What Is Meant by Moral Development?
Mostly everyone in society develops some sort of ethical outlook on life; how does this development of morality occur? Philosophers have debated and speculated over this question for literally thousands of years, but modern-day sociologists and psychologists seem to be providing the answers.
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Definition
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As an individual grows, she is exposed to a variety of other people, experiences and ideas. These different entities will have an effect on how the individual views the notions of "good" and "bad." The development of the individual's conception of what is "good" and what is "bad" is referred to as moral development.
Freud and the Superego
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Perhaps the most famous psychologist to truly tackle the idea of moral development was Sigmund Freud. In the early 1920s, he suggested that we possess an innate subconscious structure called the "superego" which is molded by society (primarily parents) and then somehow tells us how we should act.
Think of it as an angel on your shoulder, whispering in your ear when you have to make a decision.
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Piaget and Cognitive Development
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In the 1930s, Swiss epistemologist and psychologist Jean Piaget stated his theory of cognitive development, stating that children may not be bound strictly to parental "voice inside their heads," but instead develop ideas about ethics and morality through interaction with their peers.
Kohlberg and Stages of Development
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Lawrence Kohlberg, in the late 50s, theorized that there are six distinct stages of conceiving good and bad. The first and most basic stage is punishment avoidance: conceiving an action as bad only if it results in punishment. The final stage, on the other hand, is that of "universal ethical principles." In this stage, the individual is given agency to decide which laws are useful, and which should be ignored or changed (civil disobedience).
Problems
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People are very different, and it is very difficult to pin down exactly how an individual develops morality. In Kohlberg's stages, for instance, some people never outgrow the first stages of moral development. Autistic children typically do not learn at all through social interaction, which undermines Piaget's theories. As for the superego, there is no empirical evidence that it exists.
Future
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Freud, Piaget, and Kohlberg are only three of the most famous psychologists to concern themselves with morality; despite issues with each of their theories, they all seem to hold some merit. Many contemporary neurologists, biologists, psychologists, sociologists and theorists continue to grapple with the question of moral development, in an effort to better understand how we conceive of good and bad.
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