Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development

Kohlberg’s theory of moral development outlines how individuals progress through six stages of moral reasoning, grouped into three levels: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional.

At each level, people make moral decisions based on different factors, such as avoiding punishment, following laws, or following universal ethical principles.

This theory shows how moral understanding evolves with age and experience.

Summary

1. Preconventional Level (Childhood)

Focus: Decisions based primarily on self-interest and avoiding punishment.

• Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment Orientation (avoiding punishment). For example, a child doesn’t take cookies because they fear being scolded by their parent.
• Stage 2: Self-Interest Orientation (personal benefit). For example, a child helps clean up toys because they expect a reward afterward.

2. Conventional Level (Adolescence and Adulthood)

Focus: Decisions guided by social expectations, relationships, laws, and societal order.

• Stage 3: Interpersonal Accord and Conformity (meeting social expectations). For example, a teenager agrees to volunteer because friends view volunteering positively.
• Stage 4: Authority and Maintaining Social Order (obeying laws and maintaining social order). For example, an adult decides not to speed because it’s important to obey traffic laws to maintain safety.

3. Postconventional Level (Advanced Moral Reasoning)

Focus: Decisions guided by higher ethical principles and individual rights beyond societal laws.

• Stage 5: Social Contract and Individual Rights (social agreements and prioritizing human life). For example, a citizen participates in a peaceful protest to advocate for human rights, despite potential legal consequences.
• Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principles (universal ethical principles – justice, human rights). For example, a whistleblower exposes corruption in their company, recognizing the greater good outweighs personal risk.

What is an example of moral development theory in real life?

An example is a student who witnesses cheating on an important exam. The student is faced with the dilemma of whether to report the cheating or keep quiet.

A person at the pre-conventional level of moral development might choose not to report cheating because they fear the consequences or because they believe that everyone cheats.

A person at the conventional level might report cheating because they believe it is their duty to uphold the rules and maintain fairness in the academic environment.

A person at the post-conventional level might weigh the ethical implications of both options and make a decision based on their principles and values, such as honesty, fairness, and integrity, even if it may come with negative consequences.

This example demonstrates how moral development theory can help us understand how individuals reason about ethical dilemmas and make decisions based on their moral reasoning.

Preconventional Morality

Stage 1: Avoiding Punishment

• Definition: Moral reasoning is based on direct consequences.
• Heinz Dilemma Response: Heinz should not steal the drug because stealing is illegal, and he could be punished.

Stage 2: Self-Interest

• Definition: Actions are seen in terms of rewards rather than moral value.
• Heinz Dilemma Response: Heinz should not steal the drug because stealing is illegal, and he could be punished.

Conventional Morality

Stage 3: Good boy attitude

• Definition: Good behavior is about living up to social expectations and roles. 
• Heinz Dilemma Response: Heinz should steal the drug because, as a good husband, he is expected to do whatever he can to save his wife.

Stage 4: Law & Order Morality

• Definition: Moral reasoning considers societal laws.
• Heinz Dilemma Response: Heinz should not steal the drug because he must uphold the law and maintain societal order.

Postconventional Morality

Stage 5: Social Contract

• Definition: Rules are seen as social agreements that can be changed when necessary. 
• Heinz Dilemma Response: Heinz should steal the drug because preserving human life is a more fundamental value than property rights.

Stage 6: Universal Principles

• Definition: Moral reasoning is based on universal ethical principles and justice.
• Heinz Dilemma Response: Heinz should consider non-violent civil disobedience or negotiation with the pharmacist. The decision reflects a conflict between property rights and the sanctity of human life.

Disequilibrium plays a crucial role in Kohlberg’s stages of moral development.

A child encountering a moral issue may recognize limitations in their current reasoning approach, often prompted by exposure to others’ viewpoints.

Improvements in perspective-taking are key to progressing through Kohlberg’s stages of moral development.

As children mature, they increasingly understand issues from others’ viewpoints.

For instance, a child at the preconventional level typically perceives an issue primarily in terms of personal consequences.

In contrast, a child at the conventional level tends to consider the perspectives of others more substantially.

Problems with Kohlberg’s Methods

1. The dilemmas are artificial (i.e., they lack ecological validity)

Most dilemmas are unfamiliar to most people (Rosen, 1980). For example, it is all very well in the Heinz dilemma, asking subjects whether Heinz should steal the drug to save his wife.

