Transcript Lawrence Kohlberg

Lawrence Kohlberg
The Stages of Moral Development
By: Clare Elfelt and Erin Moore
Background Information
• Lawrence Kohlberg was
born in 1927
• Received Bachelor’s Degree
and PhD in Psychology
• Taught at Yale, the
University of Chicago, and
Harvard
• Expanded on Piaget’s
theories of Cognitive
Development
• Made significant
discoveries within the field
of Moral Development
• Kohlberg died in 1971
Definition of Terms
• Moral Reasoning – the process of determining
right or wrong in a given situation
• Moral Dilemma - fictional stories that describe
situations in which a person has to make a moral
decision
• Values – the rules by which we make decisions
about right and wrong
• Choice – An act of selecting or making a decision
when faced with two or more possibilities
The Cognitive-Developmental
Theory of Moralization
• Pre-Conventional Morality
• Stage 1: Obedience Orientation
• Stage 2: Individualism Orientation
• Conventional Morality
• Stage 3: Interpersonal Orientation
• Stage 4: Social Order Orientation
• Post-Conventional Morality
• Stage 5: Social Contract Orientation
• Stage 6: Universal Ethics Orientation
Stage 1: Obedience
• The child assumes
that the rules of the
authority figure must
be unquestioned
• View morality as
external to
themselves
• Example of
reasoning: “It’s bad
to steal”
Stage 2: Individualism
• Act according to ones
own self-interest
• Speak as isolated
individuals instead of
reasoning members
of society
• Example of
reasoning: “Stealing
is okay if you need
something”
Stage 3: Interpersonal
• Best observed in
two-person
relationships
• Emphasis on living up
to social expectations
• Example of
reasoning: “He was a
good man because
he didn’t steal”
Stage 4: Social Order
• Make observations in
relation to society as
a whole
• Focus on maintaining
law and order
• Example of
reasoning: “It’s
against the law to
steal”
Stage 5: Social Contract
• Understand that
there are differing of
opinion of what is
right and wrong
• Need for rights and
democracy
• Example of
reasoning: “It is
legally wrong to steal
but it in this case it is
morally right”
Stage 6: Universal Ethics
• Ability to engage in
abstract reasoning
• Protection of
individual rights and
disputes settled
through the
democratic process
• Kohlberg believed
this stage to be
theoretical in nature
Our Research Questions
• Are Catholic students attending a Catholic school more likely
to rely on traditional church teachings when responding to a
moral dilemma that involves a specifically Catholic teaching
than when responding to a moral dilemma that involves a
generic/universal moral question?
• When evaluated using The Measurement of Moral Judgment:
Volume 2, Standard Issue Scoring Manual by Colby and
Kohlberg, will Catholic student responses to Catholic moral
dilemmas fall into the same, higher, or lower stages of moral
development as compared to the responses of the nonCatholic students?
• Are there patterns of difference among boys and girls with
respect to their stages of moral reasoning relevant to gender
or religion?
Our Hypotheses
• Catholic students attending a Catholic school will be more
likely to rely on traditional church teachings when
responding to a moral dilemma that involves a specifically
Catholic teaching than when responding to a moral
dilemma that involves a generic/universal moral question.
• When evaluated using The Measurement of Moral
Judgment: Volume 2, Standard Issue Scoring Manual by
Colby and Kohlberg, Catholic students responses to Catholic
moral dilemmas will fall into higher stages of moral
development as compared to the responses of the nonCatholic students.
• There will not be patterns of difference among boys and
girls with respect to their stages of moral reasoning
relevant to gender or religion.
Data Collection Instrument
Part 1
Are you Catholic? Circle yes or no.
Yes or No
How old are you? __________
What is your gender? Circle your answer.
Male or Female
Part 2
Joe is a 14-year old boy who wanted to go to camp very much. His father promised him he could go if he saved up the money for it
himself. So Joe worked hard at his paper route and saved up the $100 it cost to go to camp and a little more besides. But just before
camp was going to start, his father changed his mind. Some of his friends decided to go on a special fishing trip, and Joe’s father was
short of the money it would cost. So he told Joe to give him the money he had saved from the paper route. Joe didn’t want to give
up going to camp, so he thought about refusing to give his father the money.
Should Joe refuse to give his father the money? Why or why not? Use the space below to write your answer.
Part 3
Theresa is a really talented soccer player. All season, Theresa has worked really hard to make sure that her middle school soccer
team made it to the finals. The hard work paid off and Theresa’s team won every single game. The finals schedule was posted
online and Theresa saw that the championship game was scheduled for a Sunday. There was going to be a scout at that Sunday’s
game and Theresa had a chance to get a soccer scholarship to the best high school in her town. The Catechism tells us “The Sunday
Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the
Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason” (2181, Catechism of the Catholic Church). Theresa thinks her
soccer championship is a serious reason.
Should Theresa miss mass to play in championship game? Why or why not? Use the space below to write your answer.
Moral Development Rubric
Stage 1: Obedience and
Punishment Orientation
Stage 2: Individualism and
Exchange
Stage 3: Interpersonal
Relationships
Stage 4: Maintaining a
Social Order
Stage 5: Social Contract
and Individual Rights
Stage 6: Universal
Principles
Kohlberg’s Definition:
Expected Statements in
Response to the Dilemma:
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The child assumes that the rules of the
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authority figure must be unquestioned
View morality as external to themselves
Avoidance of punishment
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“My dad/mom told me not to…”
“You’ll get punished”/ “You won’t get
punished”
“I don’t want to get in trouble”
Act according to ones own self-interest
Speak as isolated individuals instead of
reasoning members of society
Notion of fair exchange

