MODULE: EDE311

EDUCATION STUDIES 4
(EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY)

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CHILD DEVELOPMENT THEORIES:
LAWRENCE KOHLBERG’S THEORY
OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT

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 Lawrence Kohlberg
• Lawrence Kohlberg was, for many years, a professor at Harvard
University. He became famous for his work there beginning in the
early 1970s. He started as a developmental psychologist and then
moved to the field of moral education.
• He was particularly well-known for his theory of moral
development which he popularized through research studies
conducted at Harvard's Centre for Moral Education.
• His theory of moral development was dependent on the thinking of
the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget and the American philosopher
John Dewey.
• He was also inspired by James Mark Baldwin. These men had
emphasized that human beings develop philosophically and
psychologically in a progressive fashion.
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 INTRODUCTION
• Jean Piaget introduced the idea of how moral development occurs in
stages, each level built on life experiences and active reasoning.
Lawrence Kohlberg(1987) furthered this idea by examining how
moral reasoning changes as we grow. How do people determine what
was right or wrong?
• Following specific patterns of human behaviour, Kohlberg organized
the six stages into three levels of moral reasoning. Participants in his
studies (including adults, teenagers, and children) were asked to offer
reasoning to a dilemma. An example that Kohlberg used as a moral
dilemma is as follows:
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 Morality & Moral Development
• Morality is a system of beliefs about what is right and good
compared to what is wrong or bad.
• Moral development refers to changes in moral beliefs as a
person grows older and gains maturity.
• Moral beliefs are related to, but not identical with,
moral behaviour: it is possible to know the right thing to do,
but not actually do it. It is also not the same as knowledge
of social conventions, which are arbitrary customs needed for
the smooth operation of society.
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 Kohlberg’s theory of moral development
• Lawrence Kohlberg (1969) modified and elaborated Piaget's work,
and laid the groundwork for the current debate within psychology on
moral development.
• Consistent with Piaget, he proposed 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 beyond the
ages studied by Piaget, and determined that the process of attaining
moral maturity took longer and was more gradual than Piaget had
proposed.
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 Pre-conventional morality

• Pre-conventional morality is the earliest period of moral

development. It lasts until around the age of 9. At this age,
children's decisions are primarily shaped by the expectations of
adults and the consequences for breaking the rules. There are
two stages within this level:
• Stage one: Punishment-and-obedience orientation; The child is
motivated to avoid punishment and has little or no independent
moral reasoning.
• Stage two: Instrumental hedonism; Individuals are focused on
fulfilling their own self-interests, while acknowledging that
different people have different views.
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 Conventional morality

• The next period of moral development is marked by the acceptance of social rules regarding
what is good and moral. During this time, adolescents and adults internalize the moral
standards they have learned from their role models and from society

• Stage three: ‘Good boy or ‘good girl ‘morality. At this stage, individuals emphasize the
importance of being kind to other people, engaging in “good” behaviour and showing concern
for others. This stage includes a strong emphasis on gaining approval.

• Stage four: Authority and social order maintaining morality. The individual is determined to
obey the rules, focusing on the value that the law adds to human life. A person at this stage
might argue that breaking the law is wrong because the law is designed to protect people. Stage
4 individuals focus on maintaining the social order and upholding cultural norms.

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 Post-conventional morality

• At this level of moral development, people develop an

understanding of abstract principles of morality
• Stage five: Morality of contract, individual rights, and the law.
People at this stage of development focus on doing what is best
for society and respecting individual rights. Civil disobedience
would be endorsed by people in both stages of post-conventional
morality.
• Stage six: Morality of individual principles of conscience. At this
stage, individuals are focused on upholding principles of universal
justice, fairness, and ethics. They believe in the democratic
process, but also endorse disobeying unjust laws.

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 Criticisms
• Kohlberg's theory played an important role in the development of moral
psychology. While the theory has been highly influential, aspects of the theory
have been critiqued for a number of reasons:
• Moral reasoning does not equal moral behaviour: Kohlberg's theory is
concerned with moral thinking, but there is a big difference between knowing
what we ought to do versus our actual actions. Moral reasoning, therefore, may
not lead to moral behaviour.
• Gender bias: Kohlberg's critics, including Carol Gilligan, have suggested that
Kohlberg's theory was gender-biased since all of the subjects in his sample were
male.10 Kohlberg believed that women tended to remain at the third level of
moral development because they place a stronger emphasis on things such as
social relationships and the welfare of others.
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• Overemphasizes justice: Critics have pointed out that Kohlberg's theory of moral
development overemphasizes the concept of justice when making moral choices. Factors
such as compassion, caring, and other interpersonal feelings may play an important part in
moral reasoning.
• Cultural bias: Individualist cultures emphasize personal rights, while collectivist
cultures stress the importance of society and community. Eastern, collectivist cultures may
have different moral outlooks that Kohlberg's theory does not take into account.
• Age bias: Most of his subjects were children under the age of 16 who obviously had no
experience with marriage. The Heinz dilemma may have been too abstract for these children
to understand, and a scenario more applicable to their everyday concerns might have led to
different results.

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 References
• Hook, D., Watts, J. & Cockcroft, K. (2004). Developmental
Psychology. Lansdowne: UCT Press. (Pages 294 to 311)
• Berk, L.E. (2009). Child development. Boston: Allyn and
Bacon. (Pages 492 to 506)

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