What Is Moral Development? Exploring Kohlberg’s 6 Stages

When we witness stories of injustice, unfairness, bravery, or extreme kindness on social media, we rightly experience a range of emotions, from outrage to compassion (Gibbs, 2019).

We do so in response to the moral stance we’ve taken. Most of us reject injustice, brutality, and society’s inhumanity and choose instead to adopt a moral stance on how our world and those within it should be treated.

This article discusses the factors affecting moral development and the stages we pass through as we grow, typically transforming from the self-centeredness of an infant to the skilled social perspective taking of an adult (Gibbs, 2019).

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What Is Moral Development & Why Is It Important?

Moral development and behavior involve putting ourselves in the place of others and typically require a combination of mutual respect, empathy, and caring (Gibbs, 2019).

It is closely connected to psychological development, reflecting the broader growth of cognitive abilities, self-awareness, and emotional regulation that shape how we reason about right and wrong.

Moral judgment begins to form in the early years, taking place in a social context, driven by interactions with peers and adults involving “taking turns, sharing, harming, and responding to harm” (Haidt, 2001, p. 817).

The cultural-developmental approach to moral psychology suggests three vital trajectories in moral development stages (Jensen, 2015):

• Autonomy
  Emphasizing individuality; focusing on the self, including self-interest, rights, and wellbeing
• Community
  Focusing on memberships and relationships within social groups, including duties to others and their welfare and adherence to group norms and customs
• Divinity
  Focusing on the spiritual or religious dimensions or moral reasoning, including the sacredness of moral codes

Together, they form an important framework for understanding how we reason about moral issues from various perspectives. They balance personal, social, and spiritual values while emphasizing purity, sanctity, and spiritual accountability (Jensen, 2015).

Moral reasoning

Moral reasoning is typically highly instinctive and triggered more quickly than rational thinking (Haidt, 2001). It involves a “conscious mental activity that consists of transforming given information about people (and situations) in order to reach a moral judgment” (Haidt, 2001, p. 818).

Such flashes of moral reasoning appear in real-time everyday situations when we are confronted by a situation or event, potentially evoking strong emotional responses such as anger, fear, kindness, or disgust (Gibbs, 2019).

9 Factors Affecting Moral Development

Research in moral psychology has identified many diverse factors involved in moral development, including the following (Vera-Estay et al., 2016; Gibbs, 2019):

1. Age, which impacts our moral reasoning and decision-making abilities
2. Socioeconomic variables, such as income, education, and working conditions
3. Cognitive variables, such as intellectual functioning, attentional control, verbal fluency, and inhibition ​
4. Social cognition factors, including how we understand and navigate our social environment, affecting our ability to recognize and interpret the emotions of others
5. Theory of mind abilities, including how good we are at attributing mental states (beliefs, desires, and intentions) to those around us
6. Empathy, such as sharing and feeling another person’s emotional experiences and taking their perspective
7. Socio-moral reasoning, including what we perceive as social injustice and inequality
8. Parental influences, including their level of education and moral behavior
9. Emotion processing, involving recognizing, interpreting, and managing our own and others’ feelings

Taken together, the factors offer an intricate web of developmental influences that underpin moral growth and are shaped by an interplay of personal experiences and broader societal contexts (Vera-Estay et al., 2016; Gibbs, 2019).

Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development

Lawrence Kohlberg’s (2015) theory of stages of moral development has dominated research in moral development for several decades (Gross, 2020).

Influenced by Jean Piaget’s staged model of developmental theory, Kohlberg assessed individuals’ moral reasoning through the lens of moral dilemmas. Subjects were asked to choose between two or more alternative reactions or responses.

Heinz dilemma

The now famous Heinz dilemma created by Kohlberg involves an imaginary scenario where a man called Heinz can only save the life of his wife dying from cancer by getting his hands on a drug sold by a local, greedy pharmacist (Gross, 2020).

Despite all attempts, the husband can’t get all the money needed to buy the drug, so he considers breaking into the pharmacy to save his wife’s life.

Having explained the dilemma to study participants, Kohlberg asked them a series of questions, including (Gross, 2020):

1. Should the husband steal the drug? Why or why not?
2. If he doesn’t steal the drug, does he truly love his wife? What should he do then?
3. What if the person dying wasn’t his wife, but a stranger? What should he do?
4. How important is it for people to do all they can for the life of another?
5. Should people do everything they can to obey the law?

