 Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principles  Accept that the quest for social justice can force you to break with conventional rules.  AND ALSO with democratic processes o Social justice as a whole should be set in place and those that break it go through the judicial system.  Hardly anyone reaches stage 6 aside from those that have gone above and beyond to do good (i.e. Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Gandhi, etc.)  Moral courage: is a sign of being high in Kohlberg’s stages.  Gilligan’s Ethic of Caring: o Females put priority on fulfilling obligations to others, which guides their decision-making. o Emphasizes care as opposed to justice. o Gilligan said Kohlberg’s justice reasoning applies to males more than females.  Proven wrong! They reason similarly and most think about both justice and caring.  Prosocial lying: “polite” lying o Asians believe we can lie to an individual to protect a group o Americans believe that we can lie to a group to protect an individual  Covell/Howe: morals in school o Made a curriculum to teach grade 8s their rights and responsibilities o After 6 months, assessed on self esteem, acceptance of others, understanding of rights o They showed a higher self-esteem, perceived others as supportive, and a higher respect for others. Colby, Kohlberg et al., (1983) Longitudinal Study

 60 children are used from the times they are 10 years old until they are 34 years old.  Examined the proportion of each stage at each age.  Most teenagers are in stage 3.  The point is that we move from one stage to the other through invariant order . Walking et al., (1987) Cross-sectional Study  Grade 1, grade 4, grade 7, and grade 10 children.  There were a lot of individual differences  No parents were at the post-conventional stage! o Won’t generate discussions that make you post-conventional. More Research  Sequence of stages: o No skipping of stages o Regression very rare  Cross-Cultural evidence: o 27+ cultures support sequence (Snarey, 1985) o BUT cultural differences in highest stage achieved and most common reasoning type  E.g., Miller & Bersoff (1992):  Dilemma of whether he should steal the rain tickets to make it for his friend’s wedding.  Indian Grade 3 : steal the ticket to fulfill the wedding  American Grade 3 : Mo, don’t steal it!  People from the Indian cultures are more of a community- based society where the social norm is stage 3 rather than stage 4. They are no as individualistic as Americans. How Does Moral Reasoning Develop?  Cognitive milestones o Need concrete operations to use conventional reasoning  Theory of Mind o Need formal operations to use post-conventional reasoning  Abstract thought  Social environment o Need opportunities to discuss moral issues o Disequilibrium  Equilibration o Example: If I was in stage 2 and I was talking about something (i.e. kicking someone in the foot for not paying your taxes) and then I become questioned