However, Kohlberg’s subjects were aged between 10 and 16. They have never been married, and never been placed in a situation remotely like the one in the story.

How should they know whether Heinz should steal the drug?

2. The sample is biased

Kohlberg’s (1969) theory suggested males more frequently progress beyond stage four in moral development, implying females lacked moral reasoning skills.

His research assistant, Carol Gilligan, disputed this, who argued that women’s moral reasoning differed, not deficient.

She criticized Kohlberg’s theory for focusing solely on upper-class white males, arguing women value interpersonal connections.

For instance, women often oppose theft in the Heinz dilemma due to potential repercussions, such as separation from his wife if Heinz is imprisoned.

Gilligan (1982) conducted new studies interviewing both men and women, finding women more often emphasized care, relationships and context rather than abstract rules.

Gilligan argued that Kohlberg’s theory overlooked this relational “different voice” in morality.

According to Gilligan (1977), because Kohlberg’s theory was based on an all-male sample, the stages reflect a male definition of morality (it’s androcentric).

Men’s morality is based on abstract principles of law and justice, while women’s is based on principles of compassion and care.

Further, the gender bias issue raised by Gilligan is a reminder of the significant gender debate still present in psychology, which, when ignored, can greatly impact the results obtained through psychological research.

3. The dilemmas are hypothetical (i.e., they are not real)

Kohlberg’s approach to studying moral reasoning relied heavily on his semi-structured moral judgment interview.

Participants were presented with hypothetical moral dilemmas, and their justifications were analyzed to determine their stage of moral reasoning.

Some critiques of Kohlberg’s method are that it lacks ecological validity, removes reasoning from real-life contexts, and defines morality narrowly in terms of justice reasoning.

Psychologists concur with Kohlberg’s moral development theory, yet emphasize the difference between moral reasoning and behavior.

What we claim we’d do in a hypothetical situation often differs from our actions when faced with the actual circumstance. In essence, our actions might not align with our proclaimed values.

In a real situation, what course of action a person takes will have real consequences – and sometimes very unpleasant ones for themselves.

Would subjects reason in the same way if they were placed in a real situation? We don’t know.

The fact that Kohlberg’s theory is heavily dependent on an individual’s response to an artificial dilemma questions the validity of the results obtained through this research.

People may respond very differently to real-life situations that they find themselves in than they do to an artificial dilemma presented to them in the comfort of a research environment.

4. Poor research design

How Kohlberg carried out his research when constructing this theory may not have been the best way to test whether all children follow the same sequence of stage progression.

His research was cross-sectional, meaning that he interviewed children of different ages to see their moral development level.

A better way to see if all children follow the same order through the stages would be to conduct longitudinal research on the same children.

However, longitudinal research on Kohlberg’s theory has since been carried out by Colby et al. (1983), who tested 58 male participants of Kohlberg’s original study.

She tested them six times in 27 years and supported Kohlberg’s original conclusion, which is that we all pass through the stages of moral development in the same order.

Contemporary research employs more diverse methods beyond Kohlberg’s interview approach, such as narrative analysis, to study moral experience. These newer methods aim to understand moral reasoning and development within authentic contexts and experiences.

Tappan and colleagues (1996) promote a narrative approach that examines how individuals construct stories and identities around moral experiences.

This draws from the sociocultural tradition of examining identity in context. Tappan argues narrative provides a more contextualized understanding of moral development.

Colby and Damon’s (1992) empirical research uses in-depth life story interviews to study moral exemplars – people dedicated to moral causes.

Instead of hypothetical dilemmas, they ask participants to describe real moral challenges and commitments.

Their goal is to respect exemplars as co-investigators of moral meaning-making.

Walker and Pitts’ (1995) studies use open-ended interviews asking people to discuss real-life moral dilemmas and reflect on the moral domain in their own words.

This elicits more naturalistic conceptions of morality compared to Kohlberg’s abstract decontextualized approach.

Problems with Kohlberg’s Theory

1. Are there distinct stages of moral development?

Kohlberg claims there are, but the evidence does not always support this conclusion.

For example, a person who justified a decision based on principled reasoning in one situation (postconventional morality stage 5 or 6) would frequently fall back on conventional reasoning (stage 3 or 4) with another story.

In practice, it seems that reasoning about right and wrong depends more on the situation than on general rules. Moreover, individuals do not always progress through the stages, and Rest (1979) found that one in fourteen slipped backward.

