Kohlberg: Moral Development (Developmental) Flashcards
What theories of moral development was Kohlberg’s study based on?
Freud’s psychoanalytic theory - the superego is the third and last part of the personality to be developed and people can only be described as moral beings when the superego develops, focusing on internal forces
Skinner’s behaviourist theory - socialisation is the primary force behind moral development, focusing on external forces (reinforcement)
-Piaget’s cognitive theory - morality develops with age through stages
What are the levels in Kohlberg’s theory of moral development?
Preconventional
Conventional
Post conventional (stages
What are the stages in the preconventional level?
- Punishment and obedience orientation - rules are kept to avoid punishment
- Instrumental-relativist orientation - ‘Right’ behaviour is that which ultimately brings rewards to oneself
What are the stages in the conventional level?
- Good boy-good girl orientation - ‘Good’ behaviour is what pleases others, conformity to goodness
- Law and order orientation - doing one’s duty, obeying laws is important
What are the stages in the post conventional level?
- Social contract orientation - ‘Right’ is what is democratically agreed upon
- Universal principles orientation - moral action is taken based upon self chosen principles
What was the aim of Kolhberg’s study?
To find evidence to support his theory of moral development in which young adolescents develop into young manhood, moving through the distinct levels and stages of moral development
What was the research method in Kohlberg’s study?
-Longitudinal study of the same group of boys for 12 years by presenting them with hypothetical, philosophical, moral dilemmas
-Cross cultural element as moral development in other cultures using hypothetical moral dilemmas was studied
What was the sample for Kohlberg’s study?
-75 American boys who were aged 10-16 at the start of the study were followed at 3 year intervals through to ages 22-28
-Also studied boys of other cultures including: Great Britain, Canada, Taiwan, Mexico, and Turkey
What was the procedure for the American boys in Kohlberg’s study?
-Participants were presented with hypothetical moral dilemmas in the form of short stories to solve
-The stories were to determine each participant’s stage of moral reasoning for each of moral moral concepts/aspects
-this included: motive given for rule obedience or moral action, the value of human life
Aged 10: is it better to save the life of one important person or a lot of unimportant people?
Aged 13,16, 20,24: Should the doctor mercy kill a fatally ill woman requesting death because of her pain?
What was the procedure for other cultures in Kohlberg’s study?
-Taieanese boys, aged 10-13, were asked about a story involving theft of food: A man’s wife is starving to death but the store owner won’t give the man any food unless he can pay, which he can’t. Should he break in and steal some food? why?
-Young boys in Great Britain, Canada, Mexico, and Turkey were tested in a similar way
How did the stages of moral development relate to ‘motive given for rule obedience or moral action’?
- Obey rules to avoid punishment
- Conform to obtain rewards, have favours returned
- Conform to avoid disapproval, dislike by others
- Conform to avoid censure by legitimate authorities and resultant guilt
- Conform to maintain the respect of the impartial spectator judging in terms of community welfare
- Conform to avoid self condemnation
How did the stages of moral development relate to value of human life?
- Confused with the value of physical objects and is based on social status or physical attributes
- Instrumental to the satisfaction of the needs of its possessor
- Based on the empathy and affection of family members towards them
- Seen as sacred
- In relation to community welfare and in terms of life being a human right
- Belief in the sacredness of human life as representing a universal human value of respect for the individual
What were the key findings of the American boys in Kohlberg’s study?
- About 50% of each of the 6 stages a participant’s thinking was at a single stage, regardless of the moral dilemma and participants showed progress through stages with age
- Not all participants reached stage 6
- Stages were experienced one at a time and always in the same order
- Can’t go back stages
- A child at an earlier stage of development tends to move forward when confronted with the views of a child further along
What were the cross cultural findings of Kohlberg’s study?
-Taiwanese boys aged 10-13 gave classic stage 2 responses
- Mexico and Taiwan showed the same results as Americans except that development was a little slower
-Middle class children found to be more advanced than matched lower class children
-No differences in religion
What possible conclusions can be drawn from Kohlberg’s study?
-There is a constant developmental sequence in an individual’s moral development
- Stages are experienced in the same order
-Individuals may stop at a stage at any age
-Moral development fits with Kohlberg’s stage pattern theory
-There is a cultural universality of sequence of stages
-Middle and lower class children move through the same sequence, but middle class move faster and further.
-This 6-Stage theory of moral development is not significantly affected by widely ranging social, cultural or religious conditions. The only thing
that is affected is the rate at which individuals progress through the sequence.
