Feldman Module 11-1

• Changes in thoughts, feelings and behaviors regarding standards of right and wrong
• Intrapersonal
• Interpersonal – regulates social interaction & arbitrates conflict

 Yes, similar moral prescriptions are found in all major religions.
 Civilizations will not success where there are no laws against murder, theft, and lies and no regulation of sexual behavior.

Does moral development require parental discipline?
 Humanist Psychology says No - Hoffman (1970)
 Cautions against Love withdrawal (anxiety)
 Don’t like you; going to leave you
 Cautions against Power assertion (hostility)
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Spanking, threatening, removing privileges
Makes parents appear to have poor self-control
 Recommends Induction
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Reasoning, consequences
Works best with older children, middle SES

Other Psychologists Have Different Advice
 Some strategies work better- Thompson
 Warm-responsive parent-child relationships
 Secure attachment linked to conscience development
 Proactive strategies
 Conversational dialogue
 Other strategies –
 Be a good role model
 Foster an internal sense of morality
 Tell them about expected behaviors
 Use reason with punishment

 Social Conventional Reasoning
 Social rules & conventions are arbitrary & created by people
 Moral Reasoning
 Moral rules are obligatory, widely-accepted, and somewhat impersonal
 Ethics exist apart from social convention

 Turiel – 1978, 1983
 5-year-old children conceptualize the social world in three separate domains
 Moral
 Social-conventional
 Psychological (personal)
 They realize that the rules for each of these have different levels of changeability.

 Factors (Behaviorist view)
 Reinforcement & punishment
 Depends upon consistency & timing
 Models
 Depends upon characteristics such as warmth & attractiveness
 Situations
 Children behave inconsistently depending upon peer pressure, likelihood of being caught, personal characteristics
 Self-control
 Convinced by reasoning, punishment

 Albert Bandura
 Moral competence – knowledge, capabilities, skills, awareness of rules
 Moral performance – motivation, rewards, incentives
 Self-regulation – avoiding self-condemnation and fostering self-satisfaction & self-worth

 Sigmund Freud
 The desire to avoid feeling guilty is the foundation of moral behavior.
 Superego consists of:
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Ego ideal – rewards by conveying a sense of pride and personal value
Conscience – punishes disapproved behaviors by making the child feel guilty & worthless

 Responding to another’s feelings with a similar emotional response
 Examples of development of empathy
 Some infants show global empathy
 1-2 years, may feel discomfort but cannot translate into action
 Early childhood – add perspective-taking
 10-12 may feel social or humanitarian empathy

 Heinz dilemma –
 Wife near death
 One drug might save her
 Cost $200 to make; charged $2000
 Heinz raised $1000, offered to pay later
 Druggist said no
 Heinz stole the drug

 Level 1: Preconventional
 External rewards & punishments
 Level 2: Conventional
 Abide by internal standards of others (law or parents)
 Level 3: Postconventional
 Recognizes alternative codes, explores options, chooses one

 Stage 1 – heteronomous
 Moral thinking is tied to punishment
 Stage 2 – individualism, instrumental purpose & exchange
 “live & let live”
 Equity of exchange: “I do you a favor; you do me one.”

 Stage 3: Mutual interpersonal expectations, relationships & interpersonal conformity
 Value trust, caring & loyalty to others; children like
“good girl; good boy”
 Stage 4: Social systems morality
 Understanding the social order, law, justice and duty

 Stage 5: Social contract or utility and individual rights
 Values, rights & principles undergird the law; laws are evaluated by how well they protect human rights & values
 Stage 6: Universal ethical principles
 Moral standard based on universal human rights; will follow conscience rather than law

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 Cosmic perspective
 See one’s self as one with the universe
 Already a religious position -
 Hindu, New Age

 Link between moral thought & moral behavior?
 Albert Bandura – people do not usually engage in harmful conduct until they have justified the morality of their actions to themselves
 Socially worthy cause
 God’s will

 Religion provides the assumptions which underpin moral reasoning and decisions.
 Religion takes morality from individual to collective and universal.
 Religion provides the authority for moral prescriptions.

 Rest –
 Assessment techniques
 What are the moral issues?
 Stages 5 & 6 do not stand up across cultures
 Example – Buddhist monks & emphasis on compassion
 India – social rules are inevitable

 Haidt (2008)
 Traditionalist [collectivist] societies expect individuals to limit their desires and play their roles within the group
 “Western conservatives also seem to be morally challenged.”
 Conclusion: Kolhberg has an individualist, liberal, progress bias.

 Carol Gilligan – gender bias
 Justice perspective – male norm that puts principles above people
 Care perspective – moral perspective that views people in terms of connectedness and emphasizes relationships & caring for others