Kohlberg proposed six separate stages of moral development which he grouped together into three levels. Movement through these stages is dependent on level of Cognitive Development and perspective-taking abilities; however, these are necessary, but not sufficient conditions for progression.
For progression through the stages to occur, a person must have adequate experience of reasoning about moral issues; reasoning is not taught, it comes from an active reorganisation of thought processes.
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Preconventional Level Morality is externally controlled, rules come from authority figures, actions are judged on their consequences.
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1. Punishment and Obedience Orientation |
Cannot consider two points of view, so they ignore intentions and focus on fear of authority and avoidance of punishment. |
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2. Instrumental Relativist Orientation |
Becoming aware that people can have different perspectives in a dilemma, but understanding is concrete. Morality is based on self interest. Reciprocity is based on an "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" basis. |
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Conventional Level Morality is less based on self interest and more on maintaining a social order that is positive for all.
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3. Interpersonal Concordance Orientation (good boy-nice girl) |
In the first stage of the conventional level, the person wishes to maintain the approval of friends and relatives by being seen as a good person . Reciprocity is expressed as in the 'golden rule' |
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4. Maintaining the Social Order Orientation |
Moral views are expanded to take into account society as a whole. Rules must be enforced in the same way for everyone. Everyone has a duty to uphold the law. Laws cannot be disobeyed because they are vital for social order |
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Postconventional Level In this level, morality comes from abstract principles that apply to all situations and societies
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5. Social Contract-Legalistic Orientation |
Rules and laws should exist to promote a fair and just social order. There are fair procedures for interpreting the law. Laws are fair if they are consistent with the rights of the majority. People follow laws because they have a social-contract to do so |
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6. Universal Ethical Principles Orientation |
At the highest stage, the person has self-chosen ethical principles that exist independently of any laws or social agreements. These values are abstract, not like the ten commandments. |
Evaluation of Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development
Kohlberg's theory makes a number of claims, the first is that progress in moral development is age related and that people pass through the stages in an invariant sequence. The 20 year longitudinal study of Kohlberg's original participants seems to indicate that this is the case: almost all participants moved through the stages in the predicted order without skipping stages or returning to lower stages. Other longitudinal studies support these findings (Rest, 1986). Nevertheless, there is not very much evidence that people use stage 6 reasoning. Kohlberg (1978) himself acknowledged that there may not be a sixth stage.
Another issue concerns whether the stages are organised wholes; i.e., do people always apply the same type of reasoning across all situations and then abruptly jump to the next stage? The evidence indicates that individuals do not consistently use the same type of moral reasoning; however, higher levels gradually become the more dominant mode of thinking.
A difficulty with Kohlberg's research is that the moral dilemmas involved hypothetical situations. It does not necessarily follow that moral reasoning will be the same when it comes to real-life dilemmas. Walker et al. (1999) asked adults and adolescents to recall and discuss a real-life dilemma. Participants reported that they felt drained, confused and torn by temptation; emotions appear to be much more important in real life situations.
A related issue is that people do not have to take risks in making hypothetical judgements, whereas in real life a great deal of personal risk may be involved. In real life situations, people tend to use reasoning that is below that used for hypothetical dilemmas (Walker & Moran, 1991).
Although there is a great deal of cross-cultural support for Kohlberg's theory, Snarey (1987) has argued that some cultures have moral principles that are not covered by Kohlberg's theory. For example, in Papua New Guinea there is a principle of collective responsibility – Heinz should steal the drug because all resources should be available to the community at large.
A further criticism of Kohlberg's theory is that it was based on a study which only involved male participants. Carol Gilligan argued that men's morality is based on principles of law and justice, while women's morality is based on principles of care and responsibility to other people. She explained that the reason males tend to score more highly than females on moral dilemmas is because the dilemmas are biased towards a justice orientation. To Gilligan, neither type of reasoning is better than the other; women's reasoning complements that of men. Nevertheless, it has been found that males and females use both types of reasoning (Clopton & Sorrell, 1993).
