Psychology of Altruism and Morality :: essays papers

Psychology of Altruism and MoralityThe two competing theoretical frameworks that campaign to explain the development of morality are cognitive-behavioral and cognitive-developmental. The cognitive-behavioral orgasm is taken by Liebert, and the cognitive-developmental approach is taken by Kohlberg. Both sides have strong arguments that entertain their own theories and try to tear apart the opposing theory.The cognitive-developmental approach has been analyze extensively by LawrenceKohlberg. Through his studies using moral dilemmas, Kohlberg developed his sise storys ofmoral development. In these stages, Kohlberg concentrates on the reasons why people act the counselling they do not the way they think about their follow throughs or what action they take, but the reasoning behind their actions.The six stages that Kohlberg defines are grouped into tether levels, with two levels at each stage. They are grouped as follows aim 1 - Preconventional / Pre Moral* arrange 1 Punishmen t & Obedience - Actions that are punished are wrong.*Stage 2 Instrumental Relativist Orientation - sharpen is on the self. How will my actions reward me? Level 2 - Conventional*Stage 3 People at stage three begin to nurture the respect of the opinion and values of other.*Stage 4 Law and raise - Appreciation for rules, laws, and regulations of society. Level 3 - Post Conventional*Stage 5 Social Contrast Legalistic Orientation*Stage 6 Universal respectable PrincipleThese stages are important to Kohlbergs four most command beliefs. One of Kohlbergs first assertions is that people advance through these stages in an invariant sequence. Advancement through these stages occurs in order from 1 - 6, with no stages skipped, and there is no regression. Kohlbergs second assertion is that people cannot turn over reasoning more than one stage ahead of their current stage. Kohlberg also believes that people are attracted to higher stage reasoning because it is more adequate, and finally, stage movement is motivated by cognitive disequilibrium. The cognitive-developmental approach is supported by research done by Kohlberg and other researchers who have attempted to reprize Kohlbergs findings. One determine conducted by John Snarey and Joseph Reimer attempted to screen the cultural universality of Kohlbergs stages. The study, conducted in Turkey, was a longitudinal study using ninety-two kibbutz-born Israelis. The results were consistent with Kohlbergs studies done in both the United States and Turkey, making the cultural universality argument stronger.Contradicting the cognitive-developmental approach is the cognitive-