The results led to Kohlberg’s (2015) suggestion of six qualitatively different stages of moral development across the following three levels of moral reasoning (Gross, 2020):

Level 1: Preconventional morality

External consequences shape moral reasoning.

Stage 1 (punishment and obedience orientation) – What is punishable determines what’s right and wrong. As such, being moral means avoiding punishment.

Stage 2 (instrumental relativist orientation) – What people want and are rewarded for determines right and wrong. Other people’s needs matter, but only in a reciprocal sense.

Level 2: Conventional morality

Moral reasoning is influenced by our strong need to adhere to rules and authority.

Stage 3 (interpersonal concordance or “good boy-nice girl” orientation) – Being moral is determined by what pleases and helps other people — and ultimately what the majority thinks.

Stage 4 (maintaining the social order orientation) – It is our duty to respect authority and maintain social order. As such, this is more important than the needs of our family and loved ones.

Level 3: Post-conventional morality

Moral reasoning is determined by abstract reasoning.

Stage 5 (social contract–legalistic orientation) – While laws are established based on mutual agreement, they can be changed democratically or, at times, overridden. Life is more sacred than the legal principle.

Stage 6 (universal ethical principles orientation) – As society’s rules are arbitrary, our own conscience is the ultimate judge of what is right and wrong. As such, they can be broken when they conflict with “universal” principles.

Criticism of Kohlberg’s Theory

Researchers have identified and expressed several criticisms of Kohlberg’s theory and stages of moral development (Gross, 2020; Gibbs, 2019).

1. Young children’s understanding of moral regulation is more complex than Kohlberg’s stage 1 (typically seen as 9 years old and below), which relies upon punishment and obedience.
2. Children do not typically experience the issues raised by Kohlberg’s dilemmas during their moral development. In fact, while their reasoning can be highly complex, it is often unclear and messy.
3. Some theorists argue that, as Kohlberg relied on an all-male sample in his research, the theory and stages described are biased toward men. As such, there are conflicting views regarding the suggestion that boys are biased toward preferring a “justice orientation” rather than a “care orientation” (with girls showing the opposite), as when pressed, they can switch between the two.
4. Education is a frequently ignored and confounding factor. While college-educated individuals are not morally superior, they may be more verbally sophisticated, influencing the moral stages to which they are attributed.

Gilligan’s Theory of Moral Development

Carol Gilligan challenged Kohlberg’s traditional theory of moral development by proposing an “ethics of care” as an alternative framework (Josselson, 2023; Gibbs, 2019).

Her theory emphasizes the importance of relationships, emotions, and responsibilities to the self and others in moral reasoning.

While Kohlberg suggests that women lag behind men in moral development, Gilligan’s theory is more nuanced, embodying a contextual and narrative approach that integrates reason with emotion.

Gilligan’s research and theory were timely, coinciding with “sociocultural readiness to embrace her work as giving voice to an emerging awareness of the suppression and denigration of women’s sensibilities in psychology as well as in the larger culture” (Josselson, 2023, p. 120).

3 Other Moral Development Theories

While Kohlberg’s theory of moral development was highly influential, other approaches should be considered.

1. Social learning theory and social cognitive theory

Albert Bandura’s (1997) social learning theory and social cognitive theory offer valuable approaches for considering how children learn through observation, imitation, and modeling without requiring reinforcement (Gross, 2020).

Bandura’s experiments included how children mirror human social behavior witnessed in others, and his theories recognize their importance in aspects of moral development (Gross, 2020).

2. Eisenberg’s theory

Kohlberg’s theory of moral development typically pits one moral choice against another within a legal or ethical setting. Yet, children’s moral decisions are not always as straightforward. Their moral conflicts may involve distinguishing between their needs versus others’ outside of a clear legal, moral, or ethical context (Gross, 2020).

Nancy Eisenberg presented children with illustrated hypothetical stories where the central character could help another at a personal cost. She found that situational variables, context, and cultural factors are crucial to decision-making in children, sometimes leading them to revert to lower-level reasoning (Gross, 2020).

3. Evolutionary psychology

Evolutionary psychology offers a very different perspective on moral development. This relatively recent approach anticipates “that our understanding of the human mind would be aided greatly by knowing the purpose for which it was designed” (Buss, 2009, p. 359).

