The consolidation/transition model in moral reasoning development (original) (raw)
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Stage Structure of Moral Development: A Comparison of Alternative Models
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A Longitudinal Study of Moral Reasoning
Child Development, 1989
Several issues concerning Gilligan's model of moral orientations and Kohlberg's models of moral stages and moral orientations were examined in a longitudinal study with 233 subjects (from 78 families) who ranged in age from 5 to 63 years. They participated in 2 identical interviews separated by a 2-year interval. In each interview, they discussed hypothetical dilemmas and a personally generated real-life dilemma, which were scored for both moral stage and moral orientation (both Gilligan's and Kohlberg's typologies). Results revealed few violations of the stage sequence over the longitudinal interval, supporting Kohlberg's moral stage model. Sex differences were almost completely absent for both Gilligan's and Kohlberg's moral orientations, although there were clear developmental trends. Hypothetical and real-life dilemmas elicited different moral orientations, especially in terms of Kohlberg's typology. The interrelations between the 2 models of moral orientations were generally weak, indicating that they are not synonymous.
Developmental Changes and Individual Differences in Young Children’s Moral Judgments
Child Development, 2012
Developmental trajectories and individual differences in 70 American middle income 2½ to 4-year olds' moral judgments were examined three times across 1 year using latent growth modeling. At Wave 1, children distinguished hypothetical moral from conventional transgressions on all criteria, but only older preschoolers did so when rating deserved punishment. Children's understanding of moral transgressions as wrong independent of authority grew over time. Greater surgency and effortful control were both associated with a better understanding of moral generalizability. Children higher in effortful control also grew more slowly in understanding that moral rules are not alterable and that moral transgressions are wrong independent of rules. Girls demonstrated sharper increases across time than boys in understanding the nonalterability of moral rules.
The effects of modeling and cognitive induction on the moral reasoning of adolescents
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 1983
In this investigation of the effects of modeling and cognitive induction on moral reasoning, 87 junior high school students were exposed to moral reasoning, characteristic of either one stage above (+ 1) or one stage below (-1) their dominant stage, as determined by pretesting. The presented reasoning was attributed to a model of either high, neutral, or low status/ relevance to the content of the moral dilemmas used. A multiple-choice adaptation of the Kohlberg moral development interview was used at pretesting, at intervention/posttesting, and at delayed posttesting. Analyses of changes in moral reasoning included examination of direct and indirect effects on both an immediate and a delayed posttest. Results indicated significant and stable change in moral reasoning associated with the developmental stage of the message (+ 1 produced advances, but-1 failed to induce significant regression) and significant temporary change associated with the characteristics of the model (high status/relevance models had greater influence than did neutral models). It is suggested that future research and educational efforts give attention to both the moral stage of the intervention and the nature of the source to which it is attributed. 'This article is based on portions of a Ph.D. dissertation submitted by the first author to the faculty of Bryn Mawr College.
Developmental Level of Moral Judgment Influences Behavioral Patterns during Moral Decision-making
Journal of Experimental Education, 2020
We developed and tested a behavioral version of the Defining Issues Test-1 revised (DIT-1r), which is a measure of the development of moral judgment. We conducted a behavioral experiment using the behavioral Defining Issues Test (bDIT) to examine the relationship between participants’ moral developmental status, moral competence, and reaction time when making moral judgments. We found that when the judgments were made based on the preferred moral schema, the reaction time for moral judgments was significantly moderated by the moral developmental status. In addition, as a participant becomes more confident with moral judgment, the participant differentiates the preferred versus other schemas better particularly when the participant’s abilities for moral judgment are more developed.
Moral Development Across Lifespan: An Inquiry into Early Beginnings and Later Variations
JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY & BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE, 2021
Moral development has its roots early in life. Children are found to be born with a primary sense of right and wrong. As they grow and socialize, the experiences train their understanding of expectations, the reward, and punitive outcomes to them and others via their intentions and actions. Several researchers have investigated the onset and emergence of morality during the early years. Theorists vary in their perspectives: those who examine morality range in their explanations from infants being born with no moral sense (social learning and behaviorist theories), to those who believe humans are self-oriented, to those who believe that human reasoning abilities separate us from the rest of creation (cognitive development theories), and finally, to those who believe that humans beings are born with potentialities for moral actions. The current article examines the past literature on morality and its bidirectional influence on childhood and adolescent experiences and behaviors.
Cognitive Development, 2007
Kohlberg's characterization of moral development as displaying an invariant hierarchical order of structurally consistent stages is losing ground. However, by applying Rasch analysis, Dawson recently gave new interpretation and support to his characterization of stage development. Using Rasch models, we replicated and strengthened her findings in a re-analysis of three sets of longitudinal socio-moral reasoning data collected in Iceland. A new application of Rasch analysis provided support for upward development. Our results supported Kohlberg's characterization of stage development and the cross-cultural stability of Dawson's findings that were exclusively based on US samples. We conclude that proposals to replace Kohlberg's characterization of moral development are premature.
Journal of Moral Education, 2021
Although some previous studies have investigated the relationship between moral foundations and moral judgment development, the methods used have not been able to fully explore the relationship. In the present study, we used Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) in order to address the limitations in traditional regression methods that have been used previously. Results showed consistency with previous findings that binding foundations are negatively correlated with post-conventional moral reasoning and positively correlated with maintaining norms and personal interest schemas. In addition to previous studies, our results showed a positive correlation for individualizing foundations and post-conventional moral reasoning. Implications are discussed as well as a detailed explanation of the novel BMA method in order to allow others in the field of moral education to be able to use it in their own studies.
The Relation of Moral Judgment Development and
2007
Moral text processing was used as an ecologically valid method for assessing implicit and explicit moral understanding and development. The authors tested undergraduates, seminarians, and graduate students in political science and philosophy for recall of moral narratives and moral expository texts. Multivariate analyses of covariance using educational experience as an independent variable, age and moral judgment score as covariates, and recall of embedded moral arguments as dependent variables revealed a relation between education and level of moral arguments recalled. Lower-stage moral reasoning was best recalled by undergraduates, whereas higher-stage reasoning was best recalled by graduate students, with seminarians intermediate for both types of text. Moral judgment score was related to recall of the highest-level moral arguments even when age and educational experience were controlled. Moral judgment development appeared to be particularly helpful in recall of expository compared with narrative texts.
Measuring Moral Progress – Empirical evidence for a theory of moral reasoning
2004
The paper provides an in-depth analysis of two subjects from a longitudinal study who underwent successive and significant developmental changes. Their developmental patterns, however, fail to be addressed appropriately by the Kohlberg theory. By contrast, the observed course of development can be neatly accommodated by an alternative theory of moral stages. What’s more, apart from merely matching with the observed data, this theory also explains why the subjects developed the way they did, since it reveals the inherent cognitive conflicts at each stage and how these are resolved at the following one. Although the theory stands against the Kohlberg theory as such, it is capable of absorbing the latter and can thus be taken as a further development of it, in the sense that Kohlbergian stages are differentiated, supplemented and theoretically substantiated within the new framework.