PSYCHOLOGY TODAY

1. FPA AN INTERACTIVE ONLINE JOURNAL Issue 15
15515
FPA
An Interactive
Online Journal
August 2014
“IT'S ALL IN THE MIND.” - GEORGE HARRISON, THE BEATLES IN THIS ISSUE
Introduction
As an entity or an individual, at some point in
time, our morality will come under scrutiny.
Personal and professional codes of ethics
have been established to set a common
standard of behavior and to collectively
encourage morality among employees.
Religious groups advocate their views of
morality and attempts to offer advice in
areas concerning morals from a spiritual
standpoint. Parents begin teaching morals
to their children often before they can even
speak. Yet still, even with everyone
seemingly jumping on the morality
bandwagon, morals continue to differ among
groups and radically change over time. This
inconsistency in the practice of morality
raises several questions: how do morals
develop, how is morality manifested, and
what is its value to mankind.
Defining Morality
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
offers a two-fold definition of morality in
which this term can be used as a method of
describing codes of conduct put forward by a
society, specific groups, or an individual, or a
code that when given certain conditions, is
initiated by all rational people (Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy Website, 2011).
Overtime what has been considered morally
acceptable has drastically changed (Schultz,
2012). Similarly, theories regarding moral
development have also evolved. Much of
what is now known and accepted about the
development of morality, can be rightfully
accredited to Lawrence Kohlberg, a protégé
of Jean Piaget (Santrock, 2011). In a lineage
similar to that of Freud and Jung, Kohlberg’s
understudy Carol Gilligan also expanded on
his theory and added an integral aspect to
the theories of moral development which
included women and emotional
manifestations of morality (Feldman, 2014).
In this article, we investigate these three
psychologist’s theories of moral
development from their prospective. We will
begin this investigation with Jean Piaget, the
Swiss developmental psychologists and
philosopher.
Moral Development
Did you know that there are two types of
morality?
1. Descriptive Definitions of “morality”
2. Normative Definitions of “morality”
Page 2
Page 2
The Moral Development Dilemma
by Dr. Shari L. Harvey-Philpot

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What is your contribution to moral
development theory?
I am most concerned with moral
development as it pertains to the area of
cognitive development which can be
partitioned into four stages: (Stage 1)
sensorimotor (from birth until age 2), (Stage
2) preoperational (from 2-6 years), (Stage 3)
concrete operational (6-12 years), and (Stage
4) formal operational (12 and up) (need
citation). Each of these stages are
demarcated by the development of a
characteristic feature. During the
sensorimotor stage, I observed object
permanence. In the preoperational stage,
children were noted to display egocentric
thought patterns. The concrete operational
stage brought about the ability of
children to incorporate alternative
points of view into
their own. In addition, during the
concrete operational stage
conservation was observed.
Lastly in the formal operational
stage, children displayed the
ability to use abstract reasoning
and logic (Piaget, 1957).
How does morality develop?
However, I do propose that
children between the ages of 5
and 10 see the world by
heteronomous morality. That is, children
think that the rules of their parents,
caretakers, and teachers are absolute.
Moreover, they view them as nonnegotiable
and set in stone. The aging process allows
for abstract thinking and allows children to
revise the way in which they view rules and
approach them. This allows young people to
shed the self-centered thought patterns and
become concerned with maintaining balance
in their behaviors (Betty Hardwick, 2014).
The picture depicts Jean Piaget conducting
research with children. By observing play,
Piaget demonstrated that towards the end
of the second year of life, a qualitatively
functioning increases. He coined this as the
Pre-operational Stage of Development.
What is your theory of moral development
and how is this way of viewing it unique?
Women and men may have different ways in
which their patterns of morality develop. My
theory incorporates prosocial behavior such
as altruism, caring, and helping, as well as
the traits of honesty, fairness, and respect
(Santrock, 2011).
What other theory impacted your point of
view?
I formulated this theory after studying under
Lawrence Kohlberg, at which time I realized
that women and the traits we possess were
not provided for by his theory. Kohlberg's
investigations proved to be biased to women
and in turn, presented women as moral
miscreants.
Jean Piaget
by Shari Philpot
Carol Gilligan
by Shari Philpot
Carol Gilligan questioned the exclusion
of women in the theories of early
psychologists. As a solution to this
quandary, Gilligan proposed a theory of
moral development that included the
half of the population excluded by the
preceding theorists.

