Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

350 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Similarities between Piaget's theory and Kohlberg's theory

Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

This web page is about Lawrence Kohlberg and his Theory of Moral Development. It gives the definition of morality, a biography of Kohlberg, the levels of Kohlberg's theory, and the pro's and con's to his theory.

Lawrence Kohlberg spent years researching how an individual develops their own moral codes. He studied the differences in children's reasoning about moral dilemmas. He also helped to clarify the general cognitive-development view of age-related changes. Kohlberg applied the developmental approach of Piaget to the analysis of changes in moral reasoning. He used surveys as his main source for research. He presented children with moral dilemmas and asked them to evaluate the moral conflict, he studied how the different children responded to these dilemmas.

The web page talks about the levels of Kohlberg's theory. His theory was created based on the idea that stages of moral development build on each other in order of importance and significance to the person. Each stage depends on the other. There are three levels and each level consist of two sequential stages.

Level 1: Preconventional Morality (ages 4-10)

- Moral value resides in a person's own needs and wants.

Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment Orientation. Person's moral judgement is motivated by a need to avoid punishment.

Stage 2: Instructional-Relativist Orientation. Person's moral judgement is motivated by a need to satisfy own desires.

Level 2: Conventional Morality (ages 10-13)

- Moral values reside in performing good or right roles, and in pleasing others.

Stage 3: "Good Boy/Nice Girl" Orientation. Individuals moral judgement is motivated by a need to avoid rejection, or disapproval.

Stage 4: Law and Order Orientation. Persons moral judgement is motivated by a need to not be criticized by a true authority figure.

Level 3: Postconventional Morality (adolescence-adulthood)

- Moral values reside in principles, seperstae from those who enforce them. Most people never reach this last level

Stage 5: Legalistic Orientation. Individuals moral judgement is motivated by community respect for all, respecting social order, and living under laws.

Stage 6: Universal, Ethical Orientation. Individuals moral judgement by ones own conscience.

Show More
Related

  • Case Study Kevin's Case

    411 Words  | 1 Pages

    I noticed in Piaget stages of moral development Kevin is in the autonomous morality stage. Kevin has realized the rules at school and standards can be negotiated and or changed because his parents can get the school to change the rules or policies for his benefit. On Kohlberg’s stage Kevin, his behaviors can be related to the conventional level stage 4. Broderick and Blewitt describes Kohlberg’s conventional morality as “what is right depends on other’s approval or on the need to maintain social order” (pg. 261). Kevin’s peers react to his negative behaviors is effecting his moral

    Read More

  • Antigone Character Analysis Essay

    627 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development is three levels consisting of two stages in each. Kohlberg’s Theory explains how a human’s mind morally develops. Level one is typically common in younger children. The two stages in level one are pre-conventional stages. Stage one is obedience and punishment driven; one will judge an action by the consequences given. Stage two is out of self interest. Level two is mostly common in teenagers. The stages in this level

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Kohlbergs And Piaget's Morality

    787 Words  | 2 Pages

        For this experiment we asked Norma Tapia to interview her to find out where exactly she lies in Kohlberg and Piagets moral stages. She is a seventeen year old high school senior who

    Read More

  • Stages Of Lawrence Kohlberg's Theory Of Moral Development

    2339 Words  | 5 Pages

    Lawrence Kohlberg is known for his Theory of Moral Development. The method that Kohlberg used was that of “moral dilemmas”. Kohlberg studied Piaget but developed his own theory. He would give individuals of different ages these dilemmas and survey their answers to see what the reasoning behind their answers were. An example of a dilemma is the “Heinz Dilemma”. In this dilemma there is a man whose wife is very sick and needs a certain type of medication. There is only one man who sells this drug in the area and he is charging more than the man can pay for. The husband of the wife decided to steal the drug in order to save his wife. At the end of this scenario, it asks if the husband should’ve stolen the medicine. This provides an example of how he went about creating these moral dilemmas. They are situations in which there are multiple answers and reasoning that could be provided. There was no “right” answer in the moral dilemma questions (as the answer to each question was solely based off of the individual’s opinion and moral reasoning). The reasoning that the individuals presented help develop levels of reasoning. These levels are also known as stages. In Kohlberg’s stages, sub stages are also included. The stages are: Preconventional, Conventional, and Postconventional. Each stages had two sub stages that helped determine what level of moral reasoning a person was at. In the preconvnetional stage the two sub stages are: Reward and punishment orientation and Naive reciprocity orientation. The preconventional stage begins at about age five and decreases with age. The sub stages in the conventional stage are: Good boy/girl Orientation and Authority and social order maintenance orientation. This stage increases ...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Lawrence Koolhberg's Theory Of Development

    1083 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kohlberg’s theory was often criticized for being culturally biased towards individualistic cultures because the third and highest level of morality pertained most to middle-class Americans (168). Erikson’s theory of stage development revolved around accomplishing certain psychological goals to develop onto the next stage of life. Whichever goal was completed, would determine if a person could move on happily or have problems along the way (Myers 170).

    Read More

  • Civil Disobedience

    577 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Kohlbergs moral stages five & six people begin to understand morals and social good then moral reasoning. Basic human rights become important as well as principles.

