Kohlber's and Gilligan's Theories of Moral Development

Preconventional

Morality is externally controlled, focuses largely on external consequences

Obedience-and-Punishment Orientation

Desire to obey rules and avoid being puished

Instrumental Orientation

What is right is what is in the child’s personal best interest

Conventional

Morality tied to personal and societal relationships; rigid adherence

Good Boy, Nice Girl Orientation

Avoiding disapproval, seeking to be perceived as nice

Law-and-Order Orientation

Importance of following rules, most members of society here

Postconventional

more abstract, realization the person is separate from society, rules changeable

Social Contract Orientation

Laws as social, can change for the greatest good

Universal-Ethical-Principle Orientation

Laws only valid if grounded in justice, individual acts because it is morally right to do so

Preconventional Stage

Selfishness, my needs first, oriented to individual survival

Conventional Stage

Responsibilities for others, their needs come first, goodness is self sacrifice

Postconventional Stage

I am also a person, I can take care of myself and others, morality of nonviolence