“Good Boy/Nice Girl” Orientation
Best observed in two-person
relationships
Emphasis on living up to social
expectations
Make observations in relation to society
as a whole
Focus on maintaining law and order

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“ This person had the right idea”
“His intentions were good, but…”
This person was “greedy, selfish” or
“caring and loving”
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“Stealing or breaking the law is never
right, even though it is understandable
why the person did it”
“What would happen if we all did that”
Stress on basic rights and democratic
procedures to change unfair laws
Understanding of differences in opinion
regarding right and wrong
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Ability to engage in abstract reasoning
Protection of individual rights and
disputes settled through the democratic
process
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“They may have thought it was the
right/wrong thing to do”
“It was unfair”/ “The fair way would have
been…”
“Laws are social contracts that everyone
agrees to uphold”
“It is legally wrong but morally right”
“Her reason is more important than his”
Kohlberg considered Stage 6 to be
theoretical in nature, therefore we did
not consider this possibility in our
research study
Results from Kohlberg Dilemma
Results from Catholic Dilemma
Comparison of Results
Interesting Responses
• “No she should go to mass because it’s one of the
commandments and you need to abide by them.” –
Child A
• “She should miss mass because going to the
championship is a once in a lifetime opportunity and
her team is counting on her. You can go to mass
every Sunday and it is okay to skip at least one
mass.” - Child D
• “She shouldn’t miss her game because she worked
really hard. There are a lot of masses on Sunday and
she could just go to a later mass.” –Child E
Conclusion
• Only two students exhibited a change in moral
reasoning
• The majority of students exhibited Stage 2 reasoning
in both dilemmas
• One of our hypotheses was correct:
• The girl participant did not exhibit different reasoning
than the male participants
• Two of our hypotheses were incorrect:
• Catholic students on the whole did not exhibit a
change in moral reasoning
• Catholic students did not exhibit higher reasoning than
Non-Catholic students on the Catholic Dilemma
Limitations
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Limited amount of survey subjects
There was only one female participant in the study
There was only Non-Catholic participant in the study
Survey participants were distracted by their classmates
Survey participation was limited to students in the 7th
grade
• Use of only two dilemmas provided limited
information
• The Catholic Dilemma should have clarified that
Theresa’s parish does not offer a vigil mass
• Students did not choose to attend a Catholic school
Placement on the Nature/Nurture Line
Nature
Nurture
Important Things to Consider:
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”Social experiences can challenge a child’s ideas, motivating
them to come up with new ones.”
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“Stage structures and sequences do not simply unfold
according to a genetic blueprint.”
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Stages unfold in an invariant sequence and have crosscultural universality.