Kohlberg on Moral Development

Lawrence Kohlberg was a developmental theorist of the mid-twentieth century who is best known for his specific and detailed theory of children’s moral development. Kohlberg's six stage theory of moral development borrows heavily from Piaget's earlier work. According to Kohlberg’s theory, moral development proceeds in a linear, step-wise fashion – i.e. moral development proceeds gradually from one stage to the next, in a ordered sequence. Although Kohlberg recognized each child progressed through these stages at different rates, and acknowledged that some youth may never reach the highest stages, his theory does not account for regression back to former, previously mastered stages. Some adolescents will move on to next highest level of maturity where moral decisions are made based on what they believe is best for the larger society. Finally, a few adolescents may reach the highest level of moral development, where moral decisions are guided by a set of ethical principles that may even supersede commonly accepted rules and laws. 

Kohlberg believed that by early adolescence most youth have reached the mid-level of moral reasoning called the Conventional Level. At this level, morality is determined by social norms. Younger adolescents are heavily influenced by the opinions of other people and governed largely by social norms. These rules and social conventions are those that are explicitly or implicitly agreed upon by the group of people surrounding the young adolescent. The Convention Level is further subdivided in stage three and stage four. Stage three is called the morality of interpersonal cooperation where moral decisions are made by anticipating how a moral decision would be judged by other influential group members. Adolescents in this stage base their moral decisions on whether or not their decisions would win the approval of those people whose opinions matter to them. This is the stage where adolescents are likely to engage in risky behaviours as a result of peer pressure. Stage four is called the social-order-maintaining orientation. At this stage, morality is determined by what is best for the majority of people. Furthermore, moral decisions reflect an understanding that the majority of people benefit from a social order that fosters harmonious relationships among group members. At this stage, youth understand that laws are intended to serve everyone's best interest, and believe that societies function best when everyone strictly adheres to the law. These youth will begin to compare their daily decisions, and the consequences of those decisions, to the larger society's moral standards. 

Do you think Kohlberg's theory on moral development can be used to explain the importance of fitting in and the role that peer pressure plays? 

References:

Gilligan, Carol (1982). In a Different Voice: Women's Conceptions of Self and Morality. Harvard Educational Review 47 (4).

Kohlberg, L. (1973). The Claim to Moral Adequacy of a Highest Stage of Moral Judgment. Journal of Philosophy, 70(18), 630–646.

Piaget on Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget was interested in the development of cognitive processes in children and adolescents. According to his theory of cognitive development, Piaget outlined four stages, which all individuals go through. He believed children and adolescents actively explore and make sense of the world around them and each stage is marked by shifts in how children understand the world. 

While the child at the concrete operational stage becomes able to reason on the basis of objects, the adolescent begins to reason on the basis of verbal propositions. He can make hypothetical deductions and entertain the idea of relativity. "Formal thought reaches its fruition during adolescence. An adolescent, unlike the child, is an individual who thinks beyond the present and forms theories about everything, delighting especially in consideration of that which is not" (Piaget, 1947, p.148). The adolescent can not only think beyond the present, but can analytically reflect about their own thinking.

The adolescent thinker can leave the real objective world behind and enter the world of ideas. They are able to control events in their mind through logical deductions of possibilities and consequences. Even the direction of his thought processes change. The preadolescent begins by thinking about reality and attempts to extend thoughts toward possibility. The adolescent, who has mastered formal operations, begins by thinking of all logical possibilities and then considers them in a systematic fashion; reality is secondary to possibility. "The most distinctive property of formal thought is this reversal of direction between reality and possibility....formal thought begins with a theoretical synthesis implying that certain relations are necessary and thus proceeds in the opposite direction....This type of thinking proceeds from what is possible to what is empirically real (Inhelder and Piaget, 1958, p.251). This reversal of the direction of thought between reality and possibility constitutes a turning point in the development of the structure of intelligence, since it leads to an equilibrium that is both stable and fixed. 

Formal operations allow the adolescent to combine propositions and to isolate variables in order to confirm or disprove his hypothesis. He no longer needs to think in terms of objects or concrete events, but can carry out operations of symbols in his mind.

References:

Inhelder, B. and Piaget, J. (1958). The growth of logical thinking. (A. Parsons and S. Milgram, trans).     New York: Basic Books.

Muuss, Rolf E. (1975). Theories of Adolescence (3rd Edition). New York: Random House.

Piaget, J. (1947). The psychology of intelligence. (M. Piercy & D.E. Berlyne, trans.). New York: Harcourt, Brace.

Bandura on Social Learning

Albert Bandura was a leading social learning theorist who pioneered the view that cognition, social conduct and the environment play a primary role in human behaviour. Bandura proposed that much of adolescent behaviour comes from observational learning, in which adolescents observe and imitate the behaviour of their parents, other adults and peers. Furthermore, adolescent learning and behaviour are significantly affected by cognitive variables such as competences, encoding strategies, expectances, personal values and self-regulatory systems such as self-monitoring and motivation. 

As he explored the effects and potential of modeling, Bandura began to wonder about the role of individuals’ beliefs about their ability to succeed at a task, or their sense of self-efficacy. This led to his development of social cognitive theory, which says that personality results from the interaction of an individual’s thoughts with inner qualities, self-beliefs, and environmental cues. His research determined convincingly that individuals who believe they can succeed at a task are more likely than others to actually succeed.

According to Bandura, “We find that people's beliefs about their efficacy affect the sorts of choices they make in very significant ways. In particular, it affects their levels of motivation and perseverance in the face of obstacles. Most success requires persistent effort, so low self-efficacy becomes a self-limiting process… To succeed, people need a sense of self-efficacy, strung together with resilience to meet the inevitable obstacles and inequities of life.”

For students, this self-efficacy coupled with the willingness to persist in the face of struggle are crucial for academic success. Students who have limited self-efficacy are less likely to continue to try because they don’t believe they can succeed, where students who have strong self-beliefs are more likely to continue to apply themselves. Continuing research in self-efficacy by Bandura and others demonstrates that, regardless of previous achievement or ability, students with higher self-efficacy work harder, continue to try for longer, persevere when faced with struggle, are more optimistic and less anxious, and achieve greater results.

References:

Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. New York: General Learning Press.

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W.H. Freeman.