ABSTRACT

Our study explores the folk concept of personal identity in the developmental context. Two hundred and seventeen Czech children participated in an interview study based on a hypothetical scenario about a sudden change in their friend, someone they know, or some other unspecified person. The children were asked to judge to what extent particular changes (from six categories of traits) would change the identity core of their friend or some other person on a seven-point scale. We introduced both positive and negative versions of the changes. Our data suggest that children considered moral traits connected to interpersonal relationships crucial for preserving personal identity. Memory connected to personal experiences also scored highly. On the other hand, a change in physical appearance seemed to have the least important impact on personal identity. Negative changes turned out to have a significantly greater impact than positive changes in all categories, except the physical. Possible effects of scenario and the participants’ age and sex were further explored. We discuss the possible causes of the effect of negative moral change and the role of social dimension in the development of the concept of personal identity.

摘要

我们的研究探索了发展背景下的民间身份认同的民俗概念。217名捷克儿童参加了一项访谈研究，该研究基于一种假设情景，即关于他们的朋友，他们认识的某个人或其他未指定身份的人的突然变化。要求孩子们在七点量表上判断特定的变化（来自六类特征）在多大程度上改变其朋友或其他人的身份核心。我们介绍了更改的正面和负面版本。我们的数据表明，儿童认为与人际关系相关的道德特质对于维护个人身份至关重要。与个人经历相关的记忆也得分很高。另一方面，外貌的改变似乎对个人身份的影响最小。事实证明，与负面影响相比，在所有类别中，与正面影响相比，负面影响要大得多。情景和参与者的年龄和性别的可能影响进行了进一步探讨。我们讨论了负面道德变化的影响的可能原因以及社会维度在个人身份概念发展中的作用。