KOHLBERG’S
THEORY OF MORAL
REASONING
By Lindsey Busker and Sydney Thomson
Lawrence Kohlberg





Born in Bronxville, New York on October 25, 1927
Attended high school at Phillips Academy and then served
in the Merchant Marine at the end of World War II
Earned his bachelor’s degree in 1948
Completed his doctoral degree in psychology in 1958
Died on January 19, 1987 in Massachusetts
Six Stages of Moral Reasoning

Level I: Pre-conventional
 Stage
1: Obedience and Punishment Orientation
 Stage 2: Instructional Relativist Orientation

Level II: Conventional
 Stage
3: “Good Boy/ Nice Girl” Orientation
 Stage 4: Law and Order Orientation

Level III: Post-conventional
 Stage
5: Social Contract
 Stage 6: Universal, Ethical Principles
Problematizing Literature



Ford and Lowery (1986) - young adults only
Myyry, Juåujärvi, and Pesso (2013) - higher
education only
White, Bushnell, and Regnemer (1978) - not
contemporary
Our Two Hypotheses



Based on Kohlberg’s stage theory of moral reasoning, we
predict that a higher level of education correlates to a
higher level of moral reasoning.
We predict that there are gender differences based on
Kohlberg’s stage theory of moral reasoning.
We predict that with regularly attending religious service,
there would be an increase in level of moral reasoning
Methodology




Participants
 convenience sample of 24
 6 seniors
 6 freshmen
 6 eighth graders
 6 fourth graders
Setting
 Holy family classroom Braniff classroom, Anselm classroom
Measures
 paper-based
 Gender, Age, classification, religious service
 Dilemma VIII
Procedure
 administer moral dilemma VIII
Moral Dilemma VIII

In a country in Europe, a poor man named Valjean could find
no work, nor could his sister and brother. Without money, he
stole food and medicine that they needed. He was captured
and sentenced to prison for 6 years. After a couple of years,
he escaped from the prison and went to live in another part of
the country under a new name. He saved money and slowly
built up a big factory. He gave his workers the highest wages
and used most of his profits to build a hospital for people who
couldn't afford good medical care. Twenty years had passed
when a tailor recognized the factory owner as being Valjean,
the escaped convict whom the police had been looking for
back in his hometown.
Moral Dilemma VIII Questions
1. Should the tailor report Valjean to the police?

Why or why not?
2. Does a citizen have a duty or obligation to report
an escaped convict?

Why or why not?
Questions 3 & 4
3. Suppose Valjean were a close friend of the tailor.
Should he then report Valjean?

Why or why not?
4. If Valjean were reported and brought before the
judge, should the judge send him back to jail or let him
go free?

Why or why not?
Questions 5 & 6
5. Thinking in terms of society should people who break the
law be punished?

Why or why not?
6. Valjean was doing what his conscience told him to do when
he stole the food and medicine. Should a lawbreaker be
punished if he is acting out of conscience?

Why or why not?
Glossary of Terms

Choice


Hierarchy


Autonomous judgments are made without reference to external parameters (such as authority,
tradition, or law) for justification or validation
Reversibility


Autonomous judgments reflect a clear hierarchy of moral values and prescriptive duties that
supersede pragmatic, descriptive, consequential or aesthetic considerations.
Freedom


Autonomous choices support and justify the solution to a dilemma that is just and fair from the
standpoint of post-conventional stages of moral judgment (i.e., they are based on principles of justice,
fairness, equity.)
judgments are characterized by the ability to engage in mutual or reciprocal role taking.
Heteronomous judgments are constrained by considering only one perspective on a problem.
Constructivism

