Moral Development

What is Morality?

• Morality refers to a general set of standards about right and wrong and encompasses such traits as honesty, compassion, and respect for other people’s rights and needs

Social Conventions

• Societies rules and conventions regarding acceptable and unacceptable behaviors

APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT

Focus on Socialization

• Emphasis on nurture (vs. nature)

• The process is universal, as are many of the techniques used to socialize children

• Children’s increasing conformity to society’s standards for behavior is presumed to be predominantly quantitative in nature

Focus on Cognition

• Specific experiences influence the views of morality that children construct, and their ability to think abstractly about moral dev’t depends on their cognitive dev’t

• General sequence presumed to be universal

• Children and adolescents progress through a series of qualitatively different stages in moral reasoning

Focus on Emotions

• Emotions have a biological basis, but associating them with moral actions is determined by experience and learning

• Emotions associated with moral behavior are universal, but feelings about the various behaviors differ

• Emotions (shame, guilt, & empathy) show a quantitative change in the early years, empathy however, also shows a qualitative change

Combining These Focuses

• Developmentalists are combining both cognition and emotion in their explanations of moral development and behavior

• All three explanations are useful in some way for explaining moral development

Psychoanalytic Perspective

• Freud places burden on parents.

– Moral development complete by 5 to 6

– Superego

• Children whose parents use threats or physical force

– Show little guilt after harming others

– Show poor self-control

Psychoanalytic Perspective, Con’t

• Induction

– Effects of misbehavior are communicated to the child.

– Encourages empathy and prosocial behavior

Behaviorism and Social Learning Theory

• Imitate models who demonstrate appropriate behavior

• More likely to copy prosocial actions of person if:

– Consistent between assertions and behavior

– Warm

– Competent

– Powerful

Cognitive-Developmental Perspective

• Children actively think about social rules.

• React to violations of moral rules more than social conventions

• Understand moral rules because they protect people's rights and welfare

• Preschoolers who are disliked by peers due to aggression show difficulties with moral reasoning.

DEVELOPMENTAL TRENDS IN MORALITY

EARLY CHILDHOOD

• By 2, act with alarm to aggression

• At first morality is externally controlled

• Children begin using internal standards to evaluate behavior at a very early age

• Later they are regulated by inner standards

EARLY CHILDHOOD

• Moral individuals have principles that they follow in a variety of situations

• Children increasingly distinguish between moral transgressions and conventional transgressions

Early to Middle Childhood

• Emotions related to moral behavior are beginning to develop

– Children begin to show guilt as early as 22 months of age

– By middle elementary school many occasionally feel shame

Early to Middle Childhood

• Children’s understanding of fairness is evolving

– Preschoolers judge what is fair on their own needs and desires, early elementary students base what is fair on strict equality

– As children get older they begin to take merit and special needs into account

Early to Middle Childhood

• Learning about Justice through Sharing

– Distributive justice

• Beliefs about how to divide resources fairly

• Damon studied ideas of distributive justice.

– 5 to 6 years: Equality

– 6 to 7 years: Merit & special needs

– Around age 8: Benevolence

MIDDLE CHILDHOOD

• Children increasingly take in to account the circumstances of an event when evaluating their behavior

Changes in Moral Understanding

• As ideas of justice advance, linkage created between moral rules and social conventions.

• Diverse cultures use same criteria to distinguish moral and social conventions.

• Children identify a domain of personal matters.

– Fosters concepts of personal rights and freedom

Punishment

• Justified when immediate obedience is necessary

– Long term: Warmth and reasoning better

• Punishment promotes momentary compliance.

