Kohlberg (1968) - 'The child as the moral philosopher' Flashcards
What is morality
The principles that help an individual to distinguish right from wrong
What is moral development
The process of the emergence, change, and understanding of morality from infancy through to adulthood
Which psychologist influenced Kholberg’s research
- The work of Jean Piaget
- who saw moral development as going through stages
What is Kholberg base his definitions of morality on
Socratic notions of justice
What was Kholberg’s aim
To investigate the development of moral reasoning in children to create a series of stages that could be applied to all children
What was the methodologies used
- self reports (in the form of semi-structured interviews)
- the study included cross-cultural comparisons (to see if moral development is innate)
- the study was longitudinal, spanning 12 years (see how moral development develops over time)
- the sample of 75 American boys
How do we know that Kholberg used a longitudinal study + why use this methodology
- It took place over 12 years (participants started ages 10-16 and finished ages 22-28)
- links to the 1st assumption of developmental psychology because it allowed Kohlberg to see the changes that individuals go through in their lives, by seeing their morals develop
- links to the 2nd assumption of developmental psychology because it allowed Kholberg to see whether changes develop steadily or if they go through stages
How do we know that Kholberg used a longitudinal self-report + why use this methodology
- used a semi-structured interview, asking 3 of the 9 hypothetical moral dilemmas, then asking 10 or more open Qs
- links to 1st assumption of developmental psychology —> see the changes that individuals go through by gauging an in depth insight into their mental processes + reasoning
- links to 2nd assumption of developmental psychology —> gain information to see what stage they’re in
Describe the methodology in terms of self-report
- semi-structured interview
- Kohlberg created 9 hypothetical moral dilemmas, and the participants discussed 3
- then asked 10 or more open Qs
Describe the methodology in terms of being cross-cultural
The study was repeated for individuals in not only America, but also:
- Great Britain
- Canada
- Taiwan
- Mexico
- Turkey
Describe the methodology in terms of being longitudinal
- participants started ages 10-16 and the study finished when they were 22-28
- they were assessed every 3 years
- therefore the study spanned 12 years
Describe the methodology in terms of the sample
- 75 American boys from the ages 10-16 and again between 22-28
- he also studied people in GB, Canada, Taiwan, Mexico and Turkey
Describe the procedure
- to assess moral thinking, Kohlberg created 9 hypothetical moral dilemmas (such as the Heinz dilemma)
- each dilemma presented a conflict between 2 moral issues, and each participant were asked 3 to discuss, prompted by a set of 10 or more open ended Qs
- each of the boys’ answers were analysed and common themes were identified so that the stage theory could be constructed. Each boy was re-interviewed every 3 years
- the same kind of interview was used with children and adults in other cultures
Describe the findings
- the younger children thought at the pre-conventional level and as they got older their reasons for moral decisions became less focused on themselves and more focused on doing good because relationships with others are important. The final level of development is related to moral principles
- the results in Mexico and Taiwan were the same except that development was a little slower. Therefore moral development is inherent, but how fast you progress is dependent on the environment
—> the findings allowed Kohlberg to develop 3 levels of moral development, comprised of 6 stages
Describe the 3 levels of moral development with their 6 stages
1) Pre conventional level: accept rules of authority
1: punishment and obedience orientation —> ignores intentions behind the behaviour, focus on obeying rules that are enforced by punishment
2: Instrumental purpose orientation —> view actions as ‘right’ if they satisfy their own needs
2) Conventional level: conforming to social rules
3: interpersonal cooperation orientation —> what is right is defined by what’s expected by others (e.g. law)
4: Social order maintaining orientation —> defining what is right by the norms of society (peers)
3) Post conventional level: Morality is defined in terms of abstract moral principles that apply to all situations and societies
5: Laws are seen as relative and flexible. When they’re consistent with individual rights, they’re upheld
6: Morality is defined in terms of self-chosen abstract universal moral principles. Individuals act in accordance with their moral principles
What was the conclusions
There are 3 conclusions
1) stages are invariant and universal
2) Each new stage represents a more equilibrated balance form of moral understanding
3) Morals can be developed
Describe the conclusion: Stages are invariant and universal
- Stages come one at a time and always in the same order
- all movement is forward in sequence and doesn’t skip steps
- children may move through the stages at varying speeds
- an individual may stop at any given stage but if he continues to move, he must move in accordance with these steps
- the sequence of stages is culturally universal
Describe the conclusion: Each new stage represents a more equilibrated balance form of moral understanding
- Each stage becomes more logical and consistent
- there is a morally mature form of understanding
Describe the conclusion: Morals can be developed
- Moral discussion classes can help children develop their moral thinking
- Discussion between children at stages 3 and 4 result in the stage 3 child moving forwards
- the stage 4 child understands but doesn’t accept the argument of the stage 3 child
when evaluating methodologies. what two points do you talk about
- the research method (semi-structured interview)
- Longitudinal
evaluate the methodology of using a semi-structured interview
P: used semi-structured interview
E: created 9 hypothetical moral dilemmas, and participants discussed 3. Open Qs were used and these Qs changed in response to the participants answer
E: the strength to this is that it allowed them to clarify reasons for answers in order to gain additional data that wouldn’t have been available if predetermined Qs were used
L: This further increases validity and shows why using a semi-structured interview was the appropriate technique to gauge the child’s moral development
C: However, there was some social desirability bias because it is a form of self-report that tackles socially sensitive issues + very difficult to repeat because not everyone is asked the same Qs –> resulting in low reliability
evaluate the methodology of the time frame
P: it was a longitudinal study
E: the participants were interviewed every 3 years for 12 years
E: The strength of this is that Kohlberg was able to see the development of their morals over time and because it was the same sample, there was no participant variables
L: This links to the 1st assumption of developmental psychology, ‘looks at the changes individuals go through in their lives (birth to death’. Therefore it was an appropriate methodology
C: There may be extraneous variables such as traumatic events that will affect their development that Kohlberg cannot control. And because the study took 12 years, it means that it was susceptible to attrition (participant drop out) as well as cohort effects which might lower the validity of the results
when evaluating the procedures, what do you talk about
- type of data collected (qualitative)
- sample
evaluate the procedure of the type of data collected
P: qualitative
E: open Qs were used in a semi-structured interview, which would often change in response to the participants answer
E: : the strength to this is that it allowed them to clarify reasons for answers in order to gain additional data that wouldn’t have been available if quantitative data was used
L: This links to the 2nd assumption of developmental psychology because it allowed Kohlberg to determine what stage of moral development the participant was in based on the reasoning for their answer
C: However it is difficult to analyse and researcher bias may occur when interpreting these results
