Kohlberg’s Moral Stage Theory

The purpose of this essay is to reconceptualize Kohlberg’s theory and research on moral stages in the light of recent criticisms. In the early 1970s, Kohlberg extended his Piaget-based moral stages to apply to the philosophically oriented moral thinking associated with the adult years. This extension of his highest stages from the moral reasoning of 16-year-olds to the theory-defining perspective shown by some adults (mostly in the United States) has granted considerable ground for criticisms of the theory as elitist, ethnocentric, and excessively abstract. These criticisms underscore the need to reconsider the appropriateness of extending the Piagetian stage model to the adult years. The proposed revision describes moral development in adulthood as existential rather than Piagetian, and restricts moral judgment development in the standard stage sense to childhood and adolescence.