Harsh Punishment

• Provides model of aggression

• Teaches to avoid the punishing adult

• Offers relief to adults, who are then reinforced for using coercive discipline

Alternatives to Harsh Punishment

• Time out

– Removal from setting until ready to act appropriately

• Withdrawal of privileges

• Encourage and reward good conduct

Alternatives to Harsh Punishment

• Effectiveness of punishment is increased when

– Used consistently

– In a warm parent-child relationship

– Accompanied by an explanation

KOHLBERG’S THEORY

Level 1: Preconventional Morality

• Stage 1: Punishment-Avoidance and Obedience

• Make decisions based on what is best for themselves

• Obey only the rules established by powerful individuals

• “Wrong” behaviors are only those that are punished

Level 1: Preconventional Morality

• Stage 2: Exchange of Favors

• People begin to recognize that others also have needs

• May try to satisfy others’ needs if their own are met

• Continue to define right and wrong by behaviors that are punished

Level II: Conventional Morality – Stage

• Stage 3: Good Boy/Good Girl

• Decisions made on what actions will please others (esp. authority figures)

• Concerned about maintaining interpersonal relationships

• Take other people’s perspectives and intentions into account when making decisions

Level II: Conventional Morality – Stage

• Stage 4: Law and Order

• Look to society as a whole for right/wrong guidelines

• Know the rules necessary for keeping society running smoothly

• Perceive rules as inflexible

Level III: Postconventional Morality

• Stage 5: Social Contract

• Recognize rules as an agreement between many people about appropriate behavior

• Rules are no longer absolute dictates that must be obeyed

Level III: Postconventional Morality

• Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principle

• Adherence to a few abstract, universal principles that transcend specific norms and rules for behavior

Factors Influencing Progression

• Postconventional morality cannot occur until an individual has acquired formal operational thought

• Conventional and postconventional moral reasoning usually doesn’t occur until adolescence

• Disequilibrium helps move an individual from one stage to another

Research on Kohlberg’s Theory Tells Us…

• His theory confuses the moral and social-conventional domains

• Most children are more advanced than he thought

• He focuses on moral thinking rather than moral behavior

• May not be as stage-like as Kohlberg believed

Factors Affecting Moral Development

• Use of Reasons

• Interactions With Peers

• Models of Moral and Prosocial Behavior

• Moral Issues and Dilemmas

• Self-Perceptions

Diversity in Moral Development

• Gender Differences

– Gilligan suggests that Kohlberg does not adequately describe female moral development cultural differences

• Cultural Differences

– Different cultural groups have different standards about what constitutes right and wrong behaviors

Promoting Moral Development

• Clarify which behaviors are acceptable and which are not

• Expose children to numerous models of moral behavior

• Engage children in discussions about social and moral issues

• Challenge children’s moral reasoning

• Expose children to diverse viewpoints about moral issues

JAMES FOWLER’S THEORY ON FAITH

Stage 1: Intuitive-Projective Faith

• 18-24 months to 7 years

• Children form powerful, imaginative, often terrifying, and sometimes lasting images of God, heaven, and hell, drawn from stories

• They have difficulty distinguishing God’s point of view from their own or their parents’

Stage 2: Mythic-Literal Faith

• Ages 7 – 12 years

• They tend to take religious stories and symbols literally

• They can now see God as having a perspective beyond their own

• They believe God is fair and people get what they deserve

Stage 3: Synthetic-Conventional Faith

• Adolescence or beyond

• Begin to form ideologies and commitments to ideals

• Their faith is unquestioning and conforms to community standards

• About 50% of adults never move beyond this stage

Stage 4: Individuative-Reflective Faith

• Early to middle twenties or beyond

• Examine their faith critically and think about their own beliefs, independent of external authority and group norms

Stage 5: Conjunctive Faith

• Midlife or beyond

• Recognize life’s paradoxes and contradictions, and they often struggle with conflicts between fulfilling their own needs and sacrificing for others

Stage 6: Universalizing Faith

• Late life

• Consumed with a sense of “participation in a power that unifies and transforms the world”

• They threaten the established order, they often become martyrs, and though they love life they do not cling to it

• Includes Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, and Mother Theresa

