showing how descriptive (social) and prescriptive (moral) reasoning are interconnected in socio-moral meaning making. It is argued that socio-moral meaning making is based on processes of perspective differentiation and coordination through which persons come to understand descriptive and prescriptive aspects of social reality. In order to clarify structure and content aspects of socio-moral reasoning, first, conflicting theoretical positions about perspective-taking and domains of reasoning are discussed. Second, a reinterpretation of structure and content aspects of socio-moral meaning making in an action-theoretical framework is proposed. Third, this approach is exemplified with reference to longitudinal data about the development of socio-moral meaning making in a morally relevant conflict in a close friendship.