GRADUATE STUDIES AND APPLIED RESEARCH
CG 602– Seminar in Values Development
MORAL DEVELOPMENT- SYMPTOMS, STAGES,
DEFINATIONS, DESCRIPTIONS
• Jean Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development
• Characteristics of Moral Development
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MAY ANN A. CATIPON
Ed.D. Major in Educational Management
ELSA C. CALLO, Ed. D
Professor
Objectives:
Understand Jean Piaget’s Theory of
Moral Development
Know what are the characteristics of
moral development in early
childhood and adolescence
INTRODUCTION
Piaget
conceptualizes
moral
development
as
a
constructivist
process, whereby the interplay of action
and thought builds moral concepts.
Piaget (1932) was principally interested
not in what children do (i.e., in whether
they break rules or not) but in what they
think.
 In other words he was interested in
children’s moral reasoning.
 Piaget was interested in three main aspects of children’s
understanding of moral issues. They were
 Children’s understanding of rules. This leads to questions
like
 Where do rules come from?
 Can rules be changed?
 Who makes rules?
 Children’s understanding of moral responsibility. This leads
to questions like
 Who is to blame for “bad” things?
 Is it the outcome of behavior that makes an action
“bad”?
 Is there a difference between accidental and deliberate
wrongdoing
 Children’s understanding of justice. This leads to questions
like
 Should the punishment fit the crime?
 Are the guilty always punished?
 Piaget found that children’s ideas regarding rules, moral
judgements and punishment tended to change as they got
older.
 In other words just as there were stages to children’s
cognitive development so also there were universal
stages to their moral development.
TYPES OF MORAL THINKING
Piaget suggested two main types of moral
thinking:
Heteronomous morality (moral realism)
Autonomous morality (moral relativism)
TYPES OF MORAL THINKING
HETERONOMOUS MORALITY (MORAL REALISM)- 5-9years
 The stage of heteronomous morality is also known as moral realism –
morality imposed from the outside.
 Children regard morality as obeying other people's rules and
laws, which cannot be changed
 They accept that all rules are made by some authority figure (e.g.
parents, teacher, God), and that breaking the rules will lead to
immediate and severe punishment (immanent justice).
 The function of any punishment is to make the guilty suffer in that
the severity of the punishment should be related to severity of
wrong-doing (expiatory punishment).
TYPES OF MORAL THINKING
HETERONOMOUS MORALITY (MORAL REALISM)- 5-9years
 During this stage children consider rules as being absolute and
unchanging, i.e. 'divine like’.
 They think that rules cannot be changed and have always
been the same as they are now
 Behavior is judged as “bad” in terms of the observable
consequences, regardless on the intentions or reasons for that
behavior.
 Therefore, a large amount of accidental damage is
viewed as worse than a small amount of deliberate
damage
TYPES OF MORAL THINKING
HETERONOMOUS MORALITY (MORAL REALISM)- 5-9years
vs
Who is more at fault?
TYPES OF MORAL THINKING
 Young children typically
“tell” on others
They believe their primary
obligation is to tell the truth to
an adult when asked to do
so.
TYPES OF MORAL THINKING
AUTONOMOUS MORALITY (MORAL RELATIVISM)- 9-10years
 Morality based on your own rules
 Children recognize there is no absolute right or wrong
and that morality
consequences.
depends
on
intentions
not
 Piaget believed that around the age of 9-10 children’s
understanding of moral issues undergo a fundamental
reorganization.
 By now they are beginning to overcome the
egocentrism of middle childhood and have developed
the ability to see moral rules from other people’s point of
view.
TYPES OF MORAL THINKING
AUTONOMOUS MORALITY (MORAL RELATIVISM)- 9-10years
 A child who can decenter to take other people’s intentions
and circumstances into account can move to making the
more independent moral judgements of the second stage.
 As a result children’s ideas on the nature of rules
themselves, on moral responsibility and on punishment and
justice all change and their thinking becomes more like that
of adults
 Children now understand that rules do not come from some
mystical “divine”
 People make rules and people can change them – they
are not inscribed on tablets of stone.
