Moral Development
Moral development deals with how individuals react to moral problems, as seen through behaviors and feelings. It is broken down into three main areas, which are moral reasoning, moral behavior, and moral emotions.
Moral Reasoning deals with why people decide that a behavior, whether enacted or not, is right or wrong, and how people come to that conclusion.
Jean Piaget developed his Theory of Moral Development.
Moral development deals with how individuals react to moral problems, as seen through behaviors and feelings. It is broken down into three main areas, which are moral reasoning, moral behavior, and moral emotions.
Moral Reasoning deals with why people decide that a behavior, whether enacted or not, is right or wrong, and how people come to that conclusion.
Jean Piaget developed his Theory of Moral Development.
- Piaget believed that rule-based games are a small model of society, and the way players interact with decisions speak to their moral belief.
- He found that when playing a rule-based game, younger children view the rules as absolute, or handed down by an authority that cannot be argued with. Older children, however, view the rules as malleable, and value group decisions above pre-standing regulations.
- Piaget viewed moral development in two stages, heteronomous and autonomous reasoning.
This table shows a comparison of Piaget's stages of moral development.
Lawrence Kohlberg developed his Theory of Moral Development.
- Kohlberg sought to examine moral development after age 10, across the whole lifespan.
- His stages are continuous, as everyone begins at the first stage and follows through to each one following. No stage can be skipped, and each one builds upon the acquired development from the previous stage.
- Kohlberg utilized moral dilemmas to demonstrate his theory, pitting human life against authority. He was not worried about the outcome of the decision, but rather how the decision was reached and on what basis.
Elliot Turiel developed his Social Domain Theory.
Moral Behavior deals with the action an individual takes when confronted with a moral dilemma.
Reinforcement
Modeling
Moral Emotions are what prompts us to act morally, based on an internal value of right or wrong.
- This theory focuses on the difference between social-conventional rules and moral rules.
- Social-conventional rules are rules because someone in authority made them so. These rules are only effective when the authority that set them into place is present.
- Moral rules are broader, and not dependent on authority. These rules are implicated regardless of setting, and have to do with issues such as harm, justice, and general well-being.
Moral Behavior deals with the action an individual takes when confronted with a moral dilemma.
- Moral behavior is dependent on two factors, reinforcement and modeling.
Reinforcement
- A behavior is classified as moral if it is rewarded or praised, whereas an immoral behavior is punished.
- Desired behavior is reinforced through verbal and tangible rewards. Consistency is key to enact a desired behavior
Modeling
- Moral behavior is most easily learned through watching others behave morally.
- For a temptation-resisting model to be effective, it must first express that the rule is being followed, and then give a logical reason for following the rule.
Moral Emotions are what prompts us to act morally, based on an internal value of right or wrong.
- Negative moral emotions are best seen through shame and guilt. Shame focuses on regret for the person who performed an undesired action. It places the blame on the actor for the behavior, instead of the negative action that occurred. Guilt expresses remorse for the negative action, but sheds more of a reflective light on what took place instead of self-deprecation.
- Positive moral emotions are best seen through pride and gratitude. Pride places emphasis on the person who performed the positive behavior, which shows progress towards a personal standard. Gratitude, however, focuses on an outsider's positive behavior, and induces thankfulness. Gratitude also leads to modeling, because witnessing another person perform a positive behavior induces personal positive behavior in the future.
Personally >
I was raised with a heavy emphasis on shame, as my parents believed that my actions were a direct indicator of my soul. Given this upbringing, I constantly make an effort to focus on the negativity of an action, which denotes guilt, instead of placing all of the blame on myself for making a mistake or a wrong decision.
In the Future >
Moral development is important for future educators to study, because an educational environment plays heavily in a student's development of what's right and what's wrong. Every day, there is room for discipline in the classroom, based on un-desirable actions and behaviors. The way in which a teacher reacts to these behaviors will shape a students moral compass and influence behavior in the future.
I was raised with a heavy emphasis on shame, as my parents believed that my actions were a direct indicator of my soul. Given this upbringing, I constantly make an effort to focus on the negativity of an action, which denotes guilt, instead of placing all of the blame on myself for making a mistake or a wrong decision.
In the Future >
Moral development is important for future educators to study, because an educational environment plays heavily in a student's development of what's right and what's wrong. Every day, there is room for discipline in the classroom, based on un-desirable actions and behaviors. The way in which a teacher reacts to these behaviors will shape a students moral compass and influence behavior in the future.
