Kohlberg's Moral Development Ages
Lawrence Kohlberg was a psychologist who wrote a theory of moral development. Kohlberg theorized that morality is not linked to character but rather is defined by levels and stages of moral reasoning, which are linked to age. Although he died in 1987, people still use and teach his thinking today as the basic theory of moral development.
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Kohlberg's Method
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When developing his theory, Kohlberg performed studies with participants aged 10, 13 and 16. In his first study, they were all boys from Chicago, but in later studies he included boys and girls from various cities, countries and social classes. He posed a series of moral dilemmas to study the reasoning each participant used to reach his conclusion. He then analyzed this moral reasoning and placed the results in a series of levels and stages.
Ages 4 to 10
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Children aged four to 10 are in level one of moral development, known as Preconventional Morality. This consists of both stages one and two. Stage one is Obedience and Punishment Orientation; a child in this stage bases her moral judgment on whether a higher authority says a certain action is wrong and if she would get punished for it. Stage two is Instrumental-Relativist Orientation, which is when a child believes morals are relative and she should act according to self-interest.
Ages 10 to 13
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Children are in level two of moral development, or Conventional Morality, between ages 10 and 13. Level two includes stages three and four. Stage three, or the Good Boy/Nice Girl Orientation, is when someone believes he should be good because of family and community expectations and out of feelings such as empathy, trust and love. Stage four is the Law and Order Orientation. A person in this stage bases his morality on the desire to stay within the law and maintain social order.
Ages 14 Plus
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People from the age 14 upwards are in Level three of moral development, known as Postconventional Morality. Stage five is Social Contract Orientation, when a person's moral judgment is according to rights and values agreed upon by society as a whole; people from different cultures have different ideas about what's right in this stage. Stage six is Universal, Ethical Orientation, which is when a person makes moral judgments according to his own conscience and ethical values.
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