What are the 6 stages of moral development by Kohlberg?

According to Kohlberg, an individual progresses from the capacity for pre-conventional morality (before age 9) to the capacity for conventional morality (early adolescence), and toward attaining post-conventional morality (once Piaget’s idea of formal operational thought is attained), which only a few fully achieve.

Obedience and Punishment Orientation – at this stage of moral reasoning, the individual acts from a belief that if they do something wrong they will be punished, so that the best reason for avoiding doing wrong is to avoid punishment.

Kohlberg relied on a method of vignettes. He wrote up scenarios that involved a moral dilemma and presented them to his research subjects. He asked people what they would do in each situation and then asked them to explain the reasoning behind their decision.

The two theories are similar in that both believe that the stages of development are hierarchical in that later stages of development build on earlier ones. Furthermore, both theorists believed that the stages of development imply qualitative differences in children’s thinking and ways of solving problems (Bissell).

Stage 6: Universal ethical principle orientation According to Kohlberg, this is the highest stage of functioning. However, he claimed that some individuals will never reach this level. At this stage, the appropriate action is determined by one’s self-chosen ethical principles of conscience.

1. Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory on moral development can be applied to the classroom where rules, standards, and consequences are concerned. …
2. Students at stage one behave appropriately to avoid punishment. …
3. Allow for a written self evaluation as part of any disciplinary consequence.

Kohlberg expanded his study and looked at stages of moral development in other cultures using hypothetical moral dilemmas. Findings from Kohlberg’s study concluded that each stage of moral development comes one at a time and always in the same order.

In brief, Kohlberg assessed morality by asking children to consider certain moral dilemmas – situations in which right and wrong actions are not always clear.

Roughly speaking, these theories can be categorized as emotional, cognitive and moral. Erik Erikson developed the most common theories of emotional development. Jean Piaget developed the most common theories of cognitive development. And, Lawrence Kohlberg developed the dominant theories of moral development.

Kohlberg found that more men reached this stage of moral reasoning than women and that men tended to be heavily focused on justice. Gilligan criticized this theory, arguing that it was biased in favor of men. In her own research, Gilligan found that women placed a stronger emphasis on caring in moral decision making.

Similar to Piaget, early stages of moral reasoning are characterized by immediate and concrete rewards or punishments. Kohlberg posited that moral reasoning develops as a function of cognitive growth and change as well as experiences and interactions with the environment, and in this way was similar to Piaget.

Lawrence Kohlberg, (born October 25, 1927, Bronxville, New York, U.S.—died January 17, 1987, Boston, Massachusetts), American psychologist and educator known for his theory of moral development.

It seems fairly clear that Kohlberg’s stages are qualitatively different from one another. For example, stage 1 responses, which focus on obedience to authority, sound very different from stage 2 responses, which argue that each person is free to behave as he or she wishes.

Which of the following best describes Kohlberg’s postconventional level of moral reasoning? Moral reasoning is based on the individual’s own independent judgments rather than on what others view as wrong or right.

Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development Moral development prevents people from acting on unchecked urges, instead considering what is right for society and good for others. … At this stage, people also recognize that legality and morality do not always match up evenly (Kohlberg 1981).

Kohlberg is most well known among psychologists for his research in moral psychology, but among educators he is known for his applied work of moral education in schools. The three major contributions Kohlberg made to moral education were the use of Moral Exemplars, Dilemma Discussions, and Just Community Schools.

Kohlberg identified three levels of moral reasoning: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional: Each level is associated with increasingly complex stages of moral development.

Piaget understands moral development as a construction process, i.e. the interplay of action and thought builds moral concepts. Kohlberg on the other hand, describes development as a process of discovering universal moral principles. In the first case autonomy means allowing this process to unfold independently.

Like Freud and Piaget, Erik Erikson was a constructivist who believed that children developed in stages, with the skills acquired at each level acting as building blocks for the next level. Since he trained under Sigmund Freud’s daughter, Anna, much of Erikson’s theories were based on Freudian principles.

• Prenatal Development.
• Infancy and Toddlerhood.
• Early Childhood.
• Middle Childhood.
• Adolescence.
• Early Adulthood.
• Middle Adulthood.
• Late Adulthood.

The differences between Kohlberg and Gilligan boil down to whether males and females define “morality” differently — with men focusing on justice concerns, according to Kohlberg, and females more focused on caring and relationship needs, according to Gilligan.

Carol Gilligan opines that Kohlberg’s theories are biased upon the male thinking process. According to Gilligan, Kohlberg seemed to have studied only privileged men and boys. She believed that women face a lot of psychological challenges and they are not moral widgets.

Kohlberg’s stages of moral development were influenced by the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget’s stage-based theory of development. Kohlberg expanded on Piaget’s two stages, identifying six stages of moral development.

Method: Kohlberg conducted a longitudinal study over a period of 12 years. During this time in order to test moral reasoning he gave 75 young American males a series of hypothetical and philosophical moral dilemmas in the form of short stories.

Kohlberg interviewed 72 boys in suburban Chicago for his study. The boys were 10, 13, or 16 years old. Each interview was approximately two hours long and Kohlberg presented each participant with 10 moral dilemmas during that time.