Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987) was a renowned American psychologist who dedicated most of his career to researching the psychosocial and moral development of human beings. This researcher based his theory on Piaget’s concept of moral development.
Kohlberg defined moral judgment as a mental process that allows us to think and draw conclusions about our own values and subsequently organize them in our head following a hierarchy. In this Psychology-Online article, we will develop in depth the Kohlberg’s stages of moral development and we will see the main criticisms of his theory of moral development.
Kolhberg’s levels of moral development
Kohlberg’s theory of moral development is greatly influenced by Jean Piaget’s theory of moral development. Specifically, Kohlberg applied the moral development scheme in stages that Piaget developed to study thinking and how the individual’s moral judgment evolves. In this article, you will find more information about .
Kohlberg’s theory of moral development consists of six stages. In turn, Kohlberg’s stadiums are divided into three large levels. Next, we will see Kohlberg’s levels of moral development:
- Preconventional level: usually lasts up to 9 years. The preconventional level is the most primitive form of moral judgment. It is a morality oriented towards satisfying one’s own desires and needs or constrained to obedience and concerned with punishment. It is called preconventional because in reality the boy or girl does not understand the meaning and function of social norms.
- Moral or conventional level of consciousness: defines the thinking of adolescents and adults. At this level, individuals take into account their individual interests and social conventions about what is good or bad. Social norms condition the individual’s moral judgment.
- Postconventional level: At this level, people have their own moral principles that are based on collective values and individual freedoms. Individuals distinguish the legal from the moral and act accordingly in accordance with justice and human rights.
Kohlberg’s stages of moral development
Kohlberg’s 3 levels of moral reasoning consist of six stages. Let’s see the main characteristics of Kohlberg’s stadiums.
Preoperational level
The first of Kolhberg’s levels of moral development is the preoperational phase. According to Kohlberg’s moral judgment, this phase is divided into two stages:
- Stadium of punishment and obedience orientation: the boy or girl’s difficulty in taking into account different perspectives on the same problem marks the nature of this stage. The reason for acting well is, above all, to avoid punishment or obtain a reward, and only those behaviors that involve physical harm to other people or their property are recognized as bad.
- Self-interest orientation stage: The growing awareness that there are different perspectives and interests defines the new stage. The boy or girl understands that all people have their own interests and seek to satisfy them.
Moral or conventional level of consciousness
The moral or conventional consciousness phase is the second level of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development. This stage consists of two stages:
- Consensus orientation stage: The concern for obtaining people’s respect and for living in accordance with what others expect of us defines this stage. Orientation to norms guarantees that conduct is within established canons.
- Authority Orientation Stadium: The individual assumes that everyone must follow the laws and that the laws must be applied impartially to everyone. The supreme reason is to maintain social order and is justified by an obligation of conscience that requires people to fulfill their obligations to society.
Postconventional level
The last of Kohlberg’s levels is the postconventional phase. This stage of moral development is divided into two stages:
- Stage of orientation towards the social contract: at this stage the individual considers that there are supreme values and rights that every society must guarantee. There is a set of rights and duties that make up the social contract, based on the conviction that these facilitate coexistence and the objectives of social life.
- Universal Rights Orientation Stadium: Kohlberg postulates a final stage that represents an ideal culmination point of moral development. Moral reasoning in this phase is based on the creation of universal moral principles that are different from the laws themselves.
Criticisms of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development
Kohlberg’s theory of development has received numerous criticisms for different reasons. The most frequent criticism of Kohlberg’s levels and stages of moral reasoning is the claim to universality of the stadiums.
Another criticism refers to the psychology of moral development offered by Kohlberg. According to psychologist Carol Gilligan, Kohlberg’s stadium model is fundamentally masculine. According to this author, women follow a different moral development than men and she proposes an alternative model to Kohlberg’s, less focused on morality as justice and more on the morality of care and the feeling of personal responsibility towards others.
Neither of these two moralities would be superior to the other, but rather alternative ways of conceiving problems and orienting ourselves towards them. Although Gilligan’s criticism was received at the time as a valuable and interesting contribution, attempts to find solid empirical support for his ideas have not been very fruitful.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to Kohlberg’s stages of moral developmentwe recommend that you enter our category.
Bibliography
- Barra Almagiá, E. (1987). Moral development: An introduction to Kohlberg’s theory. Latin American Journal of Psychology, 19(1), 7-18.
- García Madruga, JA and Delval, J. (2010). Developmental Psychology I. Cognitive and linguistic development. Madrid: UNED.