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• Levels of Moral Development

  • Preconventional Morality
  • Conventional Morality
  • Postconventional Morality
• Preconventional Morality - Stage 1. Obedience and Punishment Orientation


  The child/individual is good to avoid being punished. If a person is punished, they must have done wrong.
• Preconventional Morality - Stage 2. Instrumental Purpose Orientation


  Behaviour is determined again by consequences. The individual focuses on receiving rewards or satisfying personal needs.
• Conventional Morality - Stage 3. Good Boy/Nice Girl Orientation


  Behavior is determined by social approval. The individual wants to maintain or win the affection and approval of others by being a "good person."
• Conventional Morality - Stage 4. Law and Order Orientation


  Social rules and laws determine behavior. The individual now takes into consideration a larger perspective, that of societal laws. Moral decision-making becomes more than consideration of close ties to others. The individual believes that rules and laws maintain the social order that is worth preserving.
• Postconventional Morality - Stage 5. Social Contract and Individual Rights


  Individual rights determine behavior. The individual views laws and rules as flexible tools for improving human purposes. That is, given the right situation, there are exceptions to rules. When laws are not consistent with individual rights and the interests of the majority, they do not bring about good for people and alternatives should be considered.
• Postconventional Morality - Stage 6. Universal Principles


  People at this stage have developed their own set of moral guidelines which may or may not fit the law. The principles apply to everyone. E.g., human rights, justice, and equality. The person will be prepared to act to defend these principles even if it means going against the rest of society in the process and having to pay the consequences of disapproval and or imprisonment. Kohlberg doubted few people reached this stage.
• McLeod, S. A. (2013, October 24): 'Kohlberg's stages of moral development. Simply Psychology.'
• Sanders, C. E. (2022, August 21): 'Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development. Encyclopedia Britannica.'