DEVELOPMENT OF MORAL VALUES Contemporary Adolescence
Piaget Heteronomous morality: rules are seen as having a sacred, fixed quality Autonomous morality: rules are social conventions and they can change if people decide to change them
Kohlberg Level I: Preconventional reasoning—external rewards and punishments Punishment and obedience orientation Individualism and purpose orientation Level II: Conventional reasoning—conform to expectations of others Interpersonal concordance orientation Social systems orientation
Kohlberg (cont’d) Postconventional reasoning—individual’s own judgments of right and wrong Community rights and individual rights orientation Universal ethical principles orientation
Worldviews Approach Worldview: set of cultural beliefs that explain: What it means to be human How human relations should be conducted How human problems should be addressed
Worldviews Approach (cont’d) Three types of ethics based on different worldviews: Ethic of autonomy: individuals can do whatever they want as long as it doesn’t harm anybody else Ethic of community: responsibilities of roles in the family, community, and other groups are the basis of one’s moral judgment Ethic of divinity: moral views based on traditional religious authorities and religious texts; spirituality is the basis of ethics
Major factors that influence prosocial behaviors Pubertal status Perspective taking Moral reasoning Empathy Personality Family relationships Peer relationships Schooling Culture and ethnicity
Family factors on moral learning Parental acceptance and trust Communication Discipline Parental role model
Other influences on adolescent moral behavior Media—society would benefit if media would: Stop portraying only physically attractive people as desirable Depict sexually abstinent teens as well as sexually active ones Depict typical sexual relations as non-exploitive Represent the typical sexual encounter as planned rather than impulsive
Six pillars of morality Trustworthiness Respect Responsibility Fairness Caring Citizenship