Kohlberg 1968

• Used interveiws so so qualitative data was obtained 
• Was a longitudinal and cross-cultural study 
• Used 75 middle class boys aged 10-16 and 22-28 from the USA initially 
• Same study was done in:
  • Great Britain
  • Taiwan
  • Mexico
  • Turkey 
  • Canada

• Used hypthetical moral dilemas e.g. Heinz dilema 
  • "A woman was on her deathbed. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to produce. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together about $1,000 which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said: 'No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it.' So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's laboratory to steal the drug for his wife"
• The main themes at each stage of the interveiwes were analysed and ordered into stages of development 

• A stage theory is an account of how behaviour changes at different ages 
• Young children think at a 'pre-conventional' level 
• As children grow older they become less selfish and more empathetic/sympathetic and are more able to see the importance of relationships

• Identified that the stages are invarient and universal
  • People everywhere go through the same thing at the same time
• Children become more stable, consistent and morally mature and have a better moral understanding 
  
• Moral discussion classes are used in schools and prisons to resolve disputes and encourage moral development 

• All the boys were interveiwed every 3 years (10-16 and 22-28) so it was longitudinal 
• Demand characteristics are not as present in longitudinal studies 
• Cross-sectional designs are often cheaper and quicker than longitundinal studies 

Children accept the rules of authority figures and judge actions by their consequences. Actions which in punishment are bad and those that bring rewrds are good 

Stage 1: Punishment and obedience orientation 
Stage 2: Instrumental purpose orientation

• Ignores intentions behind behaviour 
• Focuses on obeying rules that are enforced by punishment 

E.g. Tommy was asked as a boy (10) "Is it better to save one important person or many unimportant ones?" and he thought of the value of life in terms of how much furniture the person posses 

Children veiw actions as "right" if they satisfy their own needs 

E.g. Tommy (13) argued that if a person is in pain they are better off dead but her husband won't like it. The wifes value is instrumental to her husband 

Individuals continue to believe conformity to social rules is desirable but this is not out of self-interest. Maintaining the social system ensures positive human relationships and social order 

Stage 3: Interperonal co-operarion
Stage 4: Social orientation (Maintaining orientation) 

• A "good boy/girl" orientation 
• What is "right" is defined by what is expected by others 

E.g. Tommy (16) frames his answer more in terms of the wifes importance to the family relationship 

The shift from defining what is "right" in terms of role expectations to define what is "right" in terms of norms set by the larger social system 

E.g. Richard (13) expresses his veiw on mercy killing in terms of the right to destroy something that God created 

Individual moves beyond th unquestioning compilence with social norms. They now define morality in terms of abstract moral principles that apply to all societies and situations 

Stage 5: Social contract orientation
Stage 6: Universal ehtical principles orientation 

Laws are seen as relative and flexible. with individual rights and the interests of the majority are upheld, preserving social order but otherwise can not be changed 

E.g. Richard (20) considers the right that we all have to make our own choices in life 

Morality is defined by self-chosen abstract of principles. Laws tend to conform to principles 

If the law doesn't conform to principles, then the indiviual will act in accordance with moral principles 

• The sample is androcentric and ethnocentric (only published in USA) 
• Lots of data was obtained 
• As hypothetical senarios were used the study has low external validity 
• Social desrabiltiy bias may have been present as particiapnts may not have wanted to seem like a thief and say that Heinz should steal the medication so instead they lied and provided a different answer