Kohlberg's Moral Stages

1. Moral
Development

2. Morality
Our understanding of the difference between
right and wrong or good and bad behavior.
Freud argued that the Id and
Ego drive our motivation, but
our Superego sometimes
steps in and causes us to
change our behavior.
In other words, we are
sometimes motivated by a
desire to be good more than
we are motivated to seek
pleasure.
Some people believe in absolute
morality: the idea that moral rules
apply to all people in all situations at
all times in history. They might argue
that killing another person is always
wrong in every situation.
Some people believe in relative
morality: the idea that moral rules are
relative to our personal or cultural
environments.They might argue that
each individual society or era of
history determines what is morally
right and wrong.

3. Morality
How is morality related to motivation?
I’ll say it again:
We are sometimes motivated
by a desire to be good human
beings more than we are
motivated to seek pleasure.

4. Morality
How can morality cause us to change our
actions?
1. First, we get
motivated to do
something. Example:An
employee is motivated
to become the CEO of
his company one day to
make lots of money.
2. Second, our moral beliefs
intervene, sometimes causing us to
change our behaviors. Example:The
employee finds out that his
company must outsource child
labor in poor foreign countries to
make a profit. If the boss of the
company must hurt poor children
to make a profit, does he really
want to be the boss? Does he even
want to work there anymore?

5. A poor man named Heinz has a wife who is dying, and
needs a newly developed drug that will cure her. The drug
is very expensive, so every day, Heinz crowd funds to raise
the money. However, he fails to earn enough to pay for the
medicine. The company CEO refuses to give the drug away
for free, and changes lots of money for it because he says
“research and development is expensive and the company
needs to make a profit.” One day, Heinz decides to break
into the hospital pharmacy and steal the drug.
Write a letter to the man (5 sentences minimum)
explaining why his choice was either RIGHT or
WRONG, and explain WHY.

6. Kohlberg’s Theory of
Moral Development
Lawrence Kohlberg
(1927-1987) was a psychologist
who created a theory of moral
development: it describes how
one’s sense of right and wrong
changes with age.
How do we develop a sense of
justice? How do we learn to
make moral judgements?

7. “Kohlberg Dilemmas”
In order to study moral development, Kohlberg
created situations (like the Heinz story) which he
called “dilemmas,” and read them to people of all ages.
He took their responses and categorized them into
three levels of morality (6 stages total: two in each
level) based on certain characteristics that he noticed.

8. Three Levels of Morality
Breaking the rules
is always bad.
(or)
Acting in self-
interest because
my individual
needs are the
greatest good.
Follow the rules
because if you
don’t, others will
think badly of you.
(or)
The rules are in
place for the
benefit of all:
breaking the rules
leads to chaos.
Rules are created
by humans, and
humans aren’t
perfect; thus, rules
are not always
good ones.
(or)
I believe in a higher
moral standard
than that which is
dictated by society.
Level One
Level Two
Level Three

9. Stage 1: Obedience & Punishment
Sense of morality is based
on avoiding external
punishments.Thus, an action
is perceived as wrong only if
the person is punished.
People in this stage are
overly trusting of authority
figures (such as parents,
governments, holy texts),
and will often say something
is right or wrong “because
authority figure says so.”
Level 1: Preconventional Morality
Stealing is bad because
the law says so. You
will get in trouble if you
steal!

10. Stage 2: Self-Interest
Sense of morality is
based on whatever
the individual believes
is in their best
interest (but in a
narrow way which
does not consider
one's reputation or
relationships to
groups of people).
Level 1: Preconventional Morality
Stealing is ok if it allows you
to get what you want.

11. Level One:
“The law is always right”
or
“Acting in self-interest”
( Video )

12. Stage 3: Accord & Conformity
Sense of morality is
based on social
standards and how
one will be
perceived by others.
Being approved of
and respected by
others is considered
important because
it is self-beneficial.
Level 2: Conventional Morality
Stealing is a bad idea
because if people find out,
they will think you’re
untrustworthy, or a criminal.

