Kohlberg

• Kohlberg


  Inspired by Piaget's theory of moral development in children, which took a more structured approach, proposing social-cognitive and social-emotional perspectives to explain where morals come from
• Piaget's theory of moral development


  Proposed that until the age of 10, morals are largely concerned about obeying authority and will develop from the age of 10 into adolescence to fully mature
• Kohlberg was inspired by the structural approach taken by Piaget


  However argued that it had flaws
• Kohlberg's theory of moral development


  Proposed that moral development is a more gradual process that extends into early adulthood
• Kohlberg's theory of moral development


  1. 3-level, 6-stage sequence

  2. Pre-conventional orientations (e.g. punish and obedience orientation which places emphasis on the self to define morals)

  3. Post-conventional orientations that see that rules are not always set in stone for every situation
• Kohlberg devised a longitudinal study to demonstrate the sequence of moral development in action
• Kohlberg's Primary Study


  To investigate moral development throughout adolescence and into early adulthood in relation to Kohlberg's sequence
• Kohlberg's Primary sample


  75 American boys aged 10-16 (22-28 at the end of the study)
• Dilemmas for different age groups

  • Aged 10: 'Is it better to save the life of 1 important person or a lot of unimportant people'
  • Aged 13+: 'Should the doctor 'mercy kill' a fatally ill woman requesting death because of her pain'
• Findings from Kohlberg's Primary Study

  • Moral development followed a fixed-order, 3-level, 6-stage sequence
  • Majority displayed moral reasoning of a single stage each time they partook
  • Some participants had not yet reached the final stage of the sequence by the end of the study
  • When confronted with the views of a child one stage further than themselves, participants seemed to prefer these views and moved forward
• Aim of Kohlberg's Cross-Cultural study

  To assess the extent to which Kohlberg's sequence is appropriate in a range of cultural contexts
• Sample of Kohlberg's Cross-Cultural Study

  Samples of boys from: Great Britain, Canada, Taiwan, Mexico, and Turkey ; varying in age
• Procedure of Kohlberg's Cross-Sectional Snapshot Study

  1. Completed the same moral dilemmas task as the main sample but only once

  2. Dilemmas matched with participants' culture to control for response bias
• Dilemma for boys aged 10-13 in Taiwan

  • A man's wife is starving to death but the store owner won't give the man any food unless he can pay, which he can't. Should he break in and steal some food? Why?
• Kohlberg's Cross-Cultural Study Findings

  • Taiwanese boys aged 10-13 tended to give responses categoric of the 2nd stage
  • Stage 5 reasoning was more prevalent in 16 yos from America than those from Mexico and Taiwan
  • Middle-class children were found to be more advanced in moral judgement than lower-class children
  • No important differences were found in the development of moral reasoning amongst different religions
• Kohlberg's Study Conclusions


  • There is an invariant developmental sequence that we follow to develop our moral compass
  • Each stage of moral development occurs one at a time and always in the same order
• The sequence was not significantly affected by social, cultural, or religious conditions, only the rate at which individuals progress through it
• Punishment and Obedience Orientation 


  Avoiding punishment defines the morally correct way to act
• Instrumental Relativist Orientation 


  Rewarded behaviours defines the morally correct way to act