Fowler’s Critics Say…

• His concept of faith is at odds with conventional definitions, which involve acceptance, not introspection

• They challenge his emphasis on cognitive knowledge and claim that he underestimates the maturity of simple, solid, unquestioning faith

Fowler’s Critics Say…

• His sample was not randomly selected – they may be more representative of above average intelligence and education

• It was not representative of nonwestern cultures

• He may overlook the adaptive value of conventional religious beliefs for many older adults

Real-Life vs. Hypothetical Dilemmas

• Real-Life Dilemmas frequently differed from hypothetical

• Hypothetical dilemmas elicited a slightly higher level of moral reasoning than real-life dilemmas

• This supports Kohlberg’s claim that standard hypothetical dilemmas are good for capturing an individual's best level of moral reasoning

Real-Life vs. Hypothetical Dilemmas, Con’t

• Gilligan – She holds that Kohlberg’s theory is biased against women

• No sex differences were found in stage of moral reasoning development

• The findings fail to support the notion that Kohlberg’s theory was biased against female response

Developmental Differences in Guilt

• Guilt over transgression is the type of situation most frequently mentioned as guilt producing by students at all grade levels

• Guilt over situations in which the student is not at fault declines with development

Developmental Differences in Guilt

• Parents are the individuals who evoke feelings of guilt in the highest percent of students at all grade levels

• Students are increasingly likely to report guilt over lying and inconsiderate behavior as they get older

Developmental Differences in Guilt

• Guilt over externalizing behaviors (ex. aggression) declines with development

• Guilt over internalizing behaviors becomes more prevalent with development

WILLIAM DAMON

The Moral Development of Children

The Genealogy of Morals

• Nativist theories à State that human morality springs from emotional dispositions that are hardwired in to your species

• Learning theories à Concentrate on children’s acquisition of behavioral norms and values through observation, imitation, and reward

The Genealogy of Morals

• Intellectual Dev’t theories à Believe that virtue and vice are a matter of conscious choice

• This includes theories by Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg

Conscience vs. Chocolate

• None of the three traditional theories is sufficient to explain children’s moral growth and behavior

• None of these models is able to answer this important question: What makes them live up to their ideals or not?

• Research has shown that ideals can have an increasing influence on conduct as a child matures

Do the Right Thing

• A person must adopt those beliefs as a central part of his or her personal identity

• Most children and adults will express the belief that It is wrong to allow others to suffer, but only a few of these people will feel they need to do something about it

• A study of moral exemplars showed that they were no more insightful when it came to moral reasoning than everyone else’s

Do The Right Thing, Con’t

• How does an adolescent acquire a moral identity?

– It is gradually occurring as a result of feedback from others; observations of actions by others that either inspire or appall; reflection of their own experience, and cultural influences

Teach Your Children Well

• Parents are generally the original source of moral guidance

• Authoritative parenting facilitates children’s moral growth better than the other forms of parenting

• One of the most influential things that a parent can do is encourage the right kind of peer relations

Teach Your Children Well

• The work of Ianni: What make the difference:

• Teachers did not tolerate cheating on exams

• Parents did not let children get away with lying

• Coaches did not advocate bending the rules to win

• People of all ages expected openness from friends

Bibliography

• Damon, W. (1999, August). The moral development of children. Scientific American, 72-78.

• Papalia, D.E., Olds, S.W., & Feldman, R.D. (2001). Human development, eighth edition. New York: McGraw-Hill.

• McDevitt, T.M. & Ormrod, J.E. (2004). Child development: Educating and working with children and adolescents. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

• Walker, L.J., de Vries, B., & Trevethan, S.D. (1987). Moral stages and moral orientations in real-life and hypothetical dilemmas. Child Development, 58, 842-858.

• Williams, C. & Bybee, J. (1994). What do children feel guilty about? Developmental and gender differences. Developmental Psychology, 30 (5), 617-623.