Morality is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished

as proper and those that are improper.

How did Kohlberg come up with the theory of moral development? All his ideas started from the
research he performed with very young children as his subjects. He found out that children are faced
with different moral issues, and their judgments on whether they are to act positively or negatively over
each dilemma are heavily influenced by several factors. In each scenario that Kohlberg related to the
children, he was not really asking whether or not the person in the situation is morally right or wrong,
but he wanted to find out the reasons why these children think that the character is morally right or not.

1. Preconventional morality is the first level of moral development, lasting until approximately age
8. During this level, children accept the authority (and moral code) of others.

Preconventional morality is when people follow rules because they don’t want to get in trouble or
they want to get a reward. This level of morality is mostly based on what authority figures like
parents or teachers tell you to do rather than what you think is right or wrong. At the
preconventional level, children don’t have a personal code of morality. Instead, moral decisions are
shaped by the standards of adults and the consequences of following or breaking their rules. For
example, if an action leads to punishment, it must be bad; if it leads to a reward, it must be good.

2.