KOLBERG

• Methodology/Procedure


  1. Undertook various studies on moral development

  2. Used interviews to collect qualitative data

  3. Conducted a longitudinal study that followed the development of the same group of 75 American boys for 12 years, who started the research between the ages of 10 and 16

  4. Boys were 22-28 at the end of the research

  5. Used interviews to assess moral reasoning, including the use of moral dilemmas

  6. Studied people in Great Britain, Canada, Taiwan, Mexico and Turkey for a cross-cultural comparison
• Assessing moral thinking


  1. Created 9 hypothetical moral dilemmas

  2. Each dilemma presented a conflict between two moral issues

  3. Each participant was asked to discuss 3 of these dilemmas

  4. Prompted by a set of 10 or more open-ended questions

  5. Analysed the boy's answers and identified common themes to construct the stage theory

  6. Re-interviewed each boy every 3 years, using the same kind of interview with children and adults in other countries
• Moral dilemma questions


  • Should Heinz steal the drugs? Why or why not?
  • If the respondent favours stealing, ask 'If Heinz doesn't love his wife, should he steal the drug for her?' Why or why not?
  • If the respondent favours not stealing, ask 'Does it make a difference whether or not he loves his wife?' Why or why not?
• Stage theory


  An account of how behaviour changes at different ages (stages)
• Levels of moral development


  • Preconventional
  • Conventional
  • Post conventional (Principled)
• Preconventional level


  1. Children accept the rules of authority figures

  2. Judge actions by their consequences

  3. Actions that result in punishments are bad

  4. Actions that bring rewards are good
• Stage 1: Punishment and obedience orientation


  • Morality ignores the intentions behind behaviour
  • Focuses on obeying rules that are enforced by punishment
• Stage 2: Instrumental purpose orientation


  • Children view actions as 'right' if they satisfy their needs
• Conventional level


  1. Believe that conformity to social rules is desirable

  2. Maintaining the current social system
• Stage 3: Interpersonal cooperation


  • A 'good boy – good girl' orientation
  • What is right is defined by what is expected by others
• Stage 4: Social-order-maintaining orientation


  • Shift from defining what is right in terms of role expectations to defining what is right in terms of norms established by the larger social system
• Post conventional (Principled) level


  1. Individuals move beyond unquestioning compliance with the norms of their social system

  2. The individual now defines morality in abstract moral principles that apply to all societies and situations
• Stage 5: Social contract orientation


  • Laws are seen as relative and flexible
  • Where they are consistent with individual rights and the interests of the majority, they are upheld
  • Otherwise they can be changed
• Stage 6: Universal ethical principles orientation


  • Self-chosen abstract moral principles define morality
• • Kohlberg found that the younger children thought at the pre-conventional level
  • As they got older, their reasons for moral decisions became less focused on themselves and more focused on doing good because relationships with others are important
• The final level of development is related to moral principles
• The results in Mexico and Taiwan were the same except that development was a little slower
• Kohlberg concluded that the key features of moral development are as described in the findings
• Stages are invariant and universal – people everywhere go through the same stages in the same order
• Each new stage represents a more equilibrated form of moral understanding, resulting in a more logically consistent and morally mature understanding
• Moral discussion classes can be used to help children develop their moral thinking
• External validity


  The use of hypothetical moral dilemmas in Kohlberg's research
• Gilligan argues that Kohlberg's dilemmas were hypothetical and not based on real-life issues
• Gilligan's work


  Dealt with actual life decisions (like abortion), which would comparatively reach more valid conclusions as it was based on real-life issues
• Gilligan criticised Kohlberg's research as the moral dilemmas were for boys and not applicable to girls
• Most of the sample was American and this causes an issue of culture bias as it is difficult to generalise conclusions to the entire population
• Internal validity


  Questionnaires may cause participants to want to present themselves in a positive light, and would give answers they believe are acceptable
• Kohlberg was only asking what people would do in certain situations but this may not be what they do in that situation
• Research from Burton found that people only behave consistently with their moral principles on some kinds of moral behaviour and not on others
• The children were mostly in their developmental stages, where they might not have been able to deal with the demands of the research, thereby compromising the results and reducing validity
• Asking children questions like these may reflect problems in their own life and this could cause distress or anxiety
• Bowlby's research where he interviewed children about their childhood may have caused anxiety in those children
• Kohlberg's theory is based on interviews with boys
• Carol Gilligan (1982) suggested that male morality might be quite different to female morality – it is based on justice rather than caringness
• Gilligan found evidence that showed that women tend to be more focused on relationships ('caring') than justice when making moral decisions
• Gilligan's critique was more of an expansion of Kohlberg's theory than an alternative to it
• The core concepts put forward by Kohlberg remain unchallenged, such as the invariant sequence of development and the importance of social interactions