The Stages of Moral Development

The Stages of Moral Development
Moral development refers to the “process through which a human person gains his/her beliefs,
skills and dispositions that make him/her a morally mature person.
William A. Kay has the following to say regarding the nature of moral development:
1. Pattern of intellectual growth can be simply described as passing through stages of animal
behavior, pre-logical thinking, thought governed by empirical logic and finally by formal logic, so
morality can be described as passing through stages of behavior controlled first, by taboo
2. By law
3. By conscience (i.e. irrational, intrajected values)
4. By reciprocity
5. By social consensus and finally by personal moral principles, though not necessarily in that
order.
State differently, the five stages may be reduced to three as follows:
1. The amoral stage – egocentric, hedonist and prudential considerations
2. The pre-moral stage – authoritarian, ego-idealist, social and reciprocal considerations
3. The moral stage-personal, autonomous, altruistic, rational, independent and responsible
considerations
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development

Kohlberg describes the stages of moral development in 3 stages, namely: Level 1 – Pre-
conventional morality, Level 2 – Conventional morality and Level 3- Post-conventional morality. Each
level has two stages each so that there are six stages of moral development. They are described in detail
below:
Level 1 – Pre-conventional morality

This is the lowest level of moral development in Kohlberg’s theory. At the pre-conventional level
children don’t have a personal code of morality. Instead, their moral code is controlled by the standards
of adults and the consequences of following or breaking adults’ rules. Authority is outside the
individual and reasoning is based on the physical consequences of actions. There is no internalization of
moral values.
● Stage 1. Obedience and Punishment Orientation. The child/individual does good in order to
avoid being punished. If he/she is punished, he/she must have done wrong. Children obey
because adults tell them to obey. Moral decisions are based on fear of punishment. It is a matter
of obey or you get punished.
● Stage 2. Instrumental Orientation. Right behavior is defined by whatever the individual believes
to be in his/her best interest. In this stage there is limited interest in the needs of others, only to
the point where it might further the individual’s own interests. It is a matter of “you scratch my
back, and I’ll scratch yours” mentality. In this stage, right involves equal exchange.
Level 2 – Conventional
Throughout the conventional level, a child’s sense of morality is tied to personal and societal
relationships. Children continue to accept the rules of authority figures, but this is now due to their
belief that this is necessary to ensure positive relationships and societal order. Adherence to rules and
conventions is somewhat rigid during these stages and a rule’s appropriateness or fairness is seldom
questioned.
● Stage 3. “Good boy, Nice Girl” Orientation. In stage 3, children want the approval of others and
act in ways to avoid disapproval. Emphasis is placed on good behavior and people being “nice”
to others. The individual is good in order to be seen as being a good person by others.
Therefore, answers relate to the approval of others. The individual values caring and loyalty to
others as a basis for moral judgments.
● Stage 4. Law and Order Orientation. The child/individual becomes aware of the wider rules of
society, so judgments concern obeying the rules in order to uphold the law and to avoid guilt. It
is a matter of “I have to do this because the law says so.” It is still blind obedience to the law so
morality still lacks internalization.
Level 3 – Post-conventional Morality

This is the level of full internalization. Morality is completely internalized and not based on
external standards. Individual judgment is based on self-chosen principles and moral reasoning is based
on individual rights and justice. According to Kohlberg this level of moral reasoning is as far as most
people get.
● Stage 5. Social contact orientation. The child/individual becomes aware that while rules/laws
might exist for the good of the greatest number, there are times when they will work against the
interest of particular individuals. In this level, individuals’ reason out that values, rights and
principles transcend the law.
Laws as regarded as social contracts rather than rigid orders. Those that do not promote the general
welfare should be changed when necessary to meet the greatest good for the greatest number
of people.
● Stage 6. Universal, ethical, principle orientation. Individuals at this stage have developed their
own set of moral guidelines which may or may not fit the law. They have developed moral
judgments that are based on universal human rights. The principles apply to everyone.
Arguments Against Kohlberg’s Theory