The evidence for distinct stages of moral development looks very weak. Some would argue that behind the theory is a culturally biased belief in the superiority of American values over those of other cultures and societies.

Gilligan (1982) did not dismiss developmental psychology or morality. She acknowledged that children undergo moral development in stages and even praised Kohlberg’s stage logic as “brilliant” (Jorgensen, 2006, p. 186).

However, she preferred Erikson’s model over the more rigid Piagetian stages.

While Gilligan supported Kohlberg’s stage theory as rational, she expressed discomfort with its structural descriptions that lacked context.

She also raised concerns about the theory’s universality, pointing out that it primarily reflected Western culture (Jorgensen, 2006, pp. 187-188).

Neo-Kohlbergian Schema Model

Rest and colleagues (1979) have developed a theoretical model building on but moving beyond Kohlberg’s stage-based approach to moral development.

Their model outlines four components of moral behavior: moral sensitivity, moral judgment, moral motivation, and moral character.

For the moral judgment component, Rest et al. propose that individuals use moral schemas rather than progress through discrete stages of moral reasoning.

Schemas are generalized knowledge structures that help us interpret information and situations.

An individual can have multiple schemas available to make sense of moral issues, rather than being constrained to a single developmental stage.

Some examples of moral schemas proposed by Rest and colleagues include:

• Personal Interest Schema – focused on individual interests and preferences
• Maintaining Norms Schema – emphasizes following rules and norms
• Postconventional Schema – considers moral ideals and principles

Rather than viewing development as movement to higher reasoning stages, the neo-Kohlbergian approach sees moral growth as acquiring additional, more complex moral schemas. Lower schemas are not replaced, but higher order moral schemas become available to complement existing ones.

The schema concept attempts to address critiques of the stage model, such as its rigidity and lack of context sensitivity. Using schemas allows for greater flexibility and integration of social factors into moral reasoning.

2. Does moral judgment match moral behavior?

Kohlberg never claimed that there would be a one-to-one correspondence between thinking and acting (what we say and what we do), but he does suggest that the two are linked.

However, Bee (1994) suggests that we also need to take into account of:

a) habits that people have developed over time.

b) whether people see situations as demanding their participation.

c) the costs and benefits of behaving in a particular way.

d) competing motive such as peer pressure, self-interest and so on.

Overall, Bee points out that moral behavior is only partly a question of moral reasoning. It also has to do with social factors.

3. Is justice the most fundamental moral principle?

This is Kohlberg’s view. However, Gilligan (1977) suggests that the principle of caring for others is equally important.

Furthermore, Kohlberg claims that the moral reasoning of males has often been in advance of that of females.

Girls are often found to be at stage 3 in Kohlberg’s system (good boy-nice girl orientation), whereas boys are more often found to be at stage 4 (Law and Order orientation). Gilligan (p. 484) replies:

“The very traits that have traditionally defined the goodness of women, their care for and sensitivity to the needs of others, are those that mark them out as deficient in moral development”.

In other words, Gilligan claims that there is a sex bias in Kohlberg’s theory.

He neglects the feminine voice of compassion, love, and non-violence, which is associated with the socialization of girls.

Gilligan concluded that Kohlberg’s theory did not account for the fact that women approach moral problems from an ‘ethics of care’, rather than an ‘ethics of justice’ perspective, which challenges some of the fundamental assumptions of Kohlberg’s theory.

In contrast to Kohlberg’s impersonal “ethics of justice”, Gilligan proposed an alternative “ethics of care” grounded in compassion and responsiveness to needs within relationships (Gilligan, 1982).

Her care perspective highlights emotion, empathy and understanding over detached logic. Gilligan saw care and justice ethics as complementary moral orientations.

Walker et al. (1995) found everyday moral conflicts often revolve around relationships rather than justice; individuals describe relying more on intuition than moral reasoning in dilemmas.

This raises questions about the centrality of reasoning in moral functioning.

4. Do people make rational moral decisions?

Kohlbeg’s theory emphasizes rationality and logical decision-making at the expense of emotional and contextual factors in moral decision-making.

One significant criticism is that Kohlberg’s emphasis on reason can create an image of the moral person as cold and detached from real-life situations. 

Carol Gilligan critiqued Kohlberg’s theory as overly rationalistic and not accounting for care-based morality commonly found in women. She argued for a “different voice” grounded in relationships and responsiveness to particular individuals.

