Kohklbergs

• Moral development


  The process by which people develop the distinction between right and wrong (morality) and engage in reasoning between the two (moral reasoning)
• Kohlberg's theory of moral development


  • Focuses on how children develop morality and moral reasoning
  • Suggests moral development occurs in a series of six stages
  • Moral logic is primarily focused on seeking and maintaining justice
• Kohlberg's theory development


  1. Presented moral dilemmas to study subjects

  2. Interviewed participants to determine reasoning behind judgments
• Moral dilemma - Heinz Steals the Drug


  • A woman has cancer, the drug that might save her costs $2,000 per dose, Heinz can only raise $1,000, so he breaks into the pharmacy and steals the drug
• Kohlberg's interest


  Reasoning for participants' decisions, not whether Heinz was right or wrong
• Levels of moral development

  • Preconventional morality
  • Conventional morality
  • Postconventional morality
• Preconventional morality


  • Decisions shaped by expectations of adults and consequences of breaking rules
  • Includes stage 1 (obedience and punishment) and stage 2 (individualism and exchange)
• Conventional morality


  • Acceptance of social rules regarding what is good and moral
  • Internalization of moral standards learned from role models and society
  • Includes stage 3 (developing good interpersonal relationships) and stage 4 (maintaining social order)
• Postconventional morality


  • Development of understanding of abstract principles of morality
  • Includes stage 5 (social contract and individual rights) and stage 6 (universal principles)
• Kohlberg believed only a relatively small percentage of people ever reach the postconventional stages (around 10 to 15%)
• One analysis found that while stages one to four could be seen as universal in populations throughout the world, the fifth and sixth stages were extremely rare in all populations
• Applications of Kohlberg's theory

  • Help parents guide children as they develop moral character
  • Provide moral guidance for teachers and educators in the classroom
• Classroom applications by grade level

  • Kindergarten - help enhance moral development by setting clear rules and consequences
  • High school - focus on developing good interpersonal relationships and maintaining social order
• Moral reasoning does not equal moral behavior
• Kohlberg's theory overemphasizes the concept of justice when making moral choices, and does not adequately consider factors such as compassion, caring, and other moral considerations
• Kohlberg's theory played an important role in the development of moral psychology
• Kohlberg's theory overemphasizes the concept of justice when making moral choices
• Factors such as compassion, caring, and other interpersonal feelings may play an important part in moral reasoning
• Individualist cultures emphasize personal rights, while collectivist cultures stress the importance of society and community
• Eastern, collectivist cultures may have different moral outlooks that Kohlberg's theory does not take into account
• Most of Kohlberg's subjects were children under the age of 16 who obviously had no experience with marriage
• Kohlberg believed that women tended to remain at the third level of moral development because they place a stronger emphasis on things such as social relationships and the welfare of others
• Gilligan suggested that Kohlberg's theory overemphasizes concepts such as justice and does not adequately address moral reasoning founded on the principles and ethics of caring and concern for others
• Piaget's theory of moral development


  • Stage 1: The child is more concerned with developing and mastering their motor and social skills, with no general concern about morality
  • Stage 2: The child develops unconditional respect both for authority figures and the rules in existence
  • Stage 3: The child starts to see rules as being arbitrary, also considering an actor's intentions when judging whether an act or behavior is moral or immoral
• Moral foundations theory

  • Intuition develops before strategic reasoning
  • Morality involves more than harm and fairness
  • Morality can both bind groups and blind individuals
• Moral foundations theory encompasses several more dimensions of morality than Kohlberg's theory
• Transcendental institutionalist theories


  Involve trying to create "perfect justice"
• Realization-focused theories


  Concentrate more on removing injustices
• Social choice theory


  A collection of models that seek to explain how individuals can use their input (their preferences) to impact society as a whole
• An example of social choice theory is voting, which allows the majority to decide what is "right" and "wrong"
• Comprehension is understanding what has been learned.
• Application is using knowledge in new situations.
• Skills are the ability to perform tasks using knowledge.
• Knowledge is the ability to recognize, identify or recall information.
• Evaluation requires making judgments about the quality of evidence or arguments presented.
• Synthesis is putting together ideas or concepts to form a larger whole.
• Evaluation is making judgments based on criteria and standards.
• Retrieval is remembering information from memory.
• Analysis is breaking down complex ideas into simpler parts.
• Critical thinking involves analyzing and evaluating ideas and arguments.