How does this theory apply to males and females? Kohlberg felt that more males than females
move past stage four in their moral development. He went on to note that women seem to be deficient
in their moral reasoning abilities. These ideas were not well received by Carol Gilligan, a research
assistant of Kohlberg, who consequently developed her own ideas of moral development. In her
groundbreaking book, in a “Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development”, Gilligan
criticized her former mentor’s theory because it was based only on upper class whiten men and boys.
She argued that women are not deficient in their moral reasoning – she proposed that males and
females reason differently. Girls and women focus more on staying connected and the importance of
interpersonal relationships.
Development of conscience-based moral decision

Moral development includes development of conscience-based moral decision. This is in the
post-conventional level of Kohlberg’s stages of moral development. Panizo defines conscience as “an act
of the practical judgment of reason deciding upon an individual action as good and to be performed and
as evil and to be avoided”. It is metaphorically referred to as the “inner or little voice of God.” Panizo
quotes St. Thomas regarding the obligatory force of conscience: Every conscience, whether right or
erroneous, whether with regard to acts which are evil in themselves or acts which are indifferent, is
obligatory, so that he who acts in opposition to his conscience, does wrong.
Rev. Thomas V. Berg defines conscience as follows:
In the natural law tradition, conscience is understood to be a judgment emanating from
human reason about choices and actions to be made, or accomplished, or already opted for and
performed…
Aquinas held that conscience, in the strict sense, was as an act of human reason – called
a judgment - following upon, and concluding, a time of deliberation. In this sense, conscience is the
interior resounding of reason. Conscience is reason’s awareness of a choice, or an action’s harmony or
disharmony, with the kind of behavior which truly leads to our genuine well-being, and flourishing.
If our choice or action is not in accord with the judgment of a rightly formed and active
conscience, then that judgment will linger in our conscious awareness, presenting itself as a felt
disharmony between the choice, and the moral norm (and corresponding virtue), being violated. While
such felt disharmony is indeed of an emotive nature, the judgment of conscience remains something
distinct and irreducible to the negative feeling which happens to accompany it.
The formation of conscience

Corresponding therefore to the prior discussion on moral development is the formation of
conscience. What then is meant when it is said that the conscience must be “formed”?
First – Conscience formation begins with the deep-seated decision to seek moral truth. One
adopts, as a way of life, the habit of seeking out answers to questions about right and wrong, preserving
in that quest until one arrives at a state of moral certainty, after having made the most reasonable effort
possible to arrive at those answers.
Second – A sound conscience must stand on the firm foundation of integrity, sincerity and
forthrightness. Duplicity, personal inconsistency and dishonesty undermine any hope of forming a
properly functioning conscience.
Third – Conscience formation is sustained by the habit of consistently educating oneself by
exposure to objective moral norms and the rationale behind those norms.
Conscience needs a guide…. The Church’s moral teaching, while certainly enlightened by
revealed law, is, at its core, the application of what this tradition has discovered over the centuries
about the kinds of behavior that lead us to live genuinely fulfilling, human lives. You do not place
yourself at odds with such a tradition lightly.
Consequently, conscience formation requires a habit of on-going self-formation (what we might
call moral information gathering) through study, reading and other types of inquiry. This includes
consultation with persons whose moral judgment we know to be sound and in accord with the Church’s
moral tradition. Finally, conscience, if it is to be correct, needs the assistance of the virtue of prudence.
By “prudence”, we mean the virtue as understood within the natural law tradition. This should not be
confused with timidity, “covering one’s back” or dissimulation (hiding the truth).
As one’s consciousness widens, the moral parameters or standards of one’s decision making widens,
one’s moral conscience widens, one mature.
Stage 1 Stage 2
Obedience and Individual interest:
Level 1
punishment: behavior driven by
Pre-conventional
behavior driven by self-interest and
morality
avoiding rewards
punishment
Stage 3 Stage 4
Interpersonal: Authority:
Level 2 behavior driven by behavior driven by
Conventional social approval obeying authority
morality and conforming to
social order
Stage 5 Stage 6
Level 3 Social contract: Universal ethics:
Post-conventional behavior driven by behavior driven by
morality balance of social internal moral
order and principles
individual rights

The Stages of Moral Development

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The Stages of Moral Development

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The Stages of Moral Development

Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development

Level 1 – Pre-conventional morality

Level 3 – Post-conventional Morality

Arguments Against Kohlberg’s Theory

Development of conscience-based moral decision

The formation of conscience

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