Adolescent development HC 5
Contemprorary perspectives on moral development
Learning objectives
Understand the distinction between a cultural view and cognitive perspective on
moral development.
Evaluate and critique Kohlberg’s theory of moral development.
Understand contemporary perspectives and research on moral development among
adolescents.
A moral dilemma is a conflict in which you have to choose between two or more actions and
have moral reasons for choosing each action.
Morality – highly potential topic for multidisciplinairy scientific research
Scientific interests in morality
o Evolutionary psychology: biological foundations of morality (Frans de Waal).
Are babies morally good? Yes, and what happens along the way is
interesting. People can become less moral.
o Neuropsychology: the moral brain.
Societal interests in morality
o Financial crisis and the ecological crisis are moral crises.
Global warming is a moral problem (Financial gains versus preventing
global warming) put aside your own interesents for the (long term)
sake of the environment.
o Antisocial (and prosocial) behavior in adolescents.
o Continuity of our society.
We need some kind of law and order
Nature-nurture debate on moral development
Biological/evolutionary viewpoint:
o Developmental process of maturation
o Nature of the human being is ‘good’.
Cultural viewpoint:
o Developmental process of interiorization / internalization
o Nature of the human being is ‘bad’.
Potential evil has to be taken away by nurtering
Interactionist viewpoint:
o Nature of the human being is morally neutral, neither good nor bad.
Some experiences determine which way you go.
The cultural versus the cognitive developmental approach
The cultural approach and the cognitive developmental approach are based on
different assumptions about moral development.
Different assumptions about socialization
Cultural approach: focus is on beliefs and the constructuon of what are norms in
society
o Relativistic: all cultural beliefs are equally valid (human rights are a western
invention)
o Development is adaptation (context‐specific)
How you are is dependent on the context
o Development is ‘caused’ by transmission of the older to the younger
generation.
, Adolescent development HC 5
Parents pass down their values to their children.
Then the question is: how can we have change and creation?
o No progression, no creativity, only copying. (narrow)
o Development is gradual
Cognitive dev approach: focus is on cognitions
o Universalistic (human rights are and should be universal)
Moral laws and rules: agreement among alot of people about what is
important, but some just value some rules more than others.
o Development is progressive: more mature is better.
o Development is ‘caused’ by the interaction biological pre‐dispositions and
environment.
o Human creativity in individual cognitive development and in the history of
human thinking.
o Development is stepwise (jumps from one stage to the next)
Limitations of the cultural approach
Cultural approach cannot explain
o Moral (r)evolution,
e.g. the abolition of slavery (how can something that was acceptable
become something not acceptable)
o The higher importance of parental ‘induction’ and ‘warmth’ for moral
development than ‘modelling’ or ‘reward’ and ‘punishment’
o Why we care when human rights are trampled in far‐away countries like
North‐Korea, China, Russia, Syria, etc. etc.?
More generally: our society is changing very fast and transmission of values is a too
inflexible and slow process.
Moral development in adolescence seems crucial fors elf-regulation
Adolescence is a crucial period for moral development:
o Increase of behavioral options
o Decrease of adult supervision
o Shift in relationship orientation from parents to peers (i.e., peer pressure as
risk factor)
o Increase of self‐determination (individualistic)
Moral development is viewed as
o From immature to mature moral judgment
o Development of a moral identity (integrating values: do I value myself as a
moral person?)
Questions for today’s lecture:
1. What do we mean by moral development?
2. How do we measure moral development?
3. Are there gender differences in moral development?
4. What social conditions stimulate moral development?
5. Is morality culture‐specific or is there universality in morality?
6. What has primacy in moral judgment: cognition or affect?
7. Does moral development affect behavior?
8. Do adolescents care about being a moral person?
1. What do we mean by moral development?
Moral development is:
Contemprorary perspectives on moral development
Learning objectives
Understand the distinction between a cultural view and cognitive perspective on
moral development.
Evaluate and critique Kohlberg’s theory of moral development.
Understand contemporary perspectives and research on moral development among
adolescents.
A moral dilemma is a conflict in which you have to choose between two or more actions and
have moral reasons for choosing each action.
Morality – highly potential topic for multidisciplinairy scientific research
Scientific interests in morality
o Evolutionary psychology: biological foundations of morality (Frans de Waal).
Are babies morally good? Yes, and what happens along the way is
interesting. People can become less moral.
o Neuropsychology: the moral brain.
Societal interests in morality
o Financial crisis and the ecological crisis are moral crises.
Global warming is a moral problem (Financial gains versus preventing
global warming) put aside your own interesents for the (long term)
sake of the environment.
o Antisocial (and prosocial) behavior in adolescents.
o Continuity of our society.
We need some kind of law and order
Nature-nurture debate on moral development
Biological/evolutionary viewpoint:
o Developmental process of maturation
o Nature of the human being is ‘good’.
Cultural viewpoint:
o Developmental process of interiorization / internalization
o Nature of the human being is ‘bad’.
Potential evil has to be taken away by nurtering
Interactionist viewpoint:
o Nature of the human being is morally neutral, neither good nor bad.
Some experiences determine which way you go.
The cultural versus the cognitive developmental approach
The cultural approach and the cognitive developmental approach are based on
different assumptions about moral development.
Different assumptions about socialization
Cultural approach: focus is on beliefs and the constructuon of what are norms in
society
o Relativistic: all cultural beliefs are equally valid (human rights are a western
invention)
o Development is adaptation (context‐specific)
How you are is dependent on the context
o Development is ‘caused’ by transmission of the older to the younger
generation.
, Adolescent development HC 5
Parents pass down their values to their children.
Then the question is: how can we have change and creation?
o No progression, no creativity, only copying. (narrow)
o Development is gradual
Cognitive dev approach: focus is on cognitions
o Universalistic (human rights are and should be universal)
Moral laws and rules: agreement among alot of people about what is
important, but some just value some rules more than others.
o Development is progressive: more mature is better.
o Development is ‘caused’ by the interaction biological pre‐dispositions and
environment.
o Human creativity in individual cognitive development and in the history of
human thinking.
o Development is stepwise (jumps from one stage to the next)
Limitations of the cultural approach
Cultural approach cannot explain
o Moral (r)evolution,
e.g. the abolition of slavery (how can something that was acceptable
become something not acceptable)
o The higher importance of parental ‘induction’ and ‘warmth’ for moral
development than ‘modelling’ or ‘reward’ and ‘punishment’
o Why we care when human rights are trampled in far‐away countries like
North‐Korea, China, Russia, Syria, etc. etc.?
More generally: our society is changing very fast and transmission of values is a too
inflexible and slow process.
Moral development in adolescence seems crucial fors elf-regulation
Adolescence is a crucial period for moral development:
o Increase of behavioral options
o Decrease of adult supervision
o Shift in relationship orientation from parents to peers (i.e., peer pressure as
risk factor)
o Increase of self‐determination (individualistic)
Moral development is viewed as
o From immature to mature moral judgment
o Development of a moral identity (integrating values: do I value myself as a
moral person?)
Questions for today’s lecture:
1. What do we mean by moral development?
2. How do we measure moral development?
3. Are there gender differences in moral development?
4. What social conditions stimulate moral development?
5. Is morality culture‐specific or is there universality in morality?
6. What has primacy in moral judgment: cognition or affect?
7. Does moral development affect behavior?
8. Do adolescents care about being a moral person?
1. What do we mean by moral development?
Moral development is:
