Recently, experimental economists have become increasingly interested in behaviors relating to morality, and one of the main tools for examining these issues has been game theory. Even though developmental psychologists have investigated similar topics for decades, this research has found little resonance. Similarly, economists have only recently…

Subjects who previously participated in a study of stage transition in moral judgment were reinterviewed after a period of 1 1/2 to 2 years. The hypothesis that the conflicts and contradictions evident on the first testing would be resolved through structural reorganization was confirmed. (Author/JMB)

Kohlberg's claim that moral development proceeds through an invariant sequence of stages was experimentally examined by attempting to induce regression and stage skipping in fifth- through seventh-grade children. Results supported Kohlberg's claim but also indicated that situations two stages above development were effective in inducing…

It is argued in this article that the need to find something certain to which to devote oneself is strongest among youth who are in a state of identity diffusion, and that the search for certainty in such a state is frequently for the genuine, the pure, and the enduring. (Author)

Outlines relationship between crises that create stress in one's life and periods of instability in moral development. Suggests that stressful issues are more difficult to resolve during periods of developmental instability and that, when problems are most stressful, people often experience impact of stress physiologically. Reconstructs stress and…

Research in moral development from a cognitive-developmental model has been greatly influenced by the Piagetian stage theory of Lawrence Kohlberg. Based on the assumption of inherent cognitive development of internal structures, Kohlberg's theory maintains that the stages are universal across cultures and persons. As a primarily organismic theory,…

Family theorists have considered the idea of boundary in terms of the concepts of disengagement and enmeshment. Disengaged families are those having rigid, well-delineated boundaries that are often impermeable. Alternately, enmeshed families have diffuse ego boundaries, acting as if all are part of each other, and are likely to produce an…

Conceptual and empirical evidence generally tends to support the assumption that self-actualization is related to moral maturity, in particular to transitional or post-conventional moral reasoning. Because the evidence is largely correlational, the precise nature of the relationship has yet to be clearly determined. (RM)

The theoretical relations between regression and progression in developmental stage theories are discussed. A detailed analysis of stage transition in adolescent moral judgments is presented. (ST)

Investigates the relationships among the first three stages of cognitive, role-taking, and moral development in both transitional and nontransitional subjects ages 5 to 14 years in order to determine whether the pattern of associations conformed more adequately to the "functional unity" model or to the "necessary but not…

Focuses on assessing the effects of conflicting discussions within undergraduate dyads consisting of partners at the same or different levels of moral judgment. The experimental procedure consisted of: (1) an Opinion Questionnaire; (2) pretest Kohlberg interviews; (3) assignment to experimental and control conditions; (4) experimental discussion…

Provides an alternative conception of postconventional moral development which fits existing data on late adolescent and adult moral judgment better than Kohlberg's higher stage descriptions. Data is from a longitudinal study of 26 undergraduates at Harvard. (Author/SS)

Kohlberg's developmental theory of moral reasoning postulates a supreme form of moral thinking, Stage Six, based on a principle of justice which provides consistent and universalizable moral judgement. This paper criticizes Kohlberg's formulation on philosophical and psychological grounds. (Author/SJL)

Evaluates the differing perspectives of Kohlberg and Turiel on moral reasoning. Both perspectives use stage displacement models to depict moral development and assume that as ontogenesis proceeds, the role played by earleir acquired moral stages becomes increasingly insignificant in comparison with the role played by more advanced stages. The…

Articulates Kohlberg's position that moral understanding and moral reasoning provide motivation for moral action, contrasting it with traditional conceptions of motivation. (Author/BB)