Developmental Psychology: Cognitive development · Development of the self · Emotional development · Language development · Moral development · Perceptual development · Personality development · Psychosocial development · Social development · Developmental measures
To understand adult morality, Piaget believed that it was necessary to study both how morality manifests in the child’s world as well as the factors that contribute to the emergence of central moral concepts such as welfare, justice, and rights. Interviewing children using the Clinical Interview Method, Piaget [1965] found that young children were focused on authority mandates, and that with age children become autonomous, evaluating actions from a set of independent principles of morality.
He developed two phases of moral development, one common among children and the other common among adults:
Contents
- 1 Heteronomous phase
- 2 Autonomous phase
- 3 See also
- 4 References
Heteronomous phase
The first is the Heteronomous Phase.[1] This phase, more common among children, is characterized by the idea that rules come from authority figures in one's life such as parents, teachers, and God.[1] It also involves the idea that rules are permanent no matter what.[1] Thirdly, this phase of moral development includes the belief that "naughty" behavior must always be punished and that the punishment will be proportional.[1]. This absolutism in moral development is seen in childs play from the age of 5, where they exhibit a blind belief in the rules and ideas of right and wrong passed to them by their elders.
According to Piaget’s theory, there are three broad stages of moral development. In the first, the child is still mastering motor and social skills and unconcerned with morality. In the second, the child exhibits unconditional respect for rules and submission to authority. In the last stage, the child recognizes that rules are arbitrary and can be changed with group consensus; the intentions of an actor [rather than just the consequences of the action] should be considered in judging the morality of an act.
Description
Overshadowed by both his own theory of cognitive development as well as the more elaborate moral development theory of Lawrence Kohlberg [1927–1987], Jean Piaget’s theory of moral development has both inspired empirical research and attracted scholarly attention in its own right. While Piaget [1896–1980] spent much of his career refining his theory of cognitive development and...
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Bandura, A., & McDonald, F. J. [1963]. Influence of social reinforcement and the behavior of models in shaping children’s moral judgments. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67, 274–281. Google Scholar Boehm, L. [1963]. The development of conscience of preschool children: A cultural and subcultural comparison. Journal of Social Psychology, 59[2], 355–360. Google Scholar Cody, H., & Sawyer, D. [1987]. Moral judgment, sex, and level of temptation as determinants of resistance to temptation. Journal of Psychology, 120[2], 177–181. Google Scholar Cowan, P., Longer, J., Heavenrich, J., & Nathanson, M. [1969]. Social learning and Piaget’s cognitive theory of moral development. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 11[3], 261–274. PubMed Google Scholar Durkin, D. [1959]. Children’s concepts of justice: A comparison with the Piaget data. Child Development, 30, 59–67. PubMed Google Scholar Gabennesch, H. [1990]. The perception of social conventionality by children and adults. Child Development, 61, 2047–2059. Google Scholar Harrower, M. R. [1935]. Social status and moral development. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 1, 75–95. Google Scholar References
Johnson, R. [1962]. Early studies of children’s moral judgments. Child Development, 33[3], 603–605.
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MacRae, D. [1954]. A test of Piaget’s theories of moral development. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 49[1], 14–18.
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Piaget, J. [1965]. The moral judgment of the child. New York: The Free Press. [Original work published 1932]
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Sherwood, J. [1966]. Authoritarianism and moral realism. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 22[1], 17–21.
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Wendorf, C. A. [2001]. History of American morality research, 1894–1932. History of Psychology, 4[3], 272–288.
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New York City Department of Education, 52 Chambers Street, room 309, New York, NY, 10007, USA
Daniel Patanella
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Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology MS 2C6, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA
Jack A. Naglieri Ph.D.
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Patanella, D. [2011]. Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development. In: Goldstein, S., Naglieri, J.A. [eds] Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development. Springer, Boston, MA. //doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79061-9_2167