The Development of Moral & Social JudgmentsThe Culture of Morality: Chapter 5

Jill Pence & Jennifer Steele

Character

General

Group

Cultural

National types/subtypes

Represented in the individual

Specific

Linked to morality

Honesty

Compassion

Courage

Responsibility

Loyalty

Conscience

Early Theories of

Morality

Freud’s

PsychoanalyticTheory

Skinner, Watson, Miller

& DollardBehaviorism

Theory

Piaget’sSocial

Development Theory

Conflict with morality in society is biological, instinctual. Aggression is natural. Society must be regulated and controlled to prevent chaos.

Moral behaviors are learned through habit and behavioral modification in society utilizing rewards, punishment, & imitation.

Development stems from reciprocal interactions and understandings of experiences.

Moral Development

Piaget

Heteronomous Morality Cognition Experience Interpretation

Mutual respect Shifts from unilateral

respect

Morality of Autonomy Purpose replaces fixed

notion

Kohlberg

What is morality?

“Child is a moral philosopher”

3 levels of moral development Preconventional Conventional Postconventional

Domains of Judgments

Conventional

Social systems

Accepted norms

Authority/Rules

Uniformity

Moral

Include welfare, justice, and rights

Harming others Physical Psychological

Include social systems, but are not legitimated by them

Impartial

Personal Choices & Freedoms

Do not inflict harm

Not regulated by conventional ways

May vary by culture and/or context

Personal needs, interest, goals Looking out for #1

Is it truly culture specific?

Real life vs Textbook

Looked at a survey of colleagues, family, and friends to compare responses of moral development against the readings

36 out of 70 responses

Most over the age of 30

All but 2 from religious background

Character

Seen by all participants as the way in which a person acts “my reputation” “ability to stand for something” “response to situations in life”

Morality

The Survey results: “how society thinks things should be—the

accepted Norm” “set of values that each person takes on at some

point in their lives…shaped by culture, religion, peers, personal identity…variable”

“principles that make things right” “socially accepted behavior”

Results seem to follow more of the behaviorist beliefs of morality—societal norms and external factors

Where is Morality Learned?

Survey results: “Everything we are exposed to” “culture, religion (or lack there of), peers,

personal identity” “authority figures—mainly parental figures” “home, church, school, but some of it we are

born with”

Can Morality only be learned in childhood?

31 “no’s” “it can shift as you grow” “life long process” “no, we are deeply influenced by our

environment. Every person we meet has a positive or negative effect on our minds and hearts and we seem to try to imitate the behavior that we most admire with the people we come in contact.”

“They can as adults, but it will take life altering consequences…”

Conclusion

What do you think?