Correct Answer - Option 4 : None of the above
Piaget and Kohlberg have given the theory of moral development.
Kohlberg elements of moral development:-
- Pre-conventional morality:- Obedience and mutual advantage
- Conventional morality-Conformity to peers and society
- Post- conventional morality- Social contract and universal principles.
Piaget’s (1935/1965) views the child enters a new stage of moral development when he enters the stage of concrete operations at age 6 or 7. He called it heteronomous morality or moral realism (heteronomous means under an outside authority). In this stage, rules are regarded as unchangeable, absolute, and imposed by an external authority.
The egocentrism of young children encourages them to adhere to three beliefs:
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Imminent justice: wrongdoing invariably leads to punishment.
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Objective Consequences: the morality of an act is judged by its objective consequences, not the objective intentions of the persons.
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Absolutism: Young school children believe in the absolutism of moral perspective. They believe that there is only one correct moral conclusion per circumstance.
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Stage of autonomous morality or morality of cooperation (individualized ): A new stage is achieved around the age of 10. As children become less egocentric by age 9 or 10, they are also able to realize that rules are not fixed but arbitrary. They come to know that rules can change and it is possible to make personal decisions about obeying rules.
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The moral authority of adults is replaced in part by a morality based on cooperation and mutual understanding: At this stage, it is not wrong to break the rules; rather, the motives, the rules, the specific situations are all considered in making a judgment. They feel praise and punishment should be distributed in a non-arbitrary, evenhanded way. It is hard for children at this stage to understand that the same behavior might evoke different responses from different people.
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The stage of heteronomous morality is also known as moral realism – morality imposed from the outside. Children regard morality as obeying other people's rules and laws, which cannot be changed. They accept that all rules are made by some authority figure (e.g. parents, teachers, God), and that breaking the rules will lead to immediate and severe punishment (immanent justice).
Hence, we can conclude that stage of heteronomous morality and the stage of individualism morality is part of Piaget's stage of moral development.
