Kohlberg Flashcards
What are some theorys that Kohlberg is based?
-At birth we are all amoral, lacking any system of personal values and judgements about what is right and wrong
-In the felild of moral develpement morality is usualy defined as a principle for how individual ought to treat one another with respect to justice, others’ wwelfare and rights
what is the background to Kohlbergs study?
-the earliest major psychological study of moral character was conducted by Hartshorne and May this study focused on variety of virtues including honesty, generosity, and self control
-Kohlberg was inspired by Piaget’s pioneering eforts to apply a structural approach to moral developement rather than linking it to personality traits. He saw moral developenmentas a more gradual process.
-Kohlberg provided a sequence of developement which relected changes in moral judgement throughout the lifespan:
level:
1. preconventional
2. conventional
3. post-conventional
stage:
1. punishment and obedience orientation
2. instrumental-relativist orientation
3. good boy-good girl orientation
4. law an order orientation
5. social contrract orientation
6. universal principles
moral reasonning shown:
1. rules are kept to avoid punishment
2.right behaviour is that which brings rewards to oneself
3. good behaviour is what pleases others- conformity to goodness
4. doing one duty, obeying laws is important
5. right is what is democratically agreed upon
6. moral action is taken based upon self-chosen principles
What was the research method to kohlbergs study?
-longitudinal study which followed the developement of the same group of boyes for 12 years by preesenting them with hypthetical and moral dilemmas, all deliberately philosophical. the aim was to show how as young adolecents develop into young manhood, they move through the distinct levels and stages of moral development proposed bykohlberg in his theory of moral development
-he also studdied moral developement in other cultures using hypothetical moral dilemmas- cross-cultural
What was the sample for kohlbergs study?
75 american boys who were aged 10-16 at the start of the study were followed at three-year intervals to the ages of 22-28
-cross-culturally in great brittan, canada,tiwan,mexico, and turkey (boys)
what is the procedure to kohlbergs study?
75 american boys:
-presented with hypothetical moral dilemmas to solve these stories were to determine each ppts stage of moral reasoning for each of 25 moral concepts. aspects assessed included: motive iven for rule obedience or moral action, the value of human life tested by asking
.aged 10 “is it better to save the life of one important person or alot of unimortant people?”
.aged 13,16,20,24 “should the doctor mercy kill a fatally ill woman requesting death because of her pain”
Different cultures
-taiwanese boyes aged 10-13 were asked a story involvng theft or food “A mans wife is starving to death but the store owner wont give the man any food unless he can paywhich he cant. Should he break in and steal some food?why?” boys in great britan, turkey, canada and mexico were tested similarly
what are the key findings to kohlbergs study?
relation to motive given for rule obedience or moral action;
1. obey rules to avoid punishement
2. conform to obtain rewards have favours returned
3. conform to avoid disproval of others
4. conform to avoid censure by legitimate authorities and resultant guilt
5. conform to maintain the respect of the impartial spectator judging in terms of community welfare
6. conform to avoid self-condemnation
relation to “value of human life”
1. the value of a human life is confused with the value of physical objects and is based on social status or physical attributes of its possessor
2.seen as instrumental to the satisfaction of the needs of its possessor
3.based on the empathy
4. life is conceived as sacred in terms of its relationto community welfare
5. life is sacred in a catagorically moral or religious order of rights and dutuies
6.belife in the sacredness of human life as representing a universal human value of respect
.participants progressed through the stagesone at a time all in the same order
cross culture findings:
-no important differences were found in the developement of moral thinking among catholics, protestants, jews, buddhists, muslims, or atheists
-in the us by age 16 stage 6 was rarely used . at age 13 stage 3 wasnt used
- trends of lower class urban groups were intermediate in the rate of developement between those for middle class and for village boys.
what are possible conclusions for kohlbergs study?
- there is an invariant developement sequence in an individuals moral developement
-an individual may stop any given stage at any age
-there is a cultural universality of sequence of stages
