The influences of problem severity, gender and moral development on early adolescents' acceptability ratings of disciplinary interventions were examined among 8S seventh graders. Problem severity was defined qualitatively: In two vignettes, two students were portrayed as either talking and getting out of their seats without permission or cheating on tests (more severe problem). Results showed that early adolescents, particularly boys, perceived disciplinary interventions for cheating as more acceptable than interventions for talking and getting out of one's seat. In general, however, girls were more favorable in their acceptability ratings across interventions and problem situations. Both genders tended to view sending transgressors to the principal most favorably and Rogerian counseling least favorably. As predicted, sociomoral reasoning also emerged as a significant variable in the ratings of verbal-mediated interventions for cheating. Given inconsistent findings across previous studies and the complex manner in which multiple variables influence acceptability ratings, caution is warranted in applying research on intervention acceptability to practice.
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