Kohlberg Flashcards
What is the methodology of kohlbergs research?
-longitudinal study, which lasted over 12 years
-started off with 75 American boys
-the study started when they were 10-16 years and ended when they were 22-28 years
-cross cultural study, six different cultures were then used: USA, Canada, uk, Mexico, turkey, Taiwan.
-interviews were used asking the children about 3 to 9 different dilemmas
-they were re-evaluated every 3years
-Cross, cultural comparisons were made
What are the procedures of kohlbergs research?
-Kohlberg created nine hypothetical dilemmas, each presented a conflict between 2 moral issues. (Eg. Heinz)
-interviews were then given to the boys asking them about 3 different dilemmas, they were then prompted by being asked 10 different open questions. Eg. Should Heinz steal the drug, why or why not?
-the focus was on the boys reasoning
-the boys were re interviewed every 3 years
-the same interviews were used cross culturally and then compared to the American boys.
What were the findings of kohlbergs research?
-there are 3 distinct levels of moral reasoning with 6 stages. These are the pre conventional, conventional, post conventional
-participants passed through these stages as they got older, however not everyone reached the final stages of moral development.
-Stages were always passed through stage by stage and in the fixed order and the participants never went back to a previous stage.
-Overall, the same results were seen in Mexico and Taiwan–but at a slower rate. E.g. at the age of 16, Stage 5 thinking was more prevalent in the USA than either Mexico or Taiwan
What were the conclusions of kohlbergs research?
-Stages are universal
-Some individuals may not reach the final stage
-discussion with the children who are at stage 3 can result in them moving to stage 4, but they do not then revert back to earlier stages
What are positive evaluation points for kohlbers research?
-standardised procedure- same dialemas, the same question, same time period—> high internal validity
-qualitative data through open ended questions—> helps to gain more detail and reasoning behind moral reasoning competed to closed questions
-ages 10-16 provides a wide variety to understand moral reasoning across ages.
What are some negative evaluation points of Kohlbergs research?
-only focuses on boys, when boys moral reasoning may be different to girls eg, girls are more empathetic—> bad population validity
-social desirability bias—> being asked about moral dilemmas, if a child believes that they would be judged, they may change their answers to be viewed more positively
-The dilemmas aren’t real, so it could affect their response and be different if they are faced with the dilemma in every day life —> lacks ecological validity
-same dilemmas was used across all cultures. These dilemmas weren’t necessarily be relevant over cultures creating an imposed etic.
