BCS172 Exam #2 - Middle Childhood: Moral Development

Moral dilemmas

- Problems in which 2+ principles/concerns come into conflict

- Involves thoughts/feelings about rights, duties, virtues, and one's sense of morality

Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987)

- Influenced by Piaget and developed a stage theory of moral development

- Pushed back against behaviorist and psychoanalytic traditions used to explain moral reasoning

Kohlberg: Heinz dilemma

Wife dying of cancer, chemist offers drug, doesn't have enough money for drug, steals drug -- is this moral?

Preconventional level

- Consistent w/ "concrete operations" and "what's in it for me?"

- Child/adolescent seeks to avoid punishment or gain favors

- Rules are perceived as "externally imposed"

Preconventional level: stage 1

- Follows rules to avoid punishment

- Egocentric POV -- doesn't consider interests of others/how they might differ from actors

Preconventional level: stage 2

- Follow rules when it's to someone's interest

- Concrete individualistic perspective -- everyone has their own interest to pursue and these may conflict; what's right is relative

Conventional level

- Adolescent/adult has "internalized" rules and expectations of authority

- Tries to be "good" in the eyes of others and maintain social order for the greater good

- Recognizes possibility of breaking the law to uphold a higher-order principle (2nd stage)

Conventional level: stage 3

- Morality is judged by intentions and the approval of others ("social consensus")

- Individuals aim to be seen as good by conforming to social expectations

Conventional level: stage 4

- Understanding and adherence to societal rules become paramount

- Emphasis on obeying laws to maintain societal harmony

Postconventional level

- Older adolescents/adults distinguish between self-chosen principles and principles articulated by authority

- Some values are seen as relative to a particular context, while others are absolute

Postconventional level: stage 5

- "Principled level" -- laws as social contracts (vary by culture/group) rather than strict mandates

- Laws should be flexible to accommodate individual rights and the greater good

Postconventional level: stage 6

- Abstract reasoning (i.e., formal operations); universal ethical principles

- If laws contradict self-chosen principles, one acts in accordance with their principles over the law

T/F -- stage 6 was found often in Kohlberg's moral development research

FALSE -- Not found often, but can occasionally be seen in law, theology, and/or moral philosophy

Moral development and cognitive development

- Advanced moral levels require diminishment of egocentrism

- Cognitive development is a prerequisite but not sufficient for moral development

Moral development and cognitive development: concrete operation

Limited to preconventional level

Moral development and cognitive development: early formal operations

Limited to conventional level

____ was the student-then-collaborator of Kohlberg who offered a critique in extension of his stages

Carol Gilligan

Carol Gilligan: critiques of Kohlberg's stages

- Conceptualization was too "male-centric"

- Use of hypothetical scenarios was too limiting

- Women may focus more on caring and responsibility of others

- Men may focus more on justice, rights, and prioritizing competing principles

Gilligan's stages: stage 1

Focused on self and needs

Gilligan's stages: stage 2

- Centered upon whom she owes responsibility to, and conversely, whom it would be "ok" to hurt

- Balancing needs of others with needs of self