Has there ever been a time when you have been able to acknowledge something you or someone around you was doing something wrong? Has a moment of wanting to do the right thing swept over you? These processes involve your understanding of morals. This explanation will explore psychology theories around moral development in early childhood.
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Jetzt kostenlos anmeldenHas there ever been a time when you have been able to acknowledge something you or someone around you was doing something wrong? Has a moment of wanting to do the right thing swept over you? These processes involve your understanding of morals. This explanation will explore psychology theories around moral development in early childhood.
Morals are the personal and societal standards of right or wrong behaviour. Moral development in early childhood can heavily influence our understanding of right and wrong and our actions in adulthood. Moral development in early childhood can be defined as:
Moral development is the process of learning individual and societal beliefs surrounding right and wrong behaviour.
There are several developmental psychologists' theories about how exactly moral development occurs; we will explore some of these theories next.
Moral development is the process in which a child learns society's standards of right and wrong; this is based on laws, and unspoken rules, e.g. what is socially and culturally appropriate
It is suggested that from a young age children learn their understanding of moral, right or wrong behaviour from those around them. The reactions from authority figures caused by the child's behaviour can lead the child to think that that specific behaviour is good (if rewarded) or bad (if punished).
Morals are also learned in a social manner as they are developed through interacting and learning socially acceptable ways to treat others.
A child will learn not to take toys from a classmate if they don't like the response from others to this behaviour (they see it as a punishment). For example, being yelled at or the other child being upset and telling an adult may result in a punishment.
When older, children develop their sense of morality based on these individual experiences and their understanding of the world around them. Next, we will explore some examples of this development.
One of the early psychological theories on moral development in childhood comes from Piaget (1932), who suggested morality is a concept children build from their thoughts and action. Children were thought to show two kinds of moral thinking:
Another example of moral development in early childhood comes from Lee et al.'s (1997) evaluations of lying and truth-telling research.
In this study, Chinese and Canadian children were tested in their understanding of anti and pro-social behaviours. The 7, 9 and 11-year-olds were read scenarios and asked whether the behaviour of those in the story was right or wrong. E.g., a student tidied up in a classroom (which is good) but then lied about doing it to the teacher (which is wrong).
Results found that social and cultural norms influenced the moral judgments shown by the children. Canadian children judge lie-telling more positively and truth-telling in pro-social situations more negatively than Chinese children. Children from both cultures have moral evaluations of anti-social behaviour that were the same.
Researching different cultures is a positive evaluation of this research.
Kohlberg's (1968) Stages of moral development are based on Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Reasoning, which is the process of deciding what is just, fair and right to do in a situation; this has three main aspects:
This evolves into a stage theory. Children progress through each stage before going on to the next; in this case, most adults don't reach the final stages. In Kohlberg's stages of moral development, there are three levels, each with two stages described in the table below.
Level | Stage | Stage |
Preconventional morality. Ages up to 9 years old. Behaviour has a cause and effect. | Obedience. Only understands morals in the sense of being punished if something is wrong or bad and rewarded if it is right or good. | Instrumental. Now understand that people (not just authority figures) have their moral sense and become motivated to behave in ways that get what they want. |
Conventional morality.From 11 years old, the behaviour shows a lot of self-interest. | Interpersonal.Considering the intentions of others and behaving in ways that gain the approval of others to improve interpersonal relationships. | Social order. Understanding that it is important to obey laws and behave in socially acceptable ways. This will lead to avoiding guilt and punishment for bad behaviour. |
Post-conventional morality. Only some adults reach this level. Behaviour revolves around personal morals, not just societal laws or rules. | Social contract. Learning that the right course of action is the best option for the greatest number of people. | Universal rights. The development of personal guidelines to live by often only following laws considered just and universal principles that are abstract. |
Limitations of the stages of moral development include:
While being a morally good role model for children to observe is one way for adults to encourage socially acceptable behaviour in children, morals can be developed in other subtle ways.
Playing games (such as tag, hide and seek etc.) can help young children to understand rules and behaviour that involve playing fairly.
Morals are the personal and societal standards of right or wrong behaviour. Moral development in early childhood can heavily influence our understanding of right and wrong and our actions in adulthood.
Moral development is the process in which a child learns society's standards of right and wrong; this is based on laws, and unspoken rules, e.g. what is socially and culturally appropriate
Kohlberg's six levels of moral reasoning are:
1. Obedience.
2. Instrumental.
3. Interpersonal.
4. Social order.
5. Social contract.
6. Universal rights.
Piaget was the first psychologist to introduce two stages of moral development. Kohlberg built on his work and proposed three stages of moral development, each consisting of two levels.
Moral development is learning individual and societal beliefs surrounding right and wrong behaviour.
What is morality?
personal and societal standards of what is right or wrong behaviour.
What is moral reasoning?
Moral reasoning refers to the process of deciding what is just, fair and right to do in a situation.
Why is moral development important in early childhood?
Moral development is important because our sense of morality guides our behaviours. Moral individuals consider how their actions impact society and can act in a way that benefits instead of harming society.
How does morality develop in childhood according to Kohlberg's theory?
Kohlberg proposed that moral reasoning starts with judging behaviours from an egocentric perspective, as we develop we begin to understand the value of social contracts, while in the last stage we start to reason more flexibly, abstractly and consider multiple perspectives in our reasoning.
Outline Piaget's theory of moral development in childhood.
Piaget argued that children in the early stages of cognitive development understand morality in terms of fixed rules. They consider all actions, which are against the rules to be immoral, even if committed with good intentions or by accident.
Later, when children begin to consider the perspectives of others they start to show more flexibility in their understanding of rules and can appreciate the role of intentions.
Outline the first stage of moral reasoning proposed by Kohlberg.
Pre-conventional moral reasoning - children get their knowledge about what is "right" and "wrong" from their environment. Their reasoning is egocentric, they mainly consider what will the consequences of the action be for them.
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