Kohlberg - Developmental

Question 1

What was the background of Kohlberg’s study into moral development?

Answer 1

1. The psychodynamic perspective would explain morality in terms of a superego - initially imposed by parents but then adopted by the child through self-discipline
2. The behaviourist perspective - observing and imitating models
3. Jean Pidget - Heteronomous moral thinking (weighs outcome of action) and autonomous moral reasoning (takes into account intent)

Question 2

What was the aim of Kohlberg’s study?

Answer 2

To investigate whether his theory about moral development progressing through six distinct stages is backed up by evidence

Question 3

What was Kohlberg’s sample from the US?

Answer 3

• 75 American boys from the Chicago area
• Studied them for 12 years (longitudinal study)
• 10-16 years when they started
• 22-28 years when they finished

Question 4

What was the procedure in Kohlberg’s study?

Answer 4

1. Every boy was presented with hypothetical moral dilemmas every 3 years during the 12 year period -> 5 trials in total
2. Using their answers, Kohlberg ranked them in 6 categories: 1 being the least morally developed and 6 being the most
3. This formed his theory on moral development

Question 5

How was the American part of Kohlberg’s study longitudinal?

Answer 5

The study went on for 12 years. A longitudinal study is a study that lasts a long period of time.

Question 6

What are strengths of longitudinal studies?

Answer 6

• Allows researchers to see changes in each participants’ moral reasoning
• Controls for participant variables

Question 7

What are weaknesses of longitudinal studies?

Answer 7

• Possible attrition - participants may drop out of the study for various reasons -> unrepresentative results
• Practical difficulty as you have to wait years to get meaningful data
• Extraneous variables of upbringing affects behaviour

Question 8

What countries did Kohlberg collect data from?

Answer 8

USA, Great Britain, Taiwan, Türkiye, Canada, Mexico

Question 9

What are strengths of cross-cultural studies?

Answer 9

• Avoids ethnocentric research - lots of research about moral development
• Increase population validity
• More accurate research in line with aims of study (Is moral development universal?)

Question 10

What are weaknesses of cross-cultural studies?

Answer 10

• Language barriers - details in findings may be missing due to issues of translation/miscommunication
• Time consuming to translate vast amounts of qualitative data
• Extraneous variables - each country may have differing circumstances that affect how easy it is to get data
• Different cultural norms mean that the dilemmas used might have been adapted to be appropriate for that culture

Question 11

What are the 3 levels of moral development in Kohlberg’s findings?

Answer 11

Level 1 - Pre-conventional
Level 2 - Conventional
Level 3 - Post-conventional

Question 12

Name and define the stages in the preconventional level of Kohlberg’s findings.

Answer 12

Stage 1 - Orientation towards punishment: You listen to and follow rules to avoid punishment. The child will behave immorally when authority is missing.

Stage 2 - Orientation towards self-interest: You behave in a way that best benefits yourself

Question 13

Name and define the stages in the conventional level of Kohlberg’s findings.

Answer 13

Stage 3 - ‘Good boy’ and ‘ good girl’ orientation: You worry about what other people will think about you and want to be seen as good

Stage 4 - Orientation towards authority: You think about what’s best for society rather than yourself. You follow rules and laws and see them as really important.

Question 14

Name and define the stages in the post-conventional level of Kohlberg’s findings.

Answer 14

Stage 5 - Social contract orientation: You understand that morals and laws are changeable over time and across cultures. What will benefit people most in the long term?

Stage 6 - Universal ethical principles: You are capable of very abstract moral thinking based on universal rules and can take into account all possible positions a person might make when making moral decisions. You ACT on your own morals.

Question 15

Define the pre-conventional level of Kohlberg’s findings.

Answer 15

People, usually children, are well behaved but only because of physical consequences of them being bad or good. If there’s no one to judge them, they’re likely to be naughty.

Question 16

Define the conventional level of Kohlberg’s findings.

Answer 16

People conform to social norms and expectations of their family, social group or nation. Rules must be followed.

Question 17

Define the post-conventional level of Kohlberg’s findings.

Answer 17

People set their own personal moral principles which may differ from those of their social group.

Question 18

What were Kohlberg’s conclusions from his findings?

Answer 18

• Stages of moral development are universal
• Stages follow an “invariant developmental sequence” (one at a time in the same order)
• “All movement is forward in sequence, and does not skip steps”

Question 19

How, in terms of ethics, can Kohlberg’s research be criticised?

Answer 19

• Possible psychological harm due to stress about dilemmas
• Too young at the start to give consent (10-16)

Question 20

How, in terms of ethics, can Kohlberg’s study be defended?

Answer 20

• Parents possibly had to give consent since boys were under the age of consent
• No physical harm
• 22-28 at the end so if their data remains, we assume consent
• Participants were kept confidential
• Had right to withdraw -> adults at the end
• Participants weren’t deceived

Question 21

Internal reliability: Was the procedure standardised and replicable?

Answer 21

Standardised procedure: Same moral dilemmas for all 75 boys. This means it’s replicable

Question 22

External reliability: Was the sample large enough to suggest a consistent effect?

Answer 22

75 is sufficient to have consistent results

Question 23

Internal validity (construct): Was it an accurate measure of moral development? Could there be anything else being measured?

Answer 23

Extraneous variables - upbringing could make the boys develop faster or slower

Question 24

External validity (population): Can the sample be generalised from?

Answer 24

• Results more generalisable of a wider group of people
• Only boys (androcentrism): lacks population validity as there is no data on girl development
• Only from Chicago

Question 25

External validity (ecological): Does a person's response to a moral dilemma reflect how they would act in this situation if it happened for real?

Answer 25

- Dilemmas might not be appropriate for young boys (lacks validity) - Responses may not reflect how the boys would react in the real world

Question 26

What type of study is Kohlberg's study?

Answer 26

A longitudinal cross-cultural study

Question 27

On what grounds can Kohlberg's research be accused of cultural bias?

Answer 27

- Africa, South America and Oceania were left out - Dilemmas were developed in the US - may not be applicable to other countries

Question 28

Why might Kohlberg claim that his research is not ethnocentric?

Answer 28

- The study was done in multiple countries - US, UK, Mexico, Canada, Turkey (North America, Asia, Europe, Central America) - Chicago is a diverse city