Conscience and delinquency: A developmentally informed meta-analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the three central components of conscience as outlined in integrative theory (i.e., empathy, guilt, and moral reasoning) on their ability to predict future delinquency. A meta-analysis was performed on studies in which participants were assessed on one or more of these components during late childhood, early adolescence, or middle adolescence and then evaluated several months to several years later for delinquency. The analyses showed that conscience, as measured by one or more of the three components, predicted lower levels of delinquency over time. Zero-order correlations were modest-to-moderate in size, whereas partial correlations, in which prior delinquency was controlled, were weak-to-modest but statistically significant. The results of this study support conscience and its components as instrumental in reducing and preventing delinquency in mid- to late adolescence.