The criticism suggests that by portraying moral reasoning as primarily cognitive and detached from emotional and situational factors, Kohlberg’s theory oversimplifies real-life moral decision-making, which often involves emotions, social dynamics, cultural nuances, and practical constraints.

Critics contend that his model does not adequately capture the multifaceted nature of morality in the complexities of everyday life.

5. Cultural Variations

 In more individualistic cultures (e.g., the United States), personal rights and justice-focused reasoning may dominate, aligning well with Kohlberg’s higher stages.

Conversely, in collectivist cultures (e.g., parts of East Asia), moral judgments may more strongly emphasize group harmony, duty, and obligations to family or community.

Studies by Snarey (1985) and others have shown that Stage 5 or 6 reasoning (postconventional) is not commonly found in certain traditional societies, raising questions about how universal Kohlberg’s model truly is.

Exploring Alternative Theories of Moral Development

Although Lawrence Kohlberg’s stage model is a foundational framework, moral development does not occur in a vacuum. Several other models offer insight into how individuals learn and apply moral standards.

1. Piaget’s Two Stages of Moral Judgment

Jean Piaget’s contributions to moral development served as a significant foundation on which Lawrence Kohlberg built his more detailed, six-stage model.

While Piaget primarily focused on children’s cognitive processes (such as logical thinking and perspective-taking), he also investigated how children develop rules and moral judgments through game-playing and social interactions.

Recognizing Piaget’s theory as an alternative or complementary approach helps illustrate that moral development is not a single, linear concept but a multifaceted progression influenced by cognitive growth, social context, and peer relationships.

Piaget proposed that children move from a rigid acceptance of rules to a more cooperative and relational approach to morality:

1. Heteronomous Morality (Moral Realism)

   • Typically found in children around 4–7 years old.
   • Focus: Rules are seen as immutable and handed down by authority figures (parents, teachers). Moral wrongness is judged primarily by consequences rather than intent.
   • Example: A child might say breaking three cups accidentally is “worse” than breaking one cup deliberately, because more cups were broken—even though the intention was different.

2. Autonomous Morality (Moral Relativism)

   • Emerges around 8–10 years onward.
   • Focus: Rules are recognized as flexible and shaped by social agreement. Intentions begin to matter more than outcomes.
   • Example: A child might argue that breaking a single cup out of carelessness is worse than breaking three cups accidentally, because the intention or motive behind the action is taken into account.

Key Point: Piaget believed that interactions with peers, rather than authority figures, drive the transition from heteronomous to autonomous morality. Discussions and conflicts among equals help children see rules as negotiable and encourage them to understand others’ perspectives.

2. Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

Albert Bandura’s social learning theory emphasizes the role of observation and imitation in moral development.

Rather than moral reasoning being fully internal or stage-driven, Bandura suggests children (and adults) learn moral behaviors by watching others—parents, peers, media figures—and assessing the outcomes of those behaviors.

• Vicarious Reinforcement: Individuals are more likely to adopt behaviors they see rewarded and avoid those that result in punishment.
• Modeling & Self-efficacy: Learners internalize moral norms partly by identifying with certain role models, developing confidence that “I can behave morally because I’ve seen others do so successfully.”
• Implication: Social context and direct observation can shape moral conduct as much as a person’s abstract reasoning.

3. Eisenberg’s Prosocial Reasoning

Nancy Eisenberg’s research focuses on prosocial moral reasoning—how people decide whether to help others, even when it costs them personally.

• Developmental Trajectory: Similar to Kohlberg, Eisenberg outlines different levels (or orientations) of prosocial reasoning, from hedonistic (self-focused) to internalized moral values.
• Context & Emotion: Eisenberg underscores the influence of empathy and emotional understanding in moral decisions, suggesting that children’s willingness to help evolves alongside their growing capacity for perspective-taking.
• Practical Note: Real prosocial dilemmas (e.g., sharing limited resources with peers) may overlap with Kohlberg’s stages yet often emphasize concern for others over strict adherence to rules.

4. Haidt’s Social Intuitionist Model

Jonathan Haidt’s model posits that moral judgments often stem from quick, automatic intuitions (e.g., feelings of disgust or empathy), while logical reasoning typically justifies decisions post hoc.

• Intuitive Primacy: Moral reasoning can be more about rationalizing intuitive reactions than constructing principles from scratch.
• Cultural Variation: Different societies foster distinct intuitive responses (e.g., emphasis on purity, hierarchy, or communal care), challenging Kohlberg’s claim of universal progression in moral logic.
• Relevance: This perspective suggests that while Kohlberg’s theory focuses on reason-based answers to dilemmas, in day-to-day life emotions and snap judgments drive moral behavior just as much—if not more.