Moral reasoning involving social and moral emotions such as trust, guilt, anger, gratitude, and sympathy may have evolved to support fairness and reciprocal behavior among individuals.

In doing so, they promote positive (rather than negative) outcomes for all parties involved (Buss, 2016).

Applying Kohlberg’s Theory in Practice

Kohlberg’s theory of moral development can offer insight and guidance in various professional settings.

Indeed, research has considered its value for social workers, nurses, and legal representatives balancing ethics of care against justice (Groessl, 2013).

Applying Kohlberg’s theory encourages practitioners to consider their own and their clients’ stages of moral development and the factors that have limited or obstructed their development. Health care workers, in particular, are likely to benefit from understanding how burnout, their environment, organization, and workload impact their moral reasoning (Groessl, 2013).

Professionals may make more informed choices by incorporating the following practical activities (Groessl, 2013; Gibbs, 2019; Gross, 2020):

• Ethical decision-making workshops
  Discuss scenarios and dilemmas within the context of Kohlberg’s stages of moral development to enable practitioners to understand and explore their moral reasoning in a real-world situation.
• Evaluation and feedback systems
  Incorporate ongoing feedback to help professionals understand their strengths and weaknesses in ethical decision-making.
• Policy development
  Develop and refine organizational policies to align practices with Kohlberg’s stages of moral development to promote justice and fairness in care.
• Interdisciplinary collaboration
  Teams combining representatives from multiple disciplines, such as health care, law, and social work, can use Kohlberg’s theory to build a comprehensive and inclusive approach to moral reasoning.

PositivePsychology.com’s Resources

We have many resources available for counselors, therapists, and coaches to support clients as they navigate the moral challenges of life, equipping them to make more value-led choices.

Several of our favorites include:

• Decision-Making Worksheet for Adults 
  Sometimes, making the right decisions can be challenging and complex. This worksheet helps individuals make the best choice based on their morals and values.
• Making Good Decisions 
  Assessing past decisions and their effectiveness can help contrast what went well with what didn’t go well, helping clients make more appropriate choices in the future.
• Good Choices/Bad Choices for Kids 
  It’s easy for children to make poor choices. In this exercise, they can improve their past decision-making mistakes.

More extensive versions of the following tools are available with a subscription to the Positive Psychology Toolkit©, but they are described briefly below:

• Priority Dartboard
  It can be challenging to determine the priority of tasks according to their moral or ethical impact. The following steps help clients make more rational choices in selecting what to do and when:
  • Step one – Identify what needs to be done.
  • Step two – Take time to consider the importance of each task and clearly understand its moral impact. Next, label them on a dartboard diagram. The higher priority ones should be placed nearer to the center.
  • Step three – Once all the tasks have been added, review their position and priorities and move them if they seem inappropriate.
  • Step four – Use the priority dartboard to select the next task to work on and remove them once complete.
• Structured Problem-Solving
  Life can be challenging. It is easy to lose sight of our values and moral standpoints.

The four steps below help clients implement and practice effective problem-solving techniques:

• • Step one – Identify the problem to be solved.
  • Step two – Document the problem and consider the following questions:

When and where does this problem occur? Is anyone else involved?
What do you think is the main cause of the problem?
What effect does this problem have on your life?

• • Step three – Identify potential solutions.
  • Step four – Evaluate and select the most appropriate solution based on what will solve the problem in line with your moral standpoint and values.

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A Take-Home Message

Moral development impacts us all. While it influences how we interact, behave, think about our world, and connect with others, it also shapes how our environment relates to us.

By understanding moral development stages, we can make sense of how individuals develop more helpful attitudes and behaviors toward others in society in response to social and cultural norms and laws.

Kohlberg’s theory of moral development has been incredibly successful, with a long-standing impact on how we think about the progression of moral reasoning from simple to complex levels. It enables better educational approaches and promotes a deeper understanding of ethical behavior.

Kohlberg’s staged approach also encourages us to consider whether we obey rules to avoid punishment or make decisions based on mutually agreed upon, universal, ethical principles.

And yet, we are aware that moral development varies from person to person. Individual experiences, culture, education, and societal influences result in variations in a child’s progression through each stage, resulting in a diverse range of moral reasoning through different individuals.

As counselors and coaches, we can use these tools to work with clients from multiple professions to assess and address ethical dilemmas and conflicts in their respective fields.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our five positive psychology tools for free.