Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

Most of us know Heinz. The tomato ketchup company, whose products quite a few amongst us like. But cut to circa 1970s and a survey was taken to understand, in simple terms about what notions people have about morality. That was called the Heinz dilemma. Did you know about this Heinz? Allow me to tell you about it, all thanks to a yesteryear psychologist, Lawrence Kohlberg who did that survey to get insights into the conception of morality, moral reasoning and ethics people have. He then came up with his theory, which later came to be known as Kohlberg's theory of moral development. If matters of the unfathomable mind interest you, then the text to follow is for you.

Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development

The foundation of Kohlberg's theory was work done in the related field by Jean Piaget. Kohlberg worked upon, expanded and modified Piaget's theory. The modification resulted in formation of a theory elaborating the development of moral reasoning. The difference was that while Piaget formulated a two-staged process of moral development, Kohlberg went a step ahead and came up with three levels. In the survey he took, he was not interested in knowing the answer to the dilemma he posed for the subjects. He wanted to know the justification and reasoning behind the answers of the subjects, which helped him form his theory and also in a sense give a clear explanation of morals vs ethics.

Stage 1
The first stage is called the Preconventional Morality. Kohlberg said that perhaps the earliest stage of moral development is observed in children. Although adults too are able to express this reasoning. This is the first level within the first stage, which is obedience and punishment. As per this, children consider rules to be final and disobeying them is not a good idea as it can lead to Punishment. The second level in this stage is individualism and exchange. At this level, children were observed to judge actions based on how they serve the needs of the individual.

Stage 2
The next stage in Kohlberg's theory is Conventional Morality. This stage of moral development, called Interpersonal relationships focuses on abiding by the social expectations, rules and norms. Conformity is the key here, as the word conventional suggests. Maintaining social order is another level within this stage, where individuals start to keep in mind the society when making judgments. Individuals tend towards respecting authority and following rules and doing their duty.

Stage 3
The last and final stage in Kohlberg's stages of moral development chart is the Post Conventional Morality. According to Kohlberg, in this stage, individuals start accounting for an array of opinions, values and beliefs of other people. That is when social contracts and individual rights come into play. Rules of law, notwithstanding, people have to abide and agree to these standards. The last level within the last stage is that to some extent moral reasoning is based on abstract reasoning and universal ethical principles. People at some age have their own principles of justice, not necessarily in tune with the societal laws and rules.

There were some more additions and work on these stages and Kohlberg worked on finding whether there were further stages of moral development. One of the examples of Kohlberg's theory was the Heinz dilemma. Now that we know what was this theory, let us take a look at the other side.

Criticism of Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

As is the rule, once a theory is proposed, there is a postmortem and critical analysis of that theory. So Kohlberg's stages of moral development, too, drew a certain amount of flak. One of the major criticism was that the stages proposed by Kohlberg are not culturally neutral, according to demonstration of what happened after it was applied in several different cultures. To some psychologists, the assumption that moral action is a mainly a result of formal reasoning is not adding up. Another very important aspect was the contention that is justice the only dimension of moral reasoning? Over emphasis of justice in Kohlberg's theory does not go down well with critics.

All said and done,with all the criticisms, there is no doubt that Kohlberg's theory laid a foundation for his successors and contemporaries too work in this field of psychology.