Return to Headlines
Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development
Moral reasoning is the process of discerning right from wrong. Lawrence Kohlberg believed the mental capacity necessary for discerning right from wrong to be present around the age of thirteen, and that enviromental factors, such as parents, teachers, and peers played an important role in an individual's moral development.
Level one: Preconventional morality (focus on the self)
Stage 1: Punishment and obedience orientation
Rules are fixed and absolute. Obeying the rules is important to avoid punishment.
Stage 2: Personal usefulness or reward orientation
Good is determined by how one's own interests are met. This stage is marked by a "What's in it for me?" or "I'll scratch your back, you scratch mine" mentality.
Level two: Conventional morality (focus on group norms and rules)
Stage 3: Social conformity or pleasing others orientation
Good is what gains the approval of others.
Stage 4: Law and order orientation
The rules and laws of wider society are necessary for social order.
Level three: Post conventional morality (focus on what is right for everyone)
Stage 5: Social contract or civil disobedience
Awareness that the laws of society may occasionally be unjust for some individuals, and therefore require change.
Stage 6: Principled conscience
Individuals at this stage have developed their own set of moral guidelines which apply to everyone, everywhere, at all times. Their principles are based upon the equality and worth of all human beings, and are therefore considered universal despite what the law may say.
Level one: Preconventional morality (focus on the self)
Stage 1: Punishment and obedience orientation
Rules are fixed and absolute. Obeying the rules is important to avoid punishment.
Stage 2: Personal usefulness or reward orientation
Good is determined by how one's own interests are met. This stage is marked by a "What's in it for me?" or "I'll scratch your back, you scratch mine" mentality.
Level two: Conventional morality (focus on group norms and rules)
Stage 3: Social conformity or pleasing others orientation
Good is what gains the approval of others.
Stage 4: Law and order orientation
The rules and laws of wider society are necessary for social order.
Level three: Post conventional morality (focus on what is right for everyone)
Stage 5: Social contract or civil disobedience
Awareness that the laws of society may occasionally be unjust for some individuals, and therefore require change.
Stage 6: Principled conscience
Individuals at this stage have developed their own set of moral guidelines which apply to everyone, everywhere, at all times. Their principles are based upon the equality and worth of all human beings, and are therefore considered universal despite what the law may say.
