Lawrence Kohlberg
American developmental psychologist known for stages of moral reasoning
Developmental psychologist who proposed six stages of moral reasoning in three levels. He assessed them through dilemma interviews such as the Heinz dilemma and later worked on democratic school communities.
Why this person matters
Kohlberg extended Jean Piaget's work on children's moral judgement and made moral reasoning a major research topic. His theory drew strong criticism, notably from his Harvard colleague Carol Gilligan, and later work on intuition and culture continues to challenge it.
Main contributions
Stages of moral development
His 1958 Chicago dissertation outlined six stages grouped into preconventional, conventional and postconventional levels. It drew on interviews with 72 white boys aged 7 to 16, and he described the stages as a developmental sequence.
Moral Judgment Interview
Participants responded to hypothetical dilemmas such as the Heinz dilemma, in which a husband considers stealing an overpriced drug to save his dying wife. Scorers rated the reasoning behind answers, not the answers themselves. The Standard Issue Scoring System was later created to improve reliability.
Just community schools
He led moral education programmes in a Connecticut prison and a Cambridge, Massachusetts, high school. From 1974 he helped set up school programmes in which students and teachers each had one vote on school policy.
Context and limits
Gilligan argued that his theory was male-oriented and that care-based judgements are a different orientation, not a lower stage. Kohlberg agreed that a care orientation exists but rejected the claim that women score lower, citing studies that found no gender difference. Critics also note weak links between moral reasoning and moral behaviour, and research on quick intuitions challenges the central role he gave to reasoning. Whether the stages are universal across cultures remains debated.
In your introductory course
Lifespan development.Kohlberg appears in lifespan development, in the moral development section following Piaget. Students learn the three levels and the criticisms from Gilligan and from cultural comparison.
Related course reading: Psychology 2e, section 9.2. This is course context rather than a biographical source.
Years of active work
- 1958
Completed his University of Chicago PhD, with a dissertation outlining his theory of moral development.
- 1962
Returned to the University of Chicago as an assistant, then associate, professor.
- 1968
Became professor of education and social psychology at Harvard.
- 1974
Began just community school work.
Sources
- New World Encyclopedia, Lawrence KohlbergReference work. Reference article inspected.
- SAGE Encyclopedia of Law and Society, Kohlberg, Lawrence (1927-1987), previewPublisher. Reference article inspected.
- Wikipedia, Lawrence KohlbergReference work. Reference article inspected.