Abstract

ALVES, Ariadne Dettmann; ALENCAR, Heloisa Moulin de  and  ORTEGA, Antonio Carlos. The judgment of children on the possibility of loving a friend, an enemy and a stranger. Psicol. rev. (Belo Horizonte) [online]. 2014, vol.20, n.3, pp. 529-548. ISSN 1677-1168.  http://dx.doi.org/DOI-10.5752/P.1678-9523.2014V20N3P529.

This paper aims to explore the influence of the bond (friend and enemy) or its absence (stranger) in the conception of a child's love. We interviewed individually, 40 school children (6 and 9) on the possibility of a child loving a friend, an enemy and a stranger, using the clinical method. Most participants said it was possible to love a friend, highlighting the friendship aspect. However few agreed with the possibility of loving an enemy and argued primarily due to negative action of that person. Fewer still thought it possible to love a stranger, justifying the absence of a bond. Although few have stated the possibility of loving an enemy, we found that this number increased with age, which may indicate a genesis of this idea of love. This work could contribute to expansion of studies in the field of morality, providing theoretical support to aid practices in moral education.

Keywords : Moral development; Virtues; Love; Bonds; Children.

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