Student Moral Development

Jean Piaget

The study of moral development originated in the work of Jean Piaget, the cognitive psychologist often credited with creating stage-based theories of intellectual and moral growth in children that served as a springboard for many to follow. Piaget's study of the moral judgment of children involved examining the “practice and consciousness of rules” (1948, p. 4) that they employed when playing a game of marbles. Piaget's premise was that children actively construct and reconstruct reality based on experiences that call into question their current understanding of reality. According to Piaget, the framework of this sense-making changes qualitatively as new information that does not fit the current reality requires an adjustment in the framework. This progression of cognitive “structures” or modes that individuals use to reason about the world consistently across contexts is often believed to be at the center of human intellectual development, and it became the hallmark of Piaget's contributions to psychology.

Lawrence Kohlberg

Lawrence Kohlberg, in the tradition of Piaget, sought to investigate moral thinking through longitudinal studies with adolescent, mostly male, boys and adults. Kohlberg assessed moral development by asking participants to settle hypothetical moral dilemmas such as the now-classic “Heinz” scenario. In this story, individuals were asked to decide whether Heinz, whose wife was dying of a terminal illness, should have stolen a drug that may have cured his wife's condition. The scenario offers the fact that the local druggist who discovered the medicine had charged several times his cost and that Heinz had been able only to raise a portion of the needed funds. Reactions to this dilemma allowed Kohlberg to focus on how respondents came to resolutions. He viewed this process of reasoning as more important than the solution itself in the investigation of cognitive or moral development.

[Page 435]Kohlberg's (1976, 1981) theory of moral reasoning concluded that individuals undergo development in a three-level, six-stage sequence. Kohlberg labeled Level 1 as “preconventional”; its two stages describe individuals making moral judgments based on following rules, avoiding punishment, and finding what is “fair.” The difference between the two stages in this level is that in Stage 1, deference is given to authorities to dictate what is “right,” while in Stage 2, the individual recognizes that everyone may not agree on what is right and bases decisions on self-interests. At this level, rules and expectations are viewed as external to self. Level 2, named the “conventional” level, also has two stages. Stage 3 involves concern for doing what is considered characteristically “good” and having motives that appear acceptable to others. In Stage 4, the society within which individuals live and the rules within them, the larger social order, become priorities. In this level, the self has internalized the rules and expectations of others at this level. Finally, Level 3, also known as the “postcon-ventional” level, contains Stages 5 and 6. In Stage 5, human rights, based on social agreements resulting from a democratic process, are paramount. Stage 6, viewed as a more theoretical stage, because Kohlberg found little evidence to support its existence, hinges on individuals committing to justice by supporting the spirit of “universal principles” that should apply to everyone and every situation. This level involves individuals mediating between self-chosen and others' rules and expectations to make informed judgments.

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