    Read More

  • Kohlberg's Theory Of Moral Development

    1033 Words  | 3 Pages

    The moral development of children can depend on many factors. Parenting and upbringing of the child, their environment, social environment, gender, and race are all aspects that can contribute to how a child develops their moral standards and expectations. Many psychologist have tried for several years to develop a theory to how morality is developed. One in particular is Lawrence Kohlberg (1958), his moral development theory is based on the cognitive development of children and it is thought that moral development proceeds and changes as cognitive development occurs (Arnett, 2012). Kohlberg’s moral development theory consist of 3 different levels each containing 2 stages altogether making 6 stages of moral development, as Kohlberg conducted

    Read More

  • Piaget's Four Stages of Cognitive Development in Children

    1018 Words  | 3 Pages

    They are able of solving problems using reasoning and logic. They can organize facts and events in mature fashion and figure out possible moves and their outcomes. They can also deal with proportions and analogies and reflect on their own thinking. One of the major themes of development is moral development. The most influential research on development was done by Lawrence Kohlberg. It was influenced by Piaget’s cognitive developmental approach. Kohlberg divided Moral development into 6 stages. The first stage is called Preconventional level. During this stage individuals recognize labels of “good” and “bad”, right and wrong, but do not interpret these labels in terms of social standards. The next stage is called Conventional level. During this level individuals make moral judgments based on expectations, whether the expectations are coming from family or society. This level of morality is shown mainly by adolescents and adults. The next level is the post conventional level. During this stage individuals accept and stand by society’s rules and laws but tend to view them in terms of the underlying principles. Individuals may also follow personal ethical principles. This is where they take into account human rights or life and

    Read More

  • Erikson's Third Stages Of Psychosocial Development: Initiative Vs. Guilt

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    Erikson 's third stage of psychosocial development is Initiative vs. Guilt. This stage generally occurs between ages of 3 to 6 years, and during this stage the child initiates new activities and considers new ideas. The child demonstrates an increased interest in exploring the world, and as a result the child becomes involved and busy. Children often become aware of their personhood in the Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt stage of psychosocial development, and so often times during the Initiative vs. Guilt stage of development they attempt to make sense of what type of person they are going to be. Children during this stage of development often embrace the phrase "Why?". They are also often eager to collaborate with other children to construct

    Read More

  • moral

    3441 Words  | 7 Pages

    “There is a grave danger that they (Kohlberg’s findings) may become exhalted into a general theory of moral development” may be seen by some to have been fulfilled.

    Read More

  • Kohleberg´s Philosophy of Moral Development

    832 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although influential to the study of moral development, Kohlberg’s theory proves inadequate in describing the complexity of moral choices. Kohlberg’s theory overemphasizes the role of rationality in moral expression, fails to observe the influence of intuition in moral behaviour, and in doing so, undermines the goal of morality.

    Read More

  • Carol Gilligan's Theory Of Moral Development

    759 Words  | 2 Pages

    Similar to Kohlberg 's theory and stages of moral development, Gilligan has three major stages. In the Pre-conventional morality stage self interest and an individuals survival are key. Children typically show selfishness and no responsibility. This stage can also be compared to Freud 's Oral Stage which highlighted the infants need for attention and inability to express what they needed. With transition into the Conventional stage an individual becomes more responsible and learns selflessness. The Conventional stages primary goal is learning to care for others and not the self. An example of this may be a mother or care giver. The Post-conventional stage transition includes the idea of taking responsibility and gaining control of their own lives. Caring for others is a major key of this stage of moral development and some people never make it to this

    Read More

  • The Theories of Piaget and Kohlberg

    1064 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kohlberg views the person as able to actively interact with his or her environment. While the individual cannot fully change the environment, the environment can fully mold the individual. A person’s actions are the result of his or her feelings, thoughts, behaviors, and experiences, and thus Kohlberg’s theory stresses the importance of the element of nurture. The two theories are similar in that both believe that the stages of development are hierarchical in that later stages of development build on earlier ones. Furthermore, both theorists believed that the stages of development imply qualitative differences in children’s thinking and ways of solving problems (Bissell).

    Read More

  • Erikson's Theory Of Adolescent Development Theories

    1441 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kohlberg, Lawrence., Hersh, Richard. H. (1977.) Moral Development: A Review of the Theory. Theory Into Practice. Vol. 16. No. 2. Retrieved from: http://academic.udayton.edu/jackbauer/Readings%20595/Kohlberg%2077%20his%20theory%20copy.pdf

    Read More

  • Kohlberg's Moral Stages Research Paper

    864 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kohlberg's Moral Stages Through understanding the stages of moral development, it is possible to develop or improve an individual's morals or values. Kohlberg's stages of moral development are based on a psychological theory that was originally conceived by Jean Piaget. Kohlberg's theory reviews moral reasoning from the perspective of six developmental stages, where each higher stage responded to moral dilemmas more adequately in comparison to its predecessor. In other words, Kohlberg's theory states that people progress in their moral reasoning moving through six stages that were classified into three levels. This paper aims at explaining Kohlberg's theory of moral stages and reviewing most common critique of his work.

    Read More

More about Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

Open Document