Kohlberg: Moral Development (Cognitive)

Question 1

Method?

Answer 1

Longitudinal: interviews with stimulus material

Question 2

PPs?

Answer 2

58 boys from Chicago
Working+middle class
Aged 7,10,13 and 16

Question 3

Procedure?

Answer 3

• each boy given a 2 hour interview with 10 hypothetical dilemmas e.g Heinz
• some boys followed up at 3-yearly intervals to ages 33-36
• later studied children from UK, Mexico, Taiwan, Turkey, USA & Yucatan

Question 4

Results?

Answer 4

• younger boys tended to perform at stages 1+2
• older boys tended to perform at stages 3+4
• patterns consistent in cross-cultural studies although slower in non-industrialised
• no support for stage 6; suggested in 1978 that perhaps wasn’t a stage

Question 5

Conclusions?

Answer 5

Suggests support for developing morality

Question 6

What are the moral development stages?

Answer 6

Level 1: pre-conventional
Stage 1= fear of punishment
Stage 2= for personal gain

Level 2: conventional morality
Stage3= according to majority boy/girl
Stage 4= duty to help society, obey laws

Level 3: post-conventional
Stage 5= whilst rules may exist, may work against individuals
Stage 6= their own set of moral guidelines

Question 7

Aim?

Answer 7

To find evidence in support of a progression though stages of moral development.

Question 8

Strengths of the study?

Answer 8

• follow up studies= cross cultural validity
• free will= within each stage their is potential for choice
• longitudinal= detailed development, increases internal reliability+predictive validity

Question 9

Weaknesses of study?

Answer 9

• initial study is ethnocentric, all studies are androcentric
• reductionist= highly dispositional and nurture
• longitudinal= time bound (anachronistic)
• construct bias