KOHLBERG’S THEORY
OF MORAL
DEVELOPMENT
BY,
Anita Villalpando and Karen Bless
Lawrence Kohlberg
1927-1987
From a Noble Family
Served as an engineer
on an old freighter.
1948- University of
Chicago
1958- Doctorate
Died in 1987 of
suspected suicide.
Kohlberg (continued)
Expressed interest in Piaget studies of
moral judgement.
Developed his own theory of stages of
development based on Piaget’s
cognitive stages of development.
Came out with 6 different stages of
Moral Development
Kohlberg’s Six Stages of
Moral Development
Level I
PreConventional
Morality
Stage 1:
Obedience &
Punishment
Level II
Level III
Conventional Post-Conventional
Morality
Morality
Stage 3: Good
Interpersonal
Relationships
Stage 5: Social
Contract &
Individual Rights
Stage 2:
Stage 4: Social Stage 6: Universal
Individualism &
Order
Principles
Exchange
Stage 1: Obedience and
Punishment Orientation
Ages 4-10
Power and Authority
Reasoning is motivated by a need to
avoid punishment
Example: Children believe stealing is
bad, because you will get punished
(Crain, 160).
Stage 2: Individualism and
Exchange
Ages 4-10
Relative Views
Children’s moral reasoning is
motivated by a need to satisfy their
own desires.
Example: “Since everything is relative,
each person is free to pursue his or
her individual interests” (Crain, 160)
Stage 3: Good Interpersonal
Relationships
Ages 10-13
Children believe people should live up to
expectations of family and community
behaving in “good ways”.
Good behavior involves having good motives
and having interpersonal feelings such as
concern for others.
Example: You are motivated by a need to
avoid rejection or disapproval from others.
Stage 4: Maintaining the
Social Order
Ages 10-13
Motivated by a need to not be criticized
by an authority figure.
Emphasis is based on obeying laws and
maintaining social order and respecting
authority.
Stage 1 and Stage 4 are both concerned
with the law, but for different reasons.
Stage 5: Social Contract
and Individual Rights
Adolescence to Adulthood
“What makes for a good society?”
Rights and Values that a society ought to
uphold are considered.
People are motivated by a need for
respect for the community, social order
and legally determined laws.
Example: Life is more important than
property.
Stage 6: Universal
Principles
Moral Judgments are motivated by
their moral conscience.
Principles of justice are universal.
People in this stage come to moral
decisions by taking on the perspective
of other people involved.
Re-Cap!
Stage 1: Obeying authority and avoiding
punishment.
Stage 2: Everything is relative to one’s own
interest.
Stage 3: Being a good person/having helpful
motives.
Stage 4: Obeying laws to maintain order in society.
Stage 5: Basic Rights & Democratic Processes
Stage 6: Universal Justice
So this is what we did...
We interviewed 7 people using 2 of
Kohlberg’s Moral Dilemmas: Heinz &
Captain’s Dilemma.
Ages: 10-21
4 females & 3 males
We presented the dilemmas orally
followed by a series of questions
related to each dilemma.
Questions for the
Research Study
Does the amount of time an individual is given to
consider his or her response to a
moral dilemma have an impact on his or her
answer?
Does the age or gender have an impact on the
individual’s answer to a moral dilemma?
Does the religious background of an individual play
a role in his or her answer to a moral dilemma, or
will the answer be based on innate moral
reasoning that is present depending on the
cognitive stage the individual may be in?
Hypothesis
An individual’s response to a moral
dilemma will be impacted by the
amount of time they are given to
reflect on the problem.
Age will have an impact on their
answers, but gender will not.
An individual’s answers to a moral
dilemma will be impacted by their
religious upbringing.
Heinz Dilemma
In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of
cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might
save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same
town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive to
make, but the druggist was charging 10 times what the drug
cost him to make. He paid $400 dollars for the radium and
charged $4,000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick
woman’s husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to
borrow the money and trued every legal means, but he could
only get together about $2,000, which is half of what it cost.
He told the druggist that his wife was dying, and asked him
to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said,
“No, I discovered the drug and I’m going to make money
from it.” So having tried every legal means, Heinz gets
desperate and considers breaking into the man’s store to
steal the drug for his wife.
The Captain’s
Dilemma
In Korea, a company of Marines was way outnumbered
and was retreating before the enemy. The company had
crossed a bridge over a river, but the enemy were mostly
still on the other side. If someone went back to the bridge
and blew it up, with the head start the rest of the men in
the company would have, they could probably then
escape. But the man who stayed back to blow up the
bridge would not be able to escape alive. The captain
himself is the man who knows best how to lead the
retreat. He asks for volunteers, but no one will volunteer.
If he goes himself, the men will probably not get back
safely as he is the only one who knows how to lead the
retreat.
Results
SUBJECT
GENDER AGE
RELIGIOUS
BACKGROUND
STAGE
WHY
1
Male
21
Catholic
6
2
Female
20
Catholic
5
3
Male
19
Catholic
5
4
Female
15
Catholic
4/5
Laws are not
universal
mentioned
human rights
hierarchy of
rights
law & order, but
also right to life
5
Female
14
Catholic
4/5
authority, common
good & rights
6
Male
12
Catholic
4
law & authority
3
concern for
others
7
Female
10
Catholic
SUBJECT 1: Stage 6
“No, I mean no, they shouldn’t do
everything they can to obey the law….
The law doesn’t define morality, and
morality doesn’t define the law. I don’t
want to use absolute statements that
you should always obey the law… for
instance if there is an unjust law, you
should definitely try not to obey it.”
SUBJECT 2: Stage 5
“If everyone looked out for everyone
else. Society would be safer, and
everyone would be happy. It’s
important to do the right thing. If you
help them, someday they will help
you”
“In this situation, it doesn’t make it
morally wrong”- in the context of
stealing to save a life.
SUBJECT 3: Stage 5
“The law exists to regulate the actions
of human beings… it cases where it is
not moral, it should be attempted to be
changed through peaceful means”
“The life of his wife as another human
being is worth more than the right of a
man to his property”
SUBJECT 4: Stage
4/5
“It is the law. It is to keep order. If
everyone broke it, there would be
disorder”
“It is not right to ask a man to give up
his life”
SUBJECT 5: Stage
4/5
“Stealing would violate the rights of
another”
“Violating his rights to life”
SUBJECT 6: Stage 4
Just talked about stealing being
against the law.
Laws come from people and authority,
and authority comes from God.
We shouldn’t do it, because it is
against God’s commandment.
SUBJECT 7: Stage 3
“Yes, Heinz should steal the drug,
because his wife is dying”
“The drug person is not very nice”
“He should obey the law, but tyring to
save someone whose dying is more
important”
Problems
Time Limits
Subjects were limited
Not enough diversity in religious
background.
What We Learned
WRONG! The amount of time they were
given to respond to the moral dilemma did
not affect their responses.
RIGHT! The gender didn’t affect their
responses, but the stages varied according
to age.
Right & Wrong: Right, because they
brought up aspects from their religion in
their answers, and wrong, because their
religion didn’t determine their moral stage.
Bibliography
Crain, William. Theories of Development.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall,
2011. Print.
Picture of Kholberg is taken from our
wonderful friend, google images, and the
rest is well, clip art. 