Moral Development Research

From the moral development scale scoring manual, Kohlberg’s published works, and the research of his collaborators and others, an analysis was made of the evidence supporting the hierarchy of moral values.

Abstract

From the moral development scale scoring manual, Kohlberg’s published works, and the research of his collaborators and others, an analysis was made of the evidence supporting the hierarchy of moral reasoning (from the lowest stage of blind acceptance of powerful authority to the application of abstract principles of justice and equality) and the claims put forth for the cross-cultural universality of the cognitive-developmental theory. Findings suggest that the definitions of stages and the assumptions underlying them, including the view that the scheme is universally applicable, are ethnocentric and culturally-biased. Conceptual and methodological problems of cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural research are discussed.