kohlberg 1968

• The boys' answers were analysed and common themes were identified so that the stage theory could be constructed
• Kohlberg's stages of moral development

  • The punishment and obedience orientation
  • The instrumental purpose orientation
  • Interpersonal cooperation
  • The social order maintaining orientation
  • The social contract orientation
  • The universal ethical principles orientation
• Kohlberg found that the younger children thought at the pre-conventional level and as they got older their reasons for moral decision became less focused on themselves and more focused on doing well because relations with others are viewed as important
• The results in Mexico and Taiwan were the same except that development was a little slower
• Kohlberg's conclusions about moral development

  • Stages are invariant and universal, meaning that people world-wide go through the same stages in the same order
  • Each new stage represents a more equilibrated form of moral understanding which results in a more logically consistent and morally mature form of understanding
• Moral discussion classes can help children develop their moral thinking, and discussions with children at stages 3 and 4 result in the child moving forwards
• 75 American boys were used - at the beginning of the research they were between the ages of 10 and 16, and by the end they were between 22 and 28
• Additional samples from a number of other countries (Great Britain, Canada, Taiwan, Mexico and Turkey) were also interviewed to gain a cross-cultural comparison
• Methodology


  1. Longitudinal study following the development of the same 75 American boys for 12 years

  2. Kohlberg used interviews to assess the moral reasoning of the boys

  3. Kohlberg created nine hypothetical moral dilemmas (such as the Heinz dilemma), with each dilemma presenting a conflict between two moral issues

  4. Each participant was asked to discuss three of these dilemmas, prompted by a set of ten or more open-ended questions

  5. Following an analysis of the boys' answers, common themes were identified which led to a stage theory being constructed

  6. Each boy was re-interviewed every three years
• Psychology Today: '2, 25-30'