Kohlberg’s

Stages of
Moral
Development
“Right action tends to be
defined in terms of general
individual rights and standards
that have been critically
examined and agreed upon by
the whole society”

- Lawrence Kohlberg
Lawrence Kohlberg
- Was such an interesting, if
not intriguing person.
- He was born wealthy, but choose
to be a sailor and began to be
interested in moral reasoning.
- He helped smuggle Jews through
a British blockade in Palestine
during World War II.
- Kohlberg is known for his theory of moral development
which was influenced by Piaget and Dewey’s theories.
- He believed that people progressed in their ability to reason
morally through six stages, with three levels largely by social
interaction.
 Learning Outcomes

At the end of the lesson the students must have:

1. explained the stages of moral development
2. analyze a person’s level of moral reasoning based on his
responses to moral dilemmas
3. cite how the theory of moral development can be applied
to your work as teacher later on.
Introduction
Individuals, when confronted by situations where they
need to make moral decisions, exercise their own ability
to use moral reasoning. Lawrence Kohlberg was
interested in studying the development of moral
reasoning. He based his theory on the findings of Piaget
in studying cognitive development. Our ability to choose
right from wrong is tied with our ability to understand
and reason logically.
Activity
Read the moral dilemma below.
Ryan, 17, has been saving up money to buy a ticket for this concert of rock
band. His parents have discouraged him from going as the concert will surely be
with a rowdy crowd. The band is notorious for having out-of-control audience who
somehow manages to get drunk and stoned during the concert. Ryan agree not
to watch anymore. But a day before the concert, Nic, 15-year-old brother of Ryan,
saw a corner of what appeared to be a concert ticket showing in the pocket of
Ryan’s bag. Nic examined it and confirmed it was indeed a ticket. Looking at
Ryan’s bag, Nic also found an extra shirt and 2 sticks of marijuana. So he figured
Ryan will go to the concert after all. That night, Ryan told his parents that he was
spending tomorrow night at the classmate’s house for a school requirement.
Then later that evening, he told Nic of his plan to go to the concert. Nic didn’t say
anything, but he found it difficult to sleep that night, thinking whether to tell their
parents or not.
Answer the following questions: (1 whole sheet of pad paper

1. If you were Nic, what would you do?

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2. Why should you choose to do that? What were the things you considered in
deciding what to do?
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3. (This will be answered after examining your answers in # 1 and 2 in Analysis)
In what level of moral development did your response to the dilemma fall? Reflect
about what this indicates about your moral reasoning in this moral dilemma.
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Analysis
Examine the answers you gave. Compare it with the responses provided below.
In which of these responses is your answer most similar?
Stage 1 –
“Yes, I will tell our parents. Because if they found out later that I knew, for sure
they will get angry and most likely punish me.”
“No, I will not tell because Ryan will make my life difficult and also punish me
for telling.”
Stage 2 –
“Yes. I will tell my parents because they will reward me for it. I will subtly ask
for that new I Pod that I’m wishing to have.”
“No. I will not tell. Ryan will surely grant me a lot of favors for not telling. He’ll
not also squeal on me.”
Stage 3 –
“Yes. I will tell so my parents will think I am such an honest boy.”
“No. I will not tell. Ryan will think of me as a really cool brother!”
Continuation

Stage 4 –
“Yes, I will tell because we should follow the rules that our parents say.”
“No, because it’s been our rule to keep each others’ secrets.”
Stage 5 –
“Yes. I will tell because he might be hurt or get in trouble and his welfare is top
most priority.”
“No, because he is big enough to question my parents decision not to let him
go.”
Stage 6 –
“Yes, I will tell because lying is always wrong and I want to be true to what I
believe in.”
“No, because I believe brothers watch out for each other. If he trusted me with
this, I should stay true to him and not say anything.”
As you continue reading, you will get to know more about the different levels of moral
reasoning espoused by Kohlberg.
Abstraction/Generalization
Lawrence Kohlberg built on Piaget’s work, and set the groundwork for the present
debate within psychology on moral development. Like Piaget, he believed that children
form ways of thinking through their experiences which include understanding of moral
concepts such as justice, rights, equality and human welfare. Kohlberg followed the
development of moral judgment and extended the ages covered by Piaget, and found out
that the process of attaining moral maturity took longer and occurred slower than Piaget
had thought.
If Piaget designed specific tasks (Piagetian tasks) to learn about the cognitive
development of children, Kohlberg utilized moral dilemmas (Kohlberg dilemmas). The
case you read in the activity was based on how. Kohlberg wrote his dilemmas. Like Piaget,
Kohlberg presented these dilemmas to the individuals in his research and asked for their
responses. He did not aim to judge whether the responses were right or wrong. He was
interested in analyzing the moral reasoning behind the responses.
From his research, Kohlberg identified six stages of moral reasoning group into
three major levels. Each level represents a significant change in the social-moral
reasoning or perspective of the person.
 Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
According to Kohlberg moral development occurs in six stages:

Level Stage Description

Preconventional Level 1 Punishment/ Obedience.

Moral reasoning is based on the
consequences/result of the act, not
on the whether the act itself is good
or bad.
2 Mutual Benefit.
One is motivated by fear of
punishment. He will act in order to
avoid punishment
One is motivated to act by the
benefit that one may obtain later.
You scratch my back, I’ll scratch
yours.
Continuation
Level Stag
Conventional
Moral reasoning is based
on the conventions or
“norms” of society. This
may include approval of
others, law and order.
Post-conventional
Moral reasoning is based
on enduring or consistent
principles. It is not just
recognizing the law, but
the principles behind the
law.
Description
e
Social Approval. One is motivated by what others
expect in behavior – good boy, good girl. The
3 person acts because he/she values how he/she will
appear to others. He/she gives importance on what
people will think or say.
Law and Order. One is motivated to act in order
4 to uphold law and order. The person will follow the
law because it is the law.
Social Contract. Laws that are wrong can be
5 changed. One will act based on social justice and
the common good.
Universal Principles. This is associated with the
development of one’s conscience. Having a set of
6 standards that drives one to possess moral
responsibility to make societal changes regardless
of consequences to oneself. Examples of persons
are Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr.
Quiz. (Answer it in ¼ sheet of pad paper.)
Identify the stage of moral development, shown in the following:
1. Jane allows her classmates to copy her homework so that they will think she is kind and will like
her to be friend.
2. Rodney does everything to get passing grades because hi Mom will take his play station away if he
gets bad grades.
3. A civic action group, protests the use of pills for family planning, saying that although the
government allows this, it is actually murder because the pills are abortifacient (causes abortion).
4. Pinky lets Hannah copy during their math test because Hannah agreed to let her copy during their
sibika test.
5. Kristy decides to return the wallet she found in the canteen so that people will praise her honesty
and think she’s such a nice girl.
6. Jun decides to return the wallet he found in the canteen because he believes it’s the right thing to
do.
7. Lynna wears her ID inside the campus because she likes to follow the school rules and regulations.
8. A jeepney driver looks if there’s a policeman around before he u-turns in a no u-turn spot.
9. Riza volunteers to tutor children-at-risk children in her community for free so they will learn to love
school and stay in school.
10. Little Riel behaves so well to get a star stamp from her teacher.