How Would You Summarize Kohlberg’S Levels Of Personal Moral Development?

How Would You Summarize Kohlberg’S Levels Of Personal Moral Development
The Theory of Developmental Change by Kohlberg By Saul McLeod , revised 2013 According to Kohlberg’s thesis, there are three phases of moral growth, one for each of the three degrees of moral development that are proposed to exist. Kohlberg proposed that humans progress through these phases in a predetermined order and that moral comprehension is tied to cognitive growth.

  1. The preconventional, the conventional, and the postconventional stages of moral reasoning are the three levels of moral reasoning.
  2. Kohlberg demonstrated that the thought process behind a child’s decision was a more accurate reflection of their level of moral development than the decision itself by analyzing the replies children gave to a series of moral conundrums.

Piaget’s (1932) theory of moral development was something that Lawrence Kohlberg (1958) agreed with in principle, but Kohlberg sought to extend his views even further. He told them stories using Piaget’s approach for storytelling in order to present them with moral conundrums.

  • In each scenario, he posed a decision that must be made, such as between the rights of some authority and the requirements of some deserving individual who is being treated unfairly.
  • One of the stories written by Kohlberg in 1958 that has gained the most notoriety is the one about a man named Heinz who lived in Europe.

The particular form of cancer that Heinz’s wife was suffering from was terminal. The doctors thought a new medication would be able to rescue her. The medicine had been found by a local chemist, and the Heinz company tried very hard to get some of it. However, the chemist was demanding ten times the amount of money it cost to create the drug, which was far more than the Heinz company could afford to pay at the moment.

  • Even with the assistance of his family and friends, Heinz was only able to raise fifty percent of the required amount.
  • He broke the news to the pharmacist that his wife was ill and requested if he could get the medication at a reduced price or if he could pay the remainder of the bill at a later date.

The chemist did not agree, citing the fact that he was the one who had developed the medication and intended to profit from it. Later that night, the husband broke into the pharmacy and grabbed the medication since he was so intent on reviving his wife that he was willing to do anything.

How would you summarize Kohlberg’s theory of moral development?

The Kohlberg theory of moral development is a hypothesis that examines how children acquire morality and moral reasoning. The idea was developed by Lawrence Kohlberg. According to Kohlberg’s view, each individual goes through a progression of six phases as their morality matures.

What is the importance of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development?

The significance of Kohlberg’s theory to the field of education – The following are some of the reasons why Kohlberg’s theory of moral formation is important in the classroom: It gives educators the ability to comprehend the various degrees of moral comprehension possessed by their students.

  • It helps instructors to provide appropriate counsel regarding moral behavior to the kids in their classrooms.
  • It gives instructors the opportunity to assist students in developing sentiments of collaboration and respect for others, as well as respect for themselves.
  • It makes it easier for instructors to instill and encourage children’s development of positive moral principles, which in turn helps children become the best versions of themselves.

It encourages children to study in a setting that is constructive and positive, which is beneficial to their development as individuals. It encourages children to develop the highest possible moral standards, which prepares them to become contributing members of society.

What is the conclusion of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development?

The Role of the Child as an Ethical Philosopher The area of study is known as developmental psychology. Context and primary purpose: Kohlberg was inspired by Piaget’s theory of moral development, which led to the progressive development of his own views.

  1. Eventually, he proposed that humans have three levels of moral reasoning, and that within each of these levels, there are two phases that are connected to one another.
  2. The first level is known as Pre-conventional, and it consists of two sublevels: 1.
  3. Punishment and obedience orientation (avoidance of punishment), and 2.
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Instrumental-relativist sublevel (based on what is rewarding). The second level is the Conventional level, and it is composed of the third orientation of being a “good boy” or “good girl” (please others) and the fourth orientation of being law- and order-oriented (following rules).

  • The ultimate level is post-conventional, and it comprises of two sublevels: level 5 is oriented toward the social contract that society has agreed upon, and level 6 is oriented toward universal principles (own principles).
  • The purpose of the research was to determine whether or not there is evidence to back up his notion of how moral growth occurs.

