PartUnit 3 Module

8-Kohiberg'sStages ofMoral Development

111

Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development

MODULE - Maria Rita D. Lucas, PhD

"Right action tends to be defined in terms of general

individual rights and standards that have been critically
examined and agreed upon by the whole society
- Lawrence Kolhberg

LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this Module, you should be able to:
explain the stages of moral development.
analyze a person's level of moral reasoning based on his
responses to moral dilemmas.
cite how the theory of moral development can be applied
to your work as teacher later on.

INTRODUCTION
Individuals, when confronted by situations where they
need to make moral decisions, exercise their own ability
to use moral reasoning. Lawrence Kohlberg was interested
He based
in studying the development of moral reasoning.
his theory on the findings of Piaget in studying cognitive
from wrong is
development. Our ability to choose right Lawrence
reason logically.
tied with our ability to understand and Kohlbera
Lawrence Kohlberg was such
an interesting, if not intriguing
ACTIVITY person. He was bom wealthy,
but chose to be a sailor and
began to be interested in moral
Read the moral dilemma beloW. reasoning. He helped smuggle
ticket Jews through a British blockade
Ryan, 17, has been saving up money to buy a
in Palestine during World War
for this concert of rock band. His parents have discouraged I. Kohlberg is known for his
him from going as the concert will surely be with a rowdy theory of moral development
which was influenced by Piaget
out-of-control
crowd. The band is notorious for having
and Dewey's theories. He
believed that people progressed
and stoned
audience who somehow manages to get drunk in their ability to reason mor
not to watch anymore. ally through six stages, with
during the concert. Ryan agreed three levels largely by social
brother of
But a day before the concert, Nic, 15-year-old interaction.
a concert ticket
Ryan, saw a corner of what appeared to be
examined it and
showing in the pocket of Ryan's bag. Nic
confirmed it was indeed a ticket. Looking at Ryan's bag,
 Principles
Adolescent Learners
and Learning
The Child and

112 marijuana. So he
2 sticks of
shirt and Ryan told
an extra all. That night,
NIC also found
concert after
to the classmate'
night at
a
fngured Ryan will go tomorrow

that he was
spending he told Nie
his parents that evening,
Then later but he
school requirement. anything,
house for a
concert. Nic didn't say whether to tell their
to go to
the
of his plan that night, thinking
difficult to sleep
found it
parents or not.
do?
what would you
1. If you were Nic,
were the things you
that? What
choose to do
would you
2. Why do?.
what to
considered in deciding

ANALYSIS

it with the responses

Examine the you gave. Compare
answers
is your a n s w e r most
provided below. In which of these responses
similar?
out later
tell parents. Because if they found
Stage 1 "Yes I will
-
our

that I knew, for sure they will get angry and most likely punish
me.

No, I will not tell because Ryan will make my life difficult
and also punish me for telling."
will reward me for
Stage 2 -"Yes. I will tell my parents because they
that I Pod that T'm wishing to have."
it. I will subtly ask for new

"No. I will not tell. Ryan will surely grant me a lot of favors
He'll not also squeal me."
for not telling. on

"Yes. I will tell my parents will think I am such an honest

Stage 3
boy "
-
so

"No I will not tel. Ryan will think of me as a really cool

brother!"
Stage 4 - "Yes I will tell becuse we should follow the rules that our
parents say.
"No, because it's been our rule to keep each others
Secrets. '
Stage 5 - "Yes. I will tell because he might be hurt or get in troubie
and his welfare is top most priority.
 art
Unit 3
Module 8- Kohlberg's Stages of
Moral Development
113
"No, because he is
decision not to let him go. big enough to question my pare nts
Stage 6 es, l Wll tell
-

to be true to what I
because lying is always wrong and I want
believe in."
"No, because I
believe brothers watch out for each
If he trusted me with this, I should othe
anything. "
stay true to him and not say

In what level of moral

dilemma tall? Retlect about
development did your response to
tne
what this indicates about your moral
reasoning in this' moral dilemma.

As you continue to read this

Module, you will get to know
more about the different levels of moral
reasoning espoused by
Kohlberg.

ABSTRACTION/GENERALIZATION
Lawrence Kohlberg built on Piaget's work, and set the
groundwork for the present debate within psychology on moral
development. Like Piaget, he believed that children form ways of
thinking through their experiences which include understandings of
moral concepts such as justice, rights, equality and human welfare
Kohlberg followed the development of moral judgment and extended
the ages covered by Piaget, and found out that the process of
attaining moral maturity took longer and occurred slower than Piaget
had thought.
If Piaget designed specific tasks (Piagetian tasks) to learn
about the cognitive development of children, Kohlberg utilized moral
dilemmas (Kohlberg dilemmas). The case you read in the Activity
module but was based on
part of this module was written for this
how Kohlberg wrote his dilemmas. Like Piaget, he presented these
asked for their
dilemmas to the individuals in his research and
responses. He did not aim to judge whether the responses were right
or wrong. He was interested in analyzing the moral reasoning behind
the responses.
From his research, Kohlberg identified six stages of moral
levels. Each level represents a
reasoning grouped into three major or perspective of the
S1gnificant change in the social-moral reasoning
person.
 The Child and Adolescent Learners and Leaning Principles

114

of Moral Development
Kohlberg' Theory
moral development occurs in six stages
According to Kohlberg.

Level Stage Description

Punish ment/Obedience.|
Preconventional Level
motivatecd by fear
based on the One is
He wil
Moral reasoning is of punishment.
consequcnce result of the act, not on act in order to avoid
the whether the act itself is good
punishment.
or had
Mutual Benefit. One is
to act by the benefit
motivated
2 that one may obtain later. You
seratch my back, T'll scratch
yours.

Social Approval. One is

Conventional |motivated by what others
Moral reasoning is based on the|
conventions or "norms" of society. expect in behavior good boy.
This may include approval of others, good girl. The person acts|
3 because he/she values' how he/
law and order.
she will appear to others. He
she gives importance on what
Post-conventional people will think or say.
Moral reasoning is based on endur- Law and Order. One is moti-
ing or consistent principles. It is| vated to act in order to uphold
not just recognizing the law, but the law and order. The person will
4
behind the law.
principles follow the law because it is|
the law.
Social Contract. Laws that are
wrong can be changed. One
5 will act based on social jus-
tice and the common good.
Universal Principles. This is
associated with the development|
of one's conscience. Having a
set of standards that drives one
to possess moral responsibility
to make societal changes
regardless of consequences to
oneself. Examples of persons|
are Mother Teresa, Martin|
|Luther King, Jr.