5. Moral Reasoning and Well-Being

Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi (2000) suggests that moral reasoning is closely intertwined with well-being, character strengths, and prosocial behaviors.

By linking Kohlberg’s stage-based framework to the broader context of flourishing and virtue, we gain new insights into why individuals move toward higher stages of moral reasoning—and how to support that growth in everyday life.

• Eudaimonic Fulfillment: Postconventional thinking (Stages 5 and 6) often aligns with deeper meaning and purpose. Acting on universal ethical principles—such as justice or compassion—can enhance one’s sense of integrity and psychological well-being.
• Positive Emotions: Feelings like empathy, gratitude, and moral elevation can reinforce moral ideals. For instance, experiencing gratitude after receiving help may prompt individuals to adopt more socially oriented behaviors, echoing higher-stage concerns about collective welfare.

While Kohlberg’s model focuses on the cognitive progression of moral judgment, positive emotions can serve as motivational forces that help people actualize these principles in real-world decisions.

Practical Applications

Students, educators, and professionals can apply Kohlberg’s theory (and its critiques) in everyday settings. Below are some practical, research-based approaches:

Educational Settings

1. Moral Dilemma Discussions

   • Present age-appropriate dilemmas in class and encourage open debate. Ask students to articulate their reasoning, challenge each other respectfully, and consider alternative perspectives.
   • Goal: Move beyond a purely rule-focused morality (Stage 4) to an understanding of societal values and universal principles (Stage 5 or 6).

2. Role-Playing and Perspective-Taking

   • Assign learners roles within a moral conflict scenario (e.g., an environmental issue, a school-related ethical dispute) to simulate varied viewpoints.
   • Impact: Builds empathy, expands moral perspective, and helps participants internalize different sides of an argument.

Character Strengths and Moral Growth

Positive psychology identifies core character strengths (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) that often map onto Kohlberg’s moral stages:

• Fairness and Justice: Correlates with the Conventional (Stage 4) emphasis on law and order, and with Stage 5’s focus on upholding social contracts for the collective good.
• Kindness and Humanity: Reflects the empathy central to Stage 3’s interpersonal relationships, and extends to universal care principles in Stage 6.
• Perspective (Wisdom): Supports the ability to weigh multiple viewpoints, bridging the gap between Conventional (societal norms) and Postconventional (universal ethical principles) reasoning.

Practical Note: Identifying and nurturing these strengths (e.g., fairness, kindness, perspective-taking) can help individuals progress through Kohlberg’s stages, not merely by learning abstract principles but by embodying them in daily life.

Positive Interventions and Activities

1. Values Reflection

   • Encourage students or participants to reflect on personal virtues they admire or wish to develop (e.g., generosity, honesty).
   • Discuss how these virtues might manifest at different Kohlberg stages (from simple rule-following to universal ethical commitments).

2. Gratitude Journaling

   • Ask individuals to note moments of moral significance each week (e.g., witnessing a selfless act).
   • Linking gratitude to moral behaviors can reinforce prosocial emotions that support postconventional thinking (Stage 5–6).

3. Service-Learning Projects

   • Engage groups in projects benefiting the community (e.g., environmental clean-ups, volunteering).
   • Follow up with structured debriefs on how these experiences relate to moral principles, thereby connecting action with higher-level reasoning.

Why It Matters: These techniques highlight that moral growth is not only about understanding right from wrong but feeling motivated to do good. Positive psychology thus complements Kohlberg’s stages by focusing on emotional drivers and real-life moral practice.

Parenting and Child Development

• Modeling Behavior: Children learn more from what adults consistently do than from abstract moral lectures. Demonstrating kindness, fairness, and honesty is more powerful than simply talking about these values.
• Encouraging Empathy: Activities like volunteering, team projects, and caring for pets can nurture empathy—a key emotional foundation for higher-stage moral reasoning.

Professional Training

• Ethics Workshops: Professionals (e.g., in healthcare or business) can analyze real dilemmas to practice postconventional reasoning—balancing legal rules with human values like autonomy, justice, or compassion.
• Reflective Journals: Encourage employees or trainees to document and reflect upon moral challenges they face at work, examining how they reasoned through them and whether they’d respond differently in the future.