TYPES OF MORAL THINKING
AUTONOMOUS MORALITY (MORAL RELATIVISM)- 9-10years
 With regard to the “rules of the game” older children recognize that rules
are needed to prevent quarrelling and to ensure fair play.
 Sometimes they even become quite fascinated with the whole issue and
will for example discuss the rules of board games (like chess, Monopoly,
cards) or sport (the off-side rule) with all the interest of a lawyer.
 They also recognize that rules can be changed if circumstances dictate
TYPES OF MORAL THINKING
AUTONOMOUS MORALITY (MORAL RELATIVISM)- 9-10years
 They also recognize that if someone says something that they know not to
be the case this doesn’t necessarily mean the other person is telling a lie.
 It could be that they made a mistake or that this is a difference of
opinion.
 Overall lying is now considered wrong not because you get punished
for it by adults (the younger children’s view) but because it is a
betrayal of trust and undermines friendship and co-operation.
 With regard to punishment the emphasis now moves from retribution to
restitution.
 It’s purpose is not primarily to make the guilty suffer but to put things
right again
TYPES OF MORAL THINKING
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL DEVELOMENT
During childhood
1. Children develop their own ideas of right and wrong
2. Preschool children maybe motivated to behave
ethically and morally to avoid punishment or to be
praised.
3. During early childhood, children also grow in ability
to tell the difference between moral rules and social
norms.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL DEVELOMENT
During adolescence
As the child reaches adolescence, society expects him to
behave in accordance with the morals of the group. Most
adolescents learn to behave in a socially approved manner while
others are not.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL DEVELOMENT
During adolescence






Self management
Self knowledge
Moral identity
Social intelligence
Empathy
Sympathy
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL DEVELOMENT
During adolescence
 Self management
We all need to be able to control our own impulses and
behavior and direct them toward what is right. Can you manage your
anger when someone is baiting you and getting under your skin?
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL DEVELOMENT
During adolescence
 Self knowledge
We must work to understand ourselves, others, and
relationships between people. We need to know how we feel,
what we think, and what works or doesn’t work. We all know
some people who seem to have a very accurate sense of why
they do the odd things they (and all of us) do. And we likely
know others who seem not to have a clue about themselves,
perhaps thinking they never make mistakes or are never at
fault for the problems they routinely cause. How well do you
know yourself and how hard do you work to do that?
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL DEVELOMENT
During adolescence
 Moral Identity
Identity is your sense of self and what kind of person you are. And part of
that is your “moral identity.” This about how important it is to you to be a moral
(good) person. That seems universal, but sadly it is not. There are lots of parts of
identity (like gender, age, race, intelligence, sense of humor). Morality is only one
piece. For some people it is central and for others it is less so. Moral development
requires a strong moral identity — morality must be central to both who we think
we are and who we want to be. Do you make it a priority to be a “good”
person?
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL DEVELOMENT
During adolescence
 Social Intelligence
We need to understand, form, support and repair a
wide range of relationships. We need to be aware of the
thoughts, feelings and motives of others. How good are
you at “reading” others, even those very close to you? Do
you know how to make new friends? How to repair a
relationship with a friend who believes a false and nasty
rumor about what you said about them?
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL DEVELOMENT
During adolescence
 Empathy
Developing empathy in teenagers is important as
it teaches them to reflect, observe and think about their own
behavior. Help them to notice and name feelings and
communicate them to others appropriately. Talk often about
feelings in life. Talk about feelings in real-life situations, or
examples on television.
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL DEVELOMENT
During adolescence
 Sympathy
Sympathy ('fellow feeling', 'community of
feeling') is a feeling of care and concern for
someone, often someone close, accompanied
by a wish to see him better off or happier
CHARACTERISTICS OF MORAL DEVELOMENT
During adolescence
 Sympathy vs Empathy
REFERENCES
LaPiere, R. T. (1934). Attitudes vs. actions. Social forces,
13(2), 230-237
Nelson, S. A. (1980). Factors influencing young
children's use of motives and outcomes as moral
criteria. Child Development, 823-829.
Piaget, J. (1932). The moral judgment of the child.
London: Kegan, Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.