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For this reason, and from the Feminist point
of view, I decided to present a more balanced
theory of moral development that accounted
for the differences, and not the inferiorities
between men and women. For years, and
since Freud’s psychoanalytic theory women
have been viewed as psychologically
deficient. I do not believe that this is truly
the case and in contrast, it may be these
differences that give us a psychological
upper-hand when it comes to traditionally
female tasks. This brings us back to my
notion of moral development. The moral
development of women focuses on
connections between people, rather than
independence, separation, and justice
(Education Portal Website, 2014).
Are there differences in moral
development between the genders?
My theory has three stages: (1) the
preconventional, (2) conventional and (3) the
postconventional. In each of these stages
there are specific goals and transitions. The
transitions are pivotal to the outcome of
morality and allow for the filtering of some
traits in favor of others. As the individual
becomes increasingly aware of and confident
in themselves, they will quickly pass through
these check points and consequently develop
a true sense of not only morality, but ethics.
Unlike the theories expounded on by
Kohlberg, and first introduced by Piaget, I do
not believe this happens alongside cognitive
development. It is an independent entity and
occurs differently in boys and girls (Feldman,
2014).
In girls, a care-based morality is initiated.
This emphasizes relationships, the
connectedness of individuals, and
commonalities. To act in connection with
this line of moral reasoning, would mean that
through moral reasoning girls behave in a
way that avoids conflict and focuses on
altruistic traits. This develops partly because
of the connectedness that exists between a
mother and daughter that continues to be
prevalent throughout the female life
(Education Portal Website, 2014).
For boys, a justice centered morality is
selected. People are seen as individuals.
Equality and altruism are avoided. Boys or
males show a definite need to become
independent and differentiated from their
mothers (Education Portal Website, 2014).

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REMEMBERING GREAT PSYCHOLOGICAL
MINDS OF THE PAST…..
Sigmund Freud
- 1856-1939-
The Father of Psychoanalytical Theory
Major Contributions to Psych
• Founder of Psychoanalysis /Psychodynamic
• Sexual basis of neurosis / Childhood Seduction
Theory
• Dream analysis
• Id, Ego, Superego
• Conscious vs. Unconscious
• Life Instinct (libido) vs. Death Instinct
• Anxiety
• Psychosexual stages of personality development
• Fate (nothing happens by chance)
• Oedipus Complex
• Behavior determined by the unconscious + childhood
• One of 3 Founders of Depth Psychology
• Did not include spirituality as a motivator
in his theories
"The ego is not master in its own house."
FAST FACTS
Remembering…Sigmund Freud
by Shari Philpot

