Correct Answer - Option 1 : three
Lawrence Kohlberg, an American psychologist, has propounded the 'Theory of Moral Development'.
- He has made a systematic study of moral development in his theory that is categorized in 3 levels and 6 stages.
- He has studied moral development by posing moral dilemmas to groups of children as well as adolescents and adults.
The three level of Moral Development includes:
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Preconventional Level:
- At this level the child is not responsive to cultural rules and labels of good and bad, right or wrong but interprets these labels in terms of physical or hedonistic consequences of actions or in terms of physical powers of those who communicate the rules and labels.
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Conventional level:
- At this level maintaining the expectations of the individual, family, group or nation is perceived us of value in its own right regardless of the immediate and obvious consequences.
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Postconventional Level:
- At this level there is a clear effort to define moral values and principles that have validity and application apart from the authority of the groups or persons.
Refer to the table to be familiar with all the stages of Kohlberg's theory.
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Level 1:
Pre-conventional Morality
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Stage 1: The Obedience & Punishment Orientation - behaviour driven by avoiding punishment
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Stage 2: Naive Hedonistic and Instrumental Orientation - behaviour driven by self-interest and rewards
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Level 2:
Conventional Morality
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Stage 3: Good Boy - Good Girl Orientation - behaviour driven by social approval
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Stage 4: The Law & Order Orientation: behaviour driven by obeying authority and conforming to social order
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Level:
Post-conventional Morality
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Stage 5: The Social Contract Orientation: behaviour driven by a balance of social order and individual rights
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Stage 6: The Universal Ethical Principle Orientation: behaviour driven by internal moral principle.
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Thus, from above-mentioned points, it is clear that Kohlberg's idea of moral development has three levels.
