What is an example of Postconventional moral development?
|
The United States Constitution, based on a socially agreed standard of individual rights, is an example of
post-conventional morality. Those who function at this moral level believe that their views of right and wrong may not correspond with those of other societies. The concept of moral development and its different levels were first laid out by the psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg in the late 1950s and developed further during his lifetime. According to Kohlberg, the concept of morality is not something imposed by adults on children, nor is it based only on the need to avoid
mental stress like anxiety or guilt. Instead, he believed that people developed their own moral standards based on social relationships and emotions and progressed from one stage of moral reasoning to another. Kohlberg divided these six stages into three separate levels. 1. The pre-conventional level Children at this level base their morals solely on their own needs and perceptions. The two stages in this level are:
2. The conventional level Children, or adults, at this level take society’s expectations and laws into consideration when making a decision about a moral dilemma. The two stages in this level are:
3. The post-conventional level Those at this level base their decisions on more abstract principles that may not be defined by their particular society’s laws.
MORE FROM REFERENCE.COM Learn about this topic in these articles:childhood emotional and social development
Lawrence Kohlberg and the Six Levels of Moral JudgmentSnippet 1Traditionally, psychology has avoided studying anything that is loaded with value judgments. There is a degree of difficulty involved in trying to be unbiased about things that involve terms like "good" and "bad!" So, one of the most significant aspects of human life—morality—has had to wait quite a while before anyone in psychology dared to touch it! But Lawrence Kohlberg wanted to study morality, and did so using a most interesting (if controversial) technique. Basically, he would ask children and adults to try to solve moral dilemmas contained in little stories, and to do so outloud so he could follow their reasoning. It wasn't the specific answers to the dilemmas that interested him, but rather how the person got to his or her answer. Heinz's Dilemma One of the most famous of these stories concerned a man named Heinz. His wife was dying of a disease that could be cured if he could get a certain medicine. When he asked the pharmacist, he was told that he could get the medicine, but only at a very high price—one that Heinz could not possibly afford. So the next evening, Heinz broke into the pharmacy and stole the drug to save his wife's life. Was Heinz right or wrong to steal the drug? (Source: The above passages of both Kohlberg's work and the Heinz dilemma were taken from Dr. C. George Boeree's terriffic web site.) Snippet 2The psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987) didn't think moral behavior should be thought of as a grab bag of virtues, e.g. that being a moral person meant you were honest, upright, and direct, or it could also mean you were hard-working, generous, and fair. Instead, Kohlberg focused on different stages or levels of moral judgment and pinned each level to a particular way of morally evaluating behavior. Based on a series of interviews, Kohlberg developed six distinct levels of moral judgment or reasoning.
Snippet 3This video will give you some good visual images to clarify the various stages or levels in Kohlberg's theory. But the real treat is watching a clip from the movie Edward Scissorhands. In the film, Johnny Depp, as the title character, puzzles over a moral dilemma posed for him by the great character actor Alan Arkin. Arkin tries to make Edward solve a moral dilemma using his head. But all Edward can do is respond with his heart. In short, Arkin talks Kohlberg while Depp speaks Carol Gilligan. Gilligan was Kohlberg's research assistant, and she criticized him for emphasizing what she considered a male-biased view of morality, one that emphasized rules and principles rather than relationships (More about her in another snippet). The other images in the video will be useful to help you remember the stages in Kohlberg's theory. But in any case, Depp pondering morality in a goofy-looking wig and white pancake make-up is not to be missed. Last change made to this page, April 11, 2011 What is an example of Postconventional moral reasoning?For example, an individual might believe that healthcare is a basic human right based on their own moral code, even if that is not codified in their country's laws or social conventions.
What is Postconventional level of moral development?At the postconventional level, the individual moves beyond the perspective of his or her own society. Morality is defined in terms of abstract principles and values that apply to all situations and societies. The individual attempts to take the perspective of all individuals.
What does Postconventional morality mean?Definition. Postconventional morality, a concept developed largely by psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg, identifies the ethical reasoning of moral actors who make decisions based on rights, values, duties, or principles that are (or could be) universalizable.
What is the characteristics of Postconventional?in Kohlberg's theory of moral development, the third and highest level of moral reasoning, characterized by an individual's commitment to moral principles sustained independently of any identification with family, group, or country.
|