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What other theory impacted your point of
view or the development of your theory?
Building on the stages of adolescent
development coined by Jean Piaget, I
encompassed the entity of moral
development. At some stage in every
person’s life, they begin to know and accept
that certain behaviors are viewed as right
and others as wrong. By formulating my
theory, I was not hoping to discount
Piagetian theory, but to revise it and focus on
the formation of moral reasoning (Feldman,
2014).
What is your theory of moral development
and how is this way of viewing it unique?
My theory consists of six stages: (1)
obedience and punishment, (2) individualism
and exchange, (3) interpersonal
relationships, (4) maintaining social order, (5)
social contract and individual rights, and
finally, (6) the universal principles
incorporated by the internalization of justice
(Feldman, 2014).
Stage 1 is the earliest stage of moral
development and is usually apparent in
young children (Feldman, 2014). During this
stage, rules are concrete and following them
is a strategy of avoiding punishment. The
second stage I prefer to illustrate using the
Heinz Dilemma. There was a woman near
death from cancer. There was one drug that
according to doctors, might save her life, a
form of radium that a druggist in the same
town had recently discovered. Although this
drug was expensive to make, the druggist
was charging ten times what it cost him to
produce. He usually paid around $200 for the
radium, but charged nearly $2,000 for just a
small dose of the drug. Desperately, the sick
woman’s husband, Heinz, went to everyone
he knew to borrow the money, but he could
only around half of what it cost. He decided
to go speak to the druggist about the
situation and explained that his wife was
dying. He begged the druggist to give him a
discount or allow him to pay later. However,
the druggist said: “No, I discovered the drug
and I’m going to make money from it.” So
Heinz got desperate and broke into the
man’s store to steal the drug for his wife.
The question this story presents is should
Heinz have broken into the store to steal the
drug for his wife? Would you have Dr.
Philpot, and more importantly why or why
not? No matter what your answer is to these
questions, there is undoubtedly a bargaining
of sorts occurring. This bargaining
mechanism usually occurs in stage 2 or the
individualism or exchange period. Here is the
point where the concreteness of rules seems
to evaporate into thin air. The individual
begins to see different angles of one single
problem. They now realize that their own
interests or desires can be perpetuated by
their decisions (Feldman, 2014).
Stage 3 focuses on the restructuring
moralization that builds interpersonal
relationships. Moral reasoning during this
stage often encompasses the feelings,
desires, and needs of others. Usually this
stage coincides with adolescence and thus,
the individual is fully capable of reasoning
that Heinz’s actions were fully justifiable
(Santrock, 2011).
The focus shifts during Stage 4 to
maintaining social order. At this time,
individuals empathize with Heinz’s situation,
but contest his decision to steal the
medicine. It seems that in the fifth stage, the
individual reverts back to an earlier stage,
but this is not the case. Although the result
of their moral reasoning mirrors an earlier
outcome, the justification for this reasoning
now rest with the need to initiate a social
contract and withhold the individual’s rights.
My final stage is represented by the attribute
of justice and the incorporation of universal
principles into the individual’s vision of
morality (Feldman, 2014).
What are some criticisms of your theory?
One of the most obvious criticism is the
exclusion of women. This I would say, is
almost an oxymoronic point of view. I
undoubtedly did not name the female
species as the subject of my theory, but that
was by no means meant to exclude them
from the venue of moral development. My
theory is completely holistic and can be
applied to any gender or race. I do not
contend that it encompasses all moral
development, it is merely a theoretical
approach to understanding how morals come
about in the vast majority of individuals.
Antagonists of my theory often pose the
question, does moral reasoning equate with
moral behavior. Of course, the answer here
is no. Knowing what we should do in a given
situation, does not automatically change
how we behave in that situation. My theory
does not negate the importance of emotions
in moral reasoning, but focuses instead on
the individual’s attempt to develop this
reasoning in resonance with societal
standards.
THE FOUNDER OF MORAL REASONING THEORY
Morality
"Is the ability to see an issue from points of view other
than just your own."
A word on morality…
“Right action tends to be defined in terms of general
individual rights and standards that have been
critically examined and agreed upon by the whole
society. “
By interviewing both children and adolescents
Kohlberg found that stages of development go well
beyond what Piaget's theory had defined.
LAWRENCE KOHLBERG
Morality Continued…

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References
Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2012) A
History of Modern Psychology (10th ed.).
Independence, KY: Wadsworth, Cengage
Learning 9781133316244.
Feldman, R. (2014) Development across the
life span (7th Edition) Pearson Education
Limited: United Kingdom.
Santrock, J. W. (2011). A topical approach to
lifespan development (6th ed) McGraw-Hill
Higher Education: Boston, MA.
The Betty Hardwick Center Website. (2014).
Early childhood moral development. [Data
File]. Retrieved from
http://www.bhcmhmr.org/poc/view_doc.php
?type=doc&id=12769&cn=462.
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Website. (2011). The definition of morality.
[Data File]. Retrieved from
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/morality-definition/#
Bib.
Education Portal Website. (2014). Carol
Gilligan’s theory of moral development.
[Data File/ Video]. Retrieved from
http://education-portal.
com/academy/lesson/carol-gilligans-theory-
of-moral-development.html#lesson.

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