Module 11-1
What is moral development?
• Changes in thoughts, feelings and behaviors
regarding standards of right and wrong
• Intrapersonal
• Interpersonal – regulates social interaction &
arbitrates conflict
Is there Universal Morality?
 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)


Spanking, threatening, removing privileges
Makes parents appear to have poor self-control
 Recommends Induction


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
Some Parenting Styles Work Better
 Diana Baumrind
 Authoritative
 Authoritarian
 Indulgent (permissive-indulgent)
 Neglectful (permissive-neglectful)
Parenting Styles - Authoritative
 Most successful Style
 Involves
 acceptance of and involvement with children, warm,
attentive, sensitive
 reasonable control and insistence on mature behavior
 gradual granting of autonomy
 Results in cooperative children with self-control,
high self-esteem, social & moral maturity, &
good school performance
Authoritarian Parenting
 Low in acceptance/involvement, autonomy




granting
High in coercive control – degrade, yell,
command, criticize, punish
Children are anxious and unhappy. Boys become
defiant. Girls become dependent.
In adulthood don’t take initiative.
Controlling strategies work for low-SES, AfricanAmerican parents.
Indulgent (Permissive) Parenting
 Warm and accepting
 Overindulging or inattentive
 Little control of the child’s behavior
 Children are impulsive, disobedient and rebellious,
overly demanding and dependent on adults
 Tend to be non-achieving, especially boys
Neglectful (Permissive) Parenting
 Low acceptance and involvement
 Little control
 General indifference
 Emotionally detached, depressed
 May become child neglect
 Disrupts attachment, cognition, and emotional and
social skills
How about Punishment Options?
 Spanking
 Considered necessary & desirable for centuries
 70-90% of American parents have spanked their
children
 Recent survey, 26% of parents of 3-4 year olds spank
frequently
 67% yell at their children frequently
 A number of countries have outlawed spanking
Objections to Spanking & Responses
 Out of control model for handling situations
 The “woodshed” was not out of control
 Punishment can instill fear, rage or avoidance
 This is temporary unless the parent-child relationship has
other problems. Doe s the punishment fit the crime?
 Punishment tells children what not to do rather than
what to do
 So? Tell them what to do along with the punishment.
Objections to Spanking & Responses
 Punishment can be abusive
 Abuse is abuse. It should not be disguised as punishment.
 Are we talking about spanking, or all punishment?
Remember Hoffman?
 Are we thinking that children are “innately good?” Any
evidence for this?
 Do parents believe that they have lost the right to
discipline? What is the basis of that right?
Reasoning About Rules
 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
Morality - Children & Rules
 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.
Moral Behavior among Children
 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
Social-cognitive Theory of Morality
 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
Moral Emotion - Guilt
 Sigmund Freud
 The desire to avoid feeling guilty is the foundation of
moral behavior.
 Superego consists of:


Ego ideal – rewards by conveying a sense of pride and personal
value
Conscience – punishes disapproved behaviors by making the
child feel guilty & worthless
Moral Emotion - Empathy
 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
Kohlberg’s Theory
 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
Kohlberg’s Theory
 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
Kohlberg - Preconventional
 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.”
Kohlberg - Conventional
 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
Kohlberg – Post conventional
 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
Kohlberg Stage 7?
 Cosmic perspective
 See one’s self as one with the universe
 Already a religious position  Hindu, New Age
Kohlberg’s Critics
 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
Can Morality be Examined Apart from
Religion?
 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.
Kohlberg’s Critics
 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
Kohlberg’s Critics
 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.
Kohlberg’s Critics
 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