Kohlberg’s research consisted of a longitudinal study that was carried out over a period of twelve years. During this time period, in order to test people’s ability to think morally, he presented seventy-five young American males with a series of hypothetical and philosophical moral conundrums in the form of short tales.

  1. At the beginning of the research, the participants ranged in age from 10 to 16 years old; by the time it was through, their ages ranged from 22 to 28.
  2. Kohlberg examined the similarities and differences between males living in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Turkey, and Taiwan.
  3. Some examples of the moral conundrums included the following question for children of the age of ten: “Would it be preferable to save the life of one significant person or a lot of individuals who are not important?” And at the ages of 13, 16, 20, and 24, the question was, “Should the doctor’mercy kill’ a terminally sick lady who requested death because of her pain?” The findings demonstrated that the participants advanced through the phases as they aged.

By the time the research was done, there were still some individuals who had not completed the last stage of their moral growth. The thinking of a participant was at a single stage at around fifty percent of each of the six stages, independent of the moral conundrum that was being considered.

  1. The competitors were never allowed to return to a stage that they had already completed, and the stages were always completed in the same sequence and stage-by-stage.
  2. For instance, none of the adults in Stage 4 had progressed through Stage 6 in the past, but all of the adults in Stage 6 had progressed through Stage 4 at the very least.

Kohlberg also discovered that when youngsters are exposed to the perspectives of a kid who is one step further ahead, they appear to prefer this next stage and to progress to it. The following observations on differences between cultures were made: Boys in Taiwan between the ages of 10 and 13 gave replies that were considered to be “typical” Stage-2 responses.

  • It was found that the sequence of each stage is the same as the order of its difficulty or maturity when looking at middle-class urban boys aged 10 in the United States of America, Taiwan, and Mexico.
  • Americans aged 16 years old had only seldom progressed to stage 6, and adolescents aged 13 years old had never utilized stage 3.

Stage 5 thinking was achieved by participants in Mexico and Taiwan at a later age than it was by participants in the United States at the age of sixteen. Stage 5 thinking was more widespread in the United States than either Mexico or Taiwan. It was found that children from middle-class families had better developed moral judgment than children from lower-class families who were the same age.

  • There were no significant variations detected in the formation of moral thought across adherents of different religious traditions, including Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and atheism.
  • Conclusions: The findings of this study are consistent with Kohlberg’s notion of the six stages of development.
  • There is no variation in the process of moral growth; people progress through the stages one at a time and in the sequence shown above; nevertheless, not all individuals will complete all of the phases.
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He also came to the conclusion that the sequence of phases is the same in all different civilizations. In contrast, children from middle-class families progress through the phases more rapidly and over a longer period of time than children from lower-income families.

What is the most important element of moral maturity does our society need?

To be morally mature, one must first acknowledge that there is a self, that the self makes choices about actions, and that acts have consequences for both the self and others. Cognitive capacity is the bedrock upon which moral thinking is built (Kohlberg, 1976).

What is moral development essay?

Related Stages of moral growth and the things that drive my decision-making, I have to admit that we all go through the preconventional moral reasoning development when we are small children. This is something that I cannot deny. When we are young, we are taught that good behavior will be rewarded with positive consequences.

  1. Even if we aren’t fully able to appreciate the morality of our activities at such a young age, we are taught to obey and have an innate understanding of the immediate repercussions if our actions are not of moral character.
  2. This helps us learn to comply.
  3. Sosik and Jung (2010) draw attention to the fact that, Traditional ways of thinking about right and wrong Children of this age have developed a sense of moral realism in their worldview.

This means that they think all components of morality, such as laws and penalties, emanate from an external source and exist on their own in their own right. As a result of this, they have the perspective that everything is as plainly right or bad as they are informed it is the case.

  1. At the age of 10, a child’s morality develops into an independent entity.
  2. When someone begins to think that they are subject to their own set of laws and regulations, they are said to have achieved a level of autonomy.
  3. This phase offers a relativistic approach to morality.
  4. This is the spot where the child will be.

Soraya’s Moral Development One of the characters that Khaled Hosseini created for his novel The Kite Runner, Soraya Taheri, exemplifies the qualities that a real lady and a good wife should have. According to Kohlberg, there are three stages of moral growth that individuals go through, and she is an example of level three.

