Morality and conception of love in 6 and 9 years old children

Abstract

Reflecting on the importance of virtues in moral development, our aim was to investigate children’s concepts about love. We individually interviewed 40 children, 6 and 9 years old, in a private school in Vila Velha-ES, according to the clinical method proposed by Piaget. We asked each child to mention examples of experiences of love, and then later, to justify their answers. The examples cited were ‘giving love to others’ (such as helping and caring) and ‘love for (a) particular person/ people’ (family members and friends, among others), which increased with age, and ‘actions with love’ (like playing and kissing), which showed a decrease. The reasons pointed out, especially, the positive result that an example of love would provide, especially to them, that is, an interest in oneself that increased with age. We underline that the feeling was mentioned both as an example of love and as a justification. It was verified that the concept children have of love is wide, so it is important, therefore, to give emphasis on the process of formation of this virtue, since love helps in the moral formation. Thus, hopefully we encourage other works and discussions about love, contributing to proposals for education and assisting in the moral formation of children.