Created by Dhara Bechra
over 7 years ago
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Question | Answer |
Kohlberg (1968) - Stages of Moral Development | Based on Piaget's maturational stages of cognitive development. He proposes that morality changes with age and there are 3 levels of moral reasoning. |
Aims & Research Questions | Can changes in the development of moral reasoning be measured? To investigate moral development from age 10 - 28. |
Research Method | Longitudinal research using self-report 12 years, every 3 years pp was interviewed. Cross-sectional (different countries) |
Sample | 75 boys from Chicago followed for 12 years- 3-year intervals. Ages 10-28 Boys in GB, Canada, Taiwan, Mexico and Turkey also studied. |
Procedure | To measure moral reasoning, boys presented with hypothetical moral dilemmas such as Heinz's story. At start boys were 10-16 followed to ages 22-28. |
Procedure (2) | Then asked questions such as: Should Heinz have stolen the drugs? Would it change anything if Heinz did not love his wife? What if the person dying was a stranger, would it make any difference? Should the police arrest the chemist for murder if the woman died? |
Results | To determine a child's level of morality, Kohlberg analysed reasoning behind answers. For example, Stage 1: moral reasoning child might say 'Heinz shouldn't steal the drug because he might go to jail'. |
Results (2) | Stage 4, teenager might say 'Heinz shouldn't steal the drug because it is against the law'. Stage 6, adult might say 'Heinz should steal the drug because it is duty to save his wife's life - her life is more important than the law'. |
Results (3) | Preconventional: 1) Orientation towards punishment. 2) Orientation towards self-interest. Conventional: 3) Good-boy-good-girl orientation. 4) Orientation towards authority. Postconventional: 5) Social contact orientation. 6) Orientation towards conscience and ethical principles. |
Conclusion | There are 3 levels and 6 stages in development of moral reasoning and these can be measured. People only pass through stages in order listed and each new stage replaces moral reasoning typical of their stage. Not everyone achieves all stages of moral reasoning. |
Evaluation | Extraneous variables- individual differences eliminated Qualitative data collected No deception or distress Low EV- asked about hypothetical dilemmas Easy to replicate- so high reliability Ethnocentric |
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