Even if the novel does not provide a great deal of information on Soraya, one is nevertheless able to create an opinion about her character based on how she acts throughout the narrative. When the reader first meets Soraya, she is engaged in her job at a flea market, which takes place in chapter 11. Her Lawrence Kohlberg is the one who is credited with developing the idea on how moral development occurs.

Kohlberg was a twentieth-century psychologist who devoted his work to the study of moral growth and reasoning, particularly as it relates to children and adolescents (Absolute Astronomy, pg.38). His hypothesis was heavily inspired by the phases of cognitive development proposed by the well-known Swiss scientist Jean Piaget.

[Citation needed] (Absolute Astronomy, pg.38). Within Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, there are four distinct phases (Hart). Connect the six stages of moral development to the various philosophical traditions discussed in the text book, notes, and in the Harvard Justice lecture series, such as Deontological, Utilitarian/Consequentialist, and Teleological, as well as to their philosophical origins, such as Aristotle, Kant, Bentham, etc.

Kohlberg’s theory actually connects the six stages of moral development to the various philosophical traditions. Deontology The study of the essence of responsibility and obligation, which is a non-consequentialist approach to moral good and wrong that is independent of outcome and places a greater emphasis on the significance of our methods.

Absolutism/Kantianism Both Level 2 and Level 3 validate the notion that there are three levels of moral development and six phases within each level of moral development. Pre-conventional morality, conventional morality, and post-conventional morality make up the three stages. The six phases consist of an orientation toward obedience and punishment, individualism and exchange, positive interpersonal interactions, the preservation of social order, a social contract and individual rights, and the establishment of universal principles (McLleod, 2011).

In this study, the three degrees of moral growth will be discussed, along with the stages in which I experienced ethical reasoning. THEORIES OF FOUR TYPES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT Describe The Theory of Moral Development Proposed by Jean Piaget Jean Piaget is most famous for his stage theory on the moral development of children, which consists of two distinct stages, from heteronomous to autonomous, and three sub stages, premoral (occurring between ages 0 and 5), moral realism (occurring between ages 5 and 10), and moral relativism.

  1. Piaget’s theory is most well-known today (after age 10).
  2. During the stage of premoral development, children are incapable of conceiving of concepts such as good and evil.
  3. Children who have reached the moral realism phase are aware of what constitutes good and bad behavior.
  4. Last but not least, in moral relativism, there is a philosopher who is famous for the idea of moral evolution that he proposed in 1958.
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His thesis was heavily reliant on the ideas of the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget as well as the American philosopher John Dewey. The preconventional, the conventional, and the postconventional levels of moral reasoning are included in it. The degree to which a person conforms to the established norms and expectations of society is the determining factor for each of these levels.

Each level is comprised of two phases, each of which represents a different level of sophistication in terms of moral reasoning. Overall, Kohlberg Both Antigone and Malala Yousafzai faced severe consequences for standing up for what they believed in and their moral ideals despite the severity of those consequences.

Both Malala and Antigone were at the same stage of Kohlberg’s “Laws of Conscience,” which was stage six for Malala and likewise stage six for Antigone. According to Lawrence Kohlberg, the process of moral development starts in childhood. At this age, children begin to deliberate over whether or not to do what their parents instruct them to do.

As the child grows older, he begins to understand the concept of his own belief of right and wrong, which is based on how the norms of society interact with it. He asserted that he was able to prove that children gain abilities and knowledge as they age, and that this is where cognitive development originates (Laungani, 2007).

Piaget did not care about whether or not the youngsters could count, spell, or recite sentences when he was doing his research. He was more interested with the processes that led to the conception of the concepts in the first place. Kohlberg Moral Development Additionally, Lawrence Kohlberg was of the idea that a kid evolved ethically in response to the environment in which they were raised as the child got older.

What is an example of conventional morality?

Which of the following is an illustration of conventional morality? – A good illustration of conventional morality would be the refusal to cheat on a test due to the fact that cheating weakens the educational system and leads to societal instability. The line of reasoning shown here exemplifies a concern for social order, which is the second stage of conventional morality.