Lawrence KohlbergThe 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 non-Catholic 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 non-Catholic 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 InstrumentPart 1Are you Catholic? Circle yes or no. Yes or No

How old are you? __________ What is your gender? Circle your answer.Male or Female Part 2Joe 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 3Theresa 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 RubricKohlberg’s Definition: Expected Statements in

Response to the Dilemma:

Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment Orientation

The child assumes that the rules of the authority figure must be unquestioned

View morality as external to themselves Avoidance of punishment

“My dad/mom told me not to…” “You’ll get punished”/ “You won’t get

punished” “I don’t want to get in trouble”

Stage 2: Individualism and Exchange

Act according to ones own self-interest Speak as isolated individuals instead of

reasoning members of society Notion of fair exchange

“They may have thought it was the right/wrong thing to do”

“It was unfair”/ “The fair way would have been…”

Stage 3: Interpersonal Relationships

“Good Boy/Nice Girl” Orientation Best observed in two-person

relationships Emphasis on living up to social

expectations

“ This person had the right idea” “His intentions were good, but…” This person was “greedy, selfish” or

“caring and loving”

Stage 4: Maintaining a Social Order

Make observations in relation to society as a whole

Focus on maintaining law and order

“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”

Stage 5: Social Contract and Individual Rights

Stress on basic rights and democratic procedures to change unfair laws

Understanding of differences in opinion regarding right and wrong

“Laws are social contracts that everyone agrees to uphold”

“It is legally wrong but morally right” “Her reason is more important than his”

Stage 6: Universal Principles

Ability to engage in abstract reasoning Protection of individual rights and

disputes settled through the democratic process

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

• 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:- ”Social experiences can challenge a child’s ideas, motivating

them to come up with new ones.”- “Stage structures and sequences do not simply unfold

according to a genetic blueprint.”- Stages unfold in an invariant sequence and have cross-

cultural universality.

The End