Kohlberg's moral stages
MCAT glossary · MCAT
Definition
Preconventional (1-2: obedience, self-interest); Conventional (3-4: interpersonal accord, law/order); Postconventional (5-6: social contract, universal principles).
Kohlberg's moral stages in plain English
Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg mapped how our sense of right and wrong grows up alongside us, in three levels. At the Preconventional level (young kids), "good" just means avoiding punishment or getting a reward for yourself. At the Conventional level (most teens and adults), it means following rules and pleasing others so society runs smoothly. At the Postconventