Kohlberg Flashcards
Kohlbergs aim
To provide research that would back up his theory of moral development as inspired by Piaget
US sample
75 boys aged 10-16 until they were 22-28 (followed the same boys for 12 years)
Procedure
1) Each boy presented with moral dilemmas every three years
2) Using the answers they were sorted into six categories, six being most morally developed
3) This formed his theory of stages of moral development
How was the study longitudinal?
He followed a number of participants over an extended period of time
How did Kohlberg decide which stage each participant was at?
If at least 50% of their responses to moral dilemmas fell into that stage
Which countries did Kohlberg conduct the study in?
Taiwan, Turkey, Mexico, Malaysia, Canada, USA and the UK
What were the three categories for the stages?
Pre-conventional (1&2)
Conventional (3&4)
Post-conventional (5&6)
Stage one-obedience and punishment orientation
Child is responsive to cultural norms, but able to behave in an immoral way if an authority structure is missing
Stage two-self-interest orientation
The child behaves in a self centred way
Stage three-conformity to expectations and rules
Child is now seeking approval from others and begins to consider the intention of the act
Stage four-authority and social order orientation
The child sees right behaviour as a duty to show respect and maintain social order
Stage five-social contract orientation
Child now does what is right based on law and personal values/opinions. Sees laws as changeable
Stage six-universal ethical principles
Child now bases judgement on universal human rights of justice, equality, reciprocity and respect for the individual
Kohlbergs conclusions
-The stages follow an ‘invariant developmental sequence’
-‘All movement is forward in sequence, and does not skip steps’
-The nature of the sequence is universal
-Moral thought seems to behave like other thoughts-development with each one being a ‘better cognitive organisation than the one before’
Internal reliability?
-Procedure standardised
-Each participant got the same dilemmas
-Ensured 50% of answers fit in the stage before allocating it
External reliability?
-Large enough sample of 75, as well as samples from other countries
Construct validity?
-Possible social desirability bias
-Possible demand characteristics
-Extraneous variables (education, upbringing, etc)
-The dilemmas may have been testing intelligence instead
Population validity?
-Yes-study was carried out in multiple countries
-No-Study only done on males of a limited age group
Ecological validity
-Hypothetical response may not be the same as a real life due to demand characteristics and real-life stress
Ethnocentric?
-Yes-Initially assumed moral bias was the same for all based on US sample
-No-went on to do the study in other countries
Ethical?
-No: PFH, potentially troubling dilemmas
-Yes:
Consent given by the boys
Could withdraw by not answering questions
Names kept confidential
Participants knew the study aim and weren’t lied to
Advantages of cross-cultural studies
-Reduces ethnocentrism
-Makes study generalisable
-Comparisons can be made
Disadvantages of cross-cultural studies
-Can be expensive to travel for research
-Time consuming/requires a lot of effort
-Practical issues-communication, etc
-Same procedure not always appropriate in every culture
Advantages of longitudinal studies
-Allows you to see proper development in the same people
-Don’t need to get a new sample each time
-Less participant variables
Disadvantages of longitudinal studies
-Participants may not still be available towards the end of the study
-Time consuming/long process
-Something could happen to participants-retention rate
