Cognitive Development, Psychosocial Development, and now Moral Thinking?!

One more guy telling us how we think, why we think, and then I'll be moving onto to something other than development. I can't leave this topic without talking about Lawrence Kohlberg, an American psychologist that comprised levels of moral thinking. Included with these levels of moral thinking are 6 stages which are listed and grouped accordingly:

• Level 1: Pre-conventional thinking; stage 1: punishment avoidance, stage 2: getting what you want by a "trade-off"
• Level 2: Conventional thinking; stage 3: meeting expectations of others, stage 4: fulfilling duties and upholding laws
• Level 3: Post-conventional thinking; stage 5: sense of democracy and relativity of rules, stage 6: self-selection of universal principles

The first level of thinking is observed most commonly in children 9 and under, but there are some adults that still are in this type of thinking. Pre-conventional morality is a standard, uniform code of morality. We do not have any personal morals at this stage, but are told what to think by the adults in our lives. We are also taught the consequences of breaking the rules.

The next level of thinking is conventional morality. This occurs in most adolescents and adults. We create and form an opinion of morality based on the choices of trusted adults in our lives. Authority is not questioned. Any reasoning is based on the peers and people that said person spends time with.

The last level is the post-conventional morality. At this stage, self-chosen principles are chosen and followed. Reasoning is conducted based on self experiences and rights. 

How Kohlberg came up with these levels is quite interesting. He questioned all ages (children, adolescents, and adults) about a certain scenario. The scenario is about a man named Heinz. Heinz's wife was dying of a certain illness, but a very expensive drug was just created that could save her. Heinz tried to save up as much money as he could and asked friends and family to help, but he could only save up half of the amount for the drug. He asked the pharmaceutical company if he could pay half, save his wife, and pay the other half as he goes on? The company denied his request, so what should Heinz do? Steal the drug and go to prison, not steal the drug and follow the law, or steal the drug but not go to prison because he was just trying to save his wife? 

It was through moral dilemmas like this that Kohlberg gained answers to analyze and was able to create the three levels of moral thinking. If you would like to see what level you are at, try the website listed below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5czp9S4u26M

**If interested, a great video to further explain is seen here