13. Stage 4: Social Order-Maintaining
Sense of morality is based
on the fact that following
laws provides us with a
stable, safe, and functioning
society. If one person breaks
a law, everyone could
potentially break it, creating
danger and chaos.Thus,
following laws and the
orders of an outside
authority is beneficial for
everyone.
Level 2: Conventional Morality
Stealing is bad because
if everyone were
allowed to steal, no
one’s property would be
safe.There would be no
social order.

14. Level Two:
“Act in a way that other
people will approve of”
or
“The law benefits and
protects society”

15. Stage 5: Social Contract Understanding
Sense of morality is based on
an understanding that each
society creates it own values,
laws, rights, and moral
standards. Laws are understood
to be social contracts between
the governors and the
governed: people are capable of
making bad laws, and any laws
that do not promote general
welfare should be removed or
changed.
Level 3: Postconventional Morality
If the rules cause an
injustice to happen,
perhaps the rules
need to be changed,
or perhaps you should
defy the rules.

16. Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principles
Sense of morality is based on
an understanding that
goodness is not defined by any
particular society or set of
laws, but good and moral
behavior is something universal
which transcends human
society. People should not act
based on laws, punishments,
self-interest, or societal
interest, but should only act
based on what is just and right.
Level 3: Postconventional Morality
Kohlberg actually
found very few people
in the world who
operate at “stage 6”
morality. He decided
that stage 6 is not
very realistic.

17. Level Three:
“The law is not always moral”
or
“There is a universal
definition of good beyond
what an individual society
defines it to be”

18. Moral Level In Favor of Stealing Against Stealing
Level 1: Preconventional
Morality
(Interests of the individual are
considered in terms of rewards
and punishments)
“It was right to steal, because he
might have been blamed for the
death of his wife.”
“It was wrong to steal, because
he might be caught and sent to
jail. If he doesn't get caught, he
might spend his whole life in fear
thinking of how the police could
catch him at any minute”.
Level 2: Conventional
Morality
(Interests of the individual are
considered in terms of how others
perceive them and how they act as
good members of society)
“It was right to steal, because if
his wife had died he would never
be able to face other people
again. He will be thought of as a
bad husband and a bad person.”
“It was wrong to steal because
he will feel bad about how he
brought dishonor on himself and
his family by not following the
laws. Everyone must follow laws
in order to keep society orderly.”
Level 3: Postconventional
Morality
(Individuals follow moral standards
that are greater than those of any
particular society)
“It was right to steal, because life
is more important than property.
What is truly wrong in this
situation is that society does not
agree: the law favors property
over life.”
“It was wrong to steal because
he will always condemn himself
for not living up to his own
standards of honesty.”

19. Heinz Dilemma Part 2:
Kohlberg asked these follow up questions to his
participants after reading them the story:
1. Was it right for Heinz to steal?
2. Would your answer change if
the dying woman was a
stranger?
3. If poor people are dying,
should the greedy CEO be
sued and brought to court for
overpricing his product?

20. Problems with Kohlberg’s Theory:
Does moral behavior actually match moral thoughts?
People have pointed out that Kohlberg’s scenario is
hypothetical: the way people answer the question may not
be how they would act in real life.
Are there distinct stages to moral development, or do different
situations result in different types of moral choices? Some
adults may make a level three decision in one scenario, but
fall back to a level one decision in another.
Is justice the most important moral principle? Some argue
that compassion is more important.
1
2
3

21. Review:
Breaking the rules
is always bad.
(or)
Acting in self-
interest because
my individual
needs are the
greatest good.
Follow the rules
because if you
don’t, others will
think badly of you.
(or)
The rules are in
place for the
benefit of all:
breaking the rules
leads to chaos.
Rules are created
by humans, and
humans aren’t
perfect; thus, rules
are not always
good ones.
(or)
I believe in a higher
moral standard
than that which is
dictated by society.
Level One
Level Two
Level Three