principles for how individuals should treat one another
morals
the standards of behaviour that fit with these principles. they tell us what is right or wrong and guide our behaviour
amoral
we are born without morals and so we must develop our personal values and judgements
freud theory of moral development
stated that our superego are internalisations of our moral values. it isnt until it develops with the resolution of the phallic stage around the age of 5 that a child's morals develop
kant theory of moral development
listed universal moral rules including: it is wrong to steal and it is wrong to tell lies. we can work out the right thing to do by considering if we would want something to become a universal moral rule
what does piaget say?
children begin with a focus on obedience to authority, meaning they dont take intention into account, however around the age of 8, children begin to understand rules may be modified as a result of social interactions
what are kohlberg's three levels of moral development?
preconventional, conventional, postconventional
what stages are in the preconventional level?
obedience and punishment
selfinterest orientation
obedience and punishment description
the child is well behaved but is able to behave in an immoral way if authority is missing
obedience and punishment thinking
"how can i avoidpunishment?"
self interest orientation description
child behaves in a self-centred way, doing what brings them the most benefit
self interest orientation thinking
"what's in it for me?"
what stages are in the conventional level?
conformity to expectations and rules
authority and socialorder
conformity to expectations and rules descriptions
child seeking approval from others and begins to consider the intention of others acts
conformity to expectations and rules thinking
"why did that person do that?"
authority and social order description
child now sees it as their duty to show respect and maintain socialorder - laws are set in stone
authority and social order thinking
"i must do what is right"
what stages are in the postconventional level?
socialcontract orientation
universalethical principals
social contract orientation description
an understanding that there is a difference between law and morality
social contract orientation thinking
"there is a difference between law and morality"
universal ethical principals description
judgement is now based on universal human rights of justice, equality and respect for others
universal ethical principals thinking
"all individuals have value, even those who dont value themselves"
aim
to find evidence to support his theory of moraldevelopment - wanted to study how morals develop over time
sample
75american boys aged 10-16 at the start of the study and 22-28 at the end
what other cultures were studied?
great britian, canada, taiwan, mexico and turkey
what were p's given?
paragraphs describing situations that could be morally or legally wrong
what was kohlberg interested in?
the reasoning participants gave for their decisions rather than the choice made
how often were the p's studied?
3 year intervals over 12 years
what was the name of the dilemma used?
the heinz dilemma
findings
participants progressed through the stages as they got older and always in the same order
some participants reached stage 6
at 16, stage 5 was more prevalent in american boys than mexican or taiwanese participants. this stage was reached by participants in mexico and taiwan at a later age
middle class children were found to be more advanced than lower class children
conclusions
moral development matures with age
not everyone develops in the same way
there are cultural differences in moral development
there are social differences in moral development
strengths of kohlberg
useful - longitudinal (can show behaviour develops so there are practical applications)
qualitative data - holistic - gives a better understanding of behaviour
criterion validity - can make assumptions about people's morals at different ages
weaknesses of kohlberg
androcentric sample - less generalisable
primary data - biased - researcher may choose certain data to support their aim