Chapter 14 Flashcards
Moral judgement core concepts:
Core Concepts:
1. The reasoning behind a behavior is critical for determining whether a given behavior is moral or immoral.
2. Changes in moral reasoning form the basis of moral development.
What is moral development and what is interpersonal and interpersonal dimension?
Moral development involves changes in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors regarding standards of right and wrong.
• Intrapersonal dimension regulates a person’s activities when not engaged in social interaction.
• Interpersonal dimension regulates social interactions and arbitrates conflict.
To understand moral development, we need to consider five basic questions:
• How do individuals reason or think about moral decisions?
•How do individuals actually behave in moral circumstances?
• How do individuals feel about moral matters?
What characterizes an individual’s moral personality?
How is the moral domain different from social conventional and
personal domains?
Who were the Contributors to
Current Understanding
Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg
Both took a cognitive developmental approach to studying the development of morality
A. Piaget’s Theory of Moral Judgment
What is his book name
• In his book, The Moral Judgment of the Child, Piaget described how children’s mor reasoning changes from a rigid acceptance of the dictates and rules of authorities to a appreciation that moral rules are a product of social interaction and hence are modifiable.
• Piaget’s method initially involved observing children’s games.
• He also conducted open-ended interviews with children in which they were presented with stories involving children’s behavior and asked to make judgments as to which child was naughtier
His moral judgement: morality of constraint-> transition period-> Autonomous morality
- Morality of Constraint
• Characterizes the moral reasoning of children who have not yet reached the cognitive stage of concrete operations.
• See rules and duties as unchangeable “givens” established by an adult
• Believe that what determines whether an action is good or bad is the consequence of the action, not the motive behind it (before ages 7-8)
- The Transitional Period
• From about age 7 or 8 to age 10
• Because of increased peer interaction, children learn that rules can be constructed by the group and increasingly learn to take one another’s perspective, thereby becoming more autonomous in their thinking about moral issues.
- Autonomous Morality
• By about age 11 or 12, moral relativism emerges, with all normal children reaching this stage.
• Understand that rules can be changed if a group agrees to do so
• Consider fairness and equality among people as important factors in constructing rules
• Consider individuals’ motives when evaluating their crimes
- Evaluation of Piaget’s Theory
• Although Piaget’s general view of moral development has been supported by empirical research, some aspects have not held up well to scrutiny.
• For example, young children can sometimes consider intentions and disregard adults’ views when judging the morality of some actions, such as hurting others.
B. Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Judgment
• Strongly influenced by
Piaget
• Assessed moral judgment by presenting children with hypothetical moral dilemmas and then questioning them about the issues involved in their moral judgments
- Kohlberg’s Stages three levels of moral judgement
• Proposed three levels of moral judgment:
• 1. Preconventional: Moral reasoning is self-centered, focusing on getting rewards and avoiding punishment
• 2. Conventional: Moral reasoning is centered on social relationships
(Pleasing family or Following rules to be a “good person”
• 3. Postconventional: Morai reasoning is involved with ideals, focusing on moral principles (universal fairness)
• Each level involves two stages of moral judgment
Kohlberg’s stages of judgement
1-3rd stage
Stages of Moral Judgment
-Punishment and obedience:
What is seen as right is
Obedience to authorities
2
Instrumental and Exchange: Morality is defined in terms of one’s own best interest or a tit-for-tat exchange of benefits
3
Mutual Interpersonal, Expectations, Relationships, and Interpersonal Conformity:
Good behavior is doing what is expected by people close to the individual or by fulfilling the eyvectations of a social role
Kohlberg’s
Stages of Moral Judgment
Social System and Conscience:
Social Contract or
Individual Rights:
Universal Ethical
5-6
Orientation
Social System and Conscience:
Right behavior involves fulfilling, one’s duties, upholding laws and contributing to society or one’s group
5
Social Contract or
Individual Rights:
Right behavior involves upholding rules that are in the best interest of the group
6
Universal Ethical
Principles:
Values and rights are universally right and must be upheld regardless of majority opinion
Preconventional Level:
Stage 1 Punishment and obedience Orientation:
What is seen as right is obedience to authorities.
Children’s “conscience” (what makes them decide what is right or wrong) is fear of punishment, and their moral action is motivated by avoidance of punishment. The child does not consider the interests of others or recognize that §hey differ from his or her own interests.
• Pro: If you let your wife die, you will get in trouble. You’ll be blamed for not spending the money to save her and there’ll be an investigation of you and the druggist for your wife’s death.
• Con: You shouldn’t steal the drug because you’ll be caught and sent to jail if you do. If you do get away, your conscience would bother you, thinking how the police would catch up with you at any minute.
aventional Level:
ge 3
• Mutual Interpersonal Expectations, Relationships, and Interpersonal Conformity (“Good Girl, Nice Boy”) Orientation: Good behavior is doing what is expected by people who are close to the person or what people generally expect of someone in a given role (e.g.,
“a son”). Being “good” is important in
itself and means having good motives, showing concern about others, and maintaining good relationships with others.
•Pro: No one will think you’re bad if you steal the drug, but your family will think you’re an inhuman husband if you don’t.
If you fet your wife die, you’ll never be able to look anybody in the face again.
• Con: It isn’t just the druggist who will think you’re a criminal, everyone else will too. After you steal it, you’ll feel bad thinking how you’ve brought dishonor on your family and yourself; you won’t be able to face anyone again.
Conventional Level:
Stage 4
Social System and Conscience (“Law and Order”)
Orientation: Right behavior involves fulfilling one’s duties, upholding laws, and contributing to society or one’s group.
The individual is motivated to keep the social system going and to avoid a breakdown in its functioning
Pro: In most marriages, you accept the responsibility to look after one another’s health and after their life and you have the responsibility when you live with someone to try and make it a happy life.
Con: In the revised coding manual, Colby and Kohlberg (1987b) provide virtually no examples of Stage 4 reasoning supporting the decision that Heinz should not steal the drug for his wife. However, they provide reasons for not stealing the drug for a pet: Heinz should not steal for a pet because animals cannot contribute to society.
• Social Contract or Individual Rights Orientation
Right behavior involves upholding rules that are in the best interest of the group (“the greatest good for the greatest number”), are impartial, or were agreed upon by the group. However, some values and rights, such as life and liberty, are universally right and must be upheld in any society, regardless of majority opinion.
• Pro: Heinz should steal the drug because the right to life supersedes or transcends the right to property.
• Con: It is difficult to construct a Stage 5 reason that justifies not stealing the drug.
Postconventional Level:
Stage 6
Universal Ethical Principles:
•
Right behavior is commitment to self-chosen ethical principles that reflect universal principles of justice (e.g., equality of human rights, respect for the dignity of each human being). When laws violate these principles, the individual should act in accordance with these universal principles rather than the law.
What does Kohlbergs theory of Moral judgement argue that people
Argued that people all over the world go though these stages in the same order, although they differ with regard to the final stage they attain
Also contended that levels of cognitive development, especially individuals’
skills in perspective taking, determined their progress through the stages
What are key criticisms of Kohlbergs theory
Some key criticisms of Kohlberg’s theory:
• Too much emphasis on moral thought and not enough on moral behavior.
• Where Kohlberg suggests moral thinking is deliberative, Haidt
suggests it is more often an intuitive reaction.
• Where Kohlberg suggests emotion has negative effects on moral reasoning, evidence indicates emotions play an important role.
• Some critics claim the theory is culturally biased.
•Kohlberg places too much emphasis on peer relations and not enough on family.
• Differences found based on sex/gender
- Critique of Kohlberg’s Theory
• Carol Gilligan argued that Kohlberg’s classification of moral judgment is…
What is the care perspective
centered on principles of justice and rights which are valued more by males than by females, rather than on values of caring and responsibility for others, which are more central to females.
Heart of morality in Kohlberg’s theory is a justice perspective.
Care perspective emphasizes connectedness with others, interpersonal communication, social relationships, and concern for others.
Girls consistently interpret moral dilemmas in terms of human relationships, basing interpretations on listening and watching other people.
C. Prosocial Moral Judgment
• Voluntary behavior intended to benefit another, such as helping, sharing, and providing comfort
• To study the development of prosocial moral development, Eisenberg presented children with stories in which the characters musi choose between helping someone and meeting their own needs.
• Identified five stages of prosocial moral reasoning similar to Kohlberg’s stages
Eisenberg’s
Stages of Prosocial Behavior
1. Hedonistic and 2. Needs-based orientation
1)
Hedonistic, self-focused orientation. The individual is concerned with his or her own interests rather than with moral considerations.
-Reasons for assisting or not assisting another include direct personal gain, future reciprocaloriand concern for the other based on need or affection. (primarily for preschoolers and younger elementary children.)
2)
Needs-based orientation. The individual expresses concern for the physical, material, and psychological needs of others even when those needs conflict with his or her own. This concern is expressed in the simplest terms, without clear evidence of self-reflective role taking, verbal expressions of sympathy, or reference to such emotions as pride or guilt. So they don’t deeply understand others perspectives or feel complex emotions but they do care about others in basic ways even if it means giving up what they want.
(Predominant mode for many preschoolers and many elementary school children.)
Eisenberg’s
Stages of Prosocial Behavior
3 Approval and/or stereotyped orientation. and 4a Self-reflective empathic orientation and 4b Transitional level. and 5 Strongly internalized stage
3.
Approval and/or stereotyped orientation. The individual justifies engaging or not engaging in prosocial behavior on the basis of others’ approval or acceptance and/or on stereotyped images of good and bad persons and behavior. (Predominant for some elementary school and high school students.)
Seen as a good person
4a.
Self-reflective empathic orientation. The individual’s judgments include evidence of self-reflective sympathetic responding or role taking, concern with the other’s humanness, and/or guilt or positive emotion related to the consequences of one’s actions. (Predominant for a few older elementary school children and many high school students.) feels complex emotions
4b. Transitional level. The individual’s justifications for helping or not helping involve internalized values, norms, duties, or responsibilities. They may also reflect concerns for the condition of the larger society or refer to the necessity of protecting the rights and dignities of other persons. These ideals, however, are not clearly or strongly stated. (Predominant mode for a minority of people of high school age or older.)
5.Strongly internalized stage. The individual’s justifications for helping or not helping are based on internalized values, norms, or responsibilities; the desire to maintain individual and societal contractual obligations or improve the condition di society; and the belief in the rights, dignity, and equality of all individuals. This level is also characterized by positive or negative emotions related to whether or not one succeeds in living up to one’s own values and accepted norms. (Predominant mode for only a small minority of high school students.)
Eisenberg’s
Stages of Prosocial Behavior
This pattern of changes has been found in a variety of Western countries.
• Although children from different cultures do vary somewhat in their prosocial moral reasoning, reflecting the values of the culture.
-• Children using higher-level prosocial moral reasoning tend to be more sympathetic and prosocial in their behavior than children who use lower-level prosocial moral
Moral Behavior
Processes of reinforcement, punishment, and imitation affect how individuals learn moral behavior.
Effectiveness of reward and punishment depends on consistency a
timing.
Effectiveness of modeling depends on the characteristics of the model and the cognitive skills of the observer.
Behavior is situationally dependent.
Individuals do not consistently display moral behavior in different situations.
Resistance to temptation and self-control are keys.
What’s the three domains of social judgement
• Moral judgments: Decisions that pertain to issues of right and wrong, fairness, and justice
• Social conventional judgments: Decisions that pertain to customs or regulations intended to secure social coordination and social organization
(What’s expected in a certain setting like rules, customs, or social expectations)
• Personal iudaments: Decisions that refer to actions in which individual preferences are the main consideration
- Children’s Use of Social Judgment
• In many cultures, children begin to differentiate between moral and social conventional issues as early as age 3, and see moral transgressions as more serious offenses.
• Children, even adolescents, believe that parents have authority over moral and social conventional issues in the family, but not over matters of personal judgment.
- Cultural and Socioeconomic
Differences
• There are some cultural differences in whether a given behavior is viewed as having moral implications, but it is likely that people in all cultures differentiate between moral, social conventional, and personal domains of functioning.
• Socioeconomic status can also influence the way children make these designations.
• In the U.S. and Brazil, children of lower-income families are less likely than middle-class children to differentiate between moral and social convention judgments.
