The cognitive developmental theory suggests that moral development is related to rational reasoning. According to Jean Piaget, the development of morality involves a systematic progression through a sequence of phases, each characterised by a particular quality of thought (Jean Piaget 1932, 1965).
Lawrence Kohlberg developed on Jean Piaget's work in cognition. Colby and Kohlberg (1987), in a longitudinal study, interviewed 52 participants from a boy’s school every 3-4 years for 35 years. In the interviews, Kohlberg presented the participants with moral dilemmas, recording their approaches for resolving the dilemmas. For example, in his Heinz dilemma, a man named Heinz has a terminally ill wife who can only be cured by a drug that was developed by a pharmacist who paid $200 to produce it. The pharmacist, however, charges $2000 for the drug but Heinz has only $1000. When the pharmacist refused to sell the drug cheaper for Heinz’s wife, Heinz breaks into the pharmacy and steals the drug.
Kohlberg asked the
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In the pre-convention level, young children define the meaning of what is right and wrong in terms of the subjective feeling of the self. What is right is what avoids punishment and receives rewards (Miller, 1987). In this level of moral development, egoism governs since there is no higher obligation. The second level, Conventional, proposed that the idea of obligation is equal to the rules and regulations of society. Those rules and principles that correspond to a given society, a state, or authority figures such as parents are what is considered acceptable and right. As such, conventionality and consensus govern moral development. In the post-conventional level, moral behaviour and actions are formed by the individual conscience. What is right is defined in universal standards and transcends cultural values and social