Autonomous judgments consider rules and laws as humanly constructed guidelines, and as such are
flexible and adaptable to special situation and circumstances. Heteronomous judgments construe laws
and rules as emanating from some higher authority and therefore must remain rigid and inflexible
Grading Rubric
Stages of Moral
Reasoning
Defined by Kohlberg
How we determined which stage
each student is in
Stage 1
•
•
Concern on a fixed set of unchanging rules
Worry about what authorities will permit and
punish
•
•
Gave a very black and white answer
Did not explain or justify their answer
Stage 2
•
•
Punishments are now a risk
Fair exchange policy
•
Mentioning what benefits others listed
in the dilemma
Stage 3
•
•
Character traits described
Motives of each party involved
•
Mentions redemption/lesson learned
Stage 4
•
Emphasis on obeying laws, respecting
authority, and preforming one’s duties so social
order is maintained
Explore the reasons why we say something is
wrong
•
Solely focused on law and order
Stress on basic rights and democratic
procedures to change unfair laws
•
Student is primarily concerned with
the individual rights, and how citizens
agree as a whole.
Anything to do with Valjean making a
difference, benefiting society,
promoting social justice,
•
Stage 5
•
•
Stage 6
•
Look at problems through all eyes- clear
concept of universal principles
•
We did not look at this stage
Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment
Stage 2: Instructional Relativist
Stage 3: “Good Boy/ Nice Girl”
Stage 4: Law and Order
Stage 5: Social Contract
Results: Seniors
Participant
Gender Age
Classification
Religious Service
Moral Reasoning
1
Male
22
Senior
Yes
4
2
Female
22
Senior
No
4
3
Female
21
Senior
Yes
4
4
Male
22
Senior
Yes
4
5
Female
21
Senior
No
3
6
Female
21
Senior
Yes
4
Results: Freshman
Participant
Gender
Age
Classification
Religious
Service
Moral Reasoning
7
Male
24
Freshman
Yes
4
8
Male
18
Freshman
Yes
4
9
Female
18
Freshman
Yes
4
10
Male
18
Freshman
Yes
3
11
Female
18
Freshman
Yes
4
12
Female
18
Freshman
Yes
3
Results: Eighth Graders
Participant
Gender
Age
Classification
Religious
Service
Moral Reasoning
19
Female
13
8th Grade
Yes
4
20
Female
13
8th Grade
Yes
4
21
Male
14
8th Grade
No
3
22
Female
14
8th Grade
Yes
3
23
Female
13
8th Grade
Yes
4
24
Female
13
8th Grade
Yes
3
Results: Fourth Graders
Participant
Gender Age Classification Religious Service
Moral Reasoning
13
Male
10
4th Grade
Yes
1
14
Female
9
4th Grade
Yes
1
15
Female
9
4th Grade
Yes
3
16
Female
9
4th Grade
Yes
2
17
Female
10
4th Grade
Yes
1
18
Female
9
4th Grade
No
2
Treatment of Data
Hypothesis 1
Hypothesis 2
Averaged each class
 Seniors

3.83
 Freshmen

3.66
 Eighth

3.50
 Fourth

graders
Graders
1.66
Averaged college group
& elementary group
 Freshmen
& Seniors
 Males - 3.8
 Females - 3.71
 4th & 8th graders
 Males – 2.00
 Females – 2.70
Conclusion


Accept our first hypothesis in which we predicted that a
higher level of education correlates to a higher level or
moral reasoning.
Accept our second hypothesis that there would be gender
differences for the college population, reject for based on
Kohlberg’s stage theory of moral reasoning.
Limitations






Convenience sample
Understanding of the questions asked
Misinterpretation of religious service
Time
Control of extraneous variables
Participant bias
Works Cited


Ford, M. R., & Lowery, C. R. (1986). Gender differences in moral
reasoning: A comparison of the use of justice and care
orientations. Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 50(4), 777783. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.50.4.777

Myyry, L., Juujärvi, S., & Pesso, K. (2013). Change in values and moral
reasoning during higher education. European Journal Of Developmental
Psychology, 10(2), 269-284. doi:10.1080/17405629.2012.757217

White, C. B., Bushnell, N., & Regnemer, J. L. (1978). Moral development
in Bahamian school children: A 3-year examination of Kohlberg's stages
of moral development. Developmental Psychology, 14(1), 58-65.
doi:10.1037/0012-1649.14.1.58