Classic study: Kohlberg (1968), The development of moral reasoning. Aim, method, results and conclusions, evaluation, and links to the developmental area and stages of moral reasoning.

What this dot point is asking

Kohlberg (1968) is the classic study in the developmental area for the theme "moral development", paired with Lee. You must know its aim, method, results and conclusions, evaluate it, and explain what it tells us about the developmental area and how moral reasoning develops.

The answer

Aim and method

Results and conclusions

Evaluation

• Longitudinal strength. Following the same boys over years tracks real developmental change rather than relying on age comparisons.
• Cross-cultural evidence. Sampling several cultures supports a claim of universality.
• Gender bias. Only boys were studied; Gilligan argued this biases the theory towards a male "justice" orientation and undervalues a female "care" orientation.
• Hypothetical dilemmas. Reasoning about imaginary dilemmas may not predict real moral behaviour.
• Subjective scoring. Coding open-ended reasoning risks researcher bias, lowering reliability.

Examples in context

Example 1. Why this study defines the developmental area. The developmental area studies how psychological processes change across the lifespan. Kohlberg shows that moral reasoning is not fixed but matures through an ordered sequence of stages as children grow, making development itself the object of study. This is why OCR uses it as the classic study on moral development.

Example 2. The contrast with Lee. Kohlberg is paired with Lee et al. (1997), who tested how children in different cultures judge lying and truth-telling. Where Kohlberg proposes a universal stage sequence using hypothetical dilemmas with boys only, Lee uses controlled scenarios with boys and girls across cultures and finds cultural differences in moral evaluation. Comparing them tests whether moral development is truly universal, the classic-contemporary comparison the exam asks for.

Try this

Q1. Name the three levels of moral reasoning Kohlberg identified. [3 marks]

• Cue. Pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional.

Q2. Explain why Kohlberg analysed reasoning rather than the decision itself. [2 marks]

• Cue. Because the stage of moral development is shown by the justification a person gives, not by which choice they make; the same choice can come from very different reasoning.

Q3. Explain one criticism of Kohlberg's sample. [2 marks]

• Cue. It was androcentric (only boys), so Gilligan argued the theory is biased towards a male justice orientation and may not generalise to females, who may favour a care orientation.