Moral Development

One strength of Kohlberg’s theory comes in his longitudinal study. He presented 72 Chicago males with one of 10 moral dilemmas. The pps were initially 10-16. He interviewed each pp for 2 hours every 3 years, up to age 36. He found most people reach stage 3 or 4 – most women reach stage 3, but most men reach stage 4. He later looked at pps in different cultures, and decided this pattern was universal. This suggests there is detailed evidence to support Kohlberg’s ideas. 

2.   Another strength of Kohlberg’s theory is there is recent supporting research. For example, a study (“The Lying Game”, ITV) showed that children’s ability and willingness to lie develops in stages. At

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2. 3 the pps could not tell an effective lie as they had no “theory of mind”. However, by 8 the pps were able to lie, and to see that a lie is not always wrong as lying can be used to be kind to someone. This suggests Kohlberg was right when he suggested moral understanding develops with age.

1. One strength of Kohlberg’s theory comes in his longitudinal study. He presented 72 Chicago males with one of 10 moral dilemmas. The pps were initially 10-16. He interviewed each pp for 2 hours every 3 years, up to age 36. He found most people reach stage 3 or 4 – most women reach stage 3, but most men reach stage 4. He later looked at pps in different cultures, and decided this pattern was universal. This suggests there is detailed evidence to support Kohlberg’s ideas.

2. Another strength of Kohlberg’s theory is there is recent supporting research. For example, a study (“The Lying Game”, ITV) showed that children’s ability and willingness to lie develops in stages. At

3 the pps could not tell an effective lie as they had no “theory of mind”. However, by 8 the pps were able to lie, and to see that a lie is not always wrong as lying can be used to be kind to someone. This suggests Kohlberg was right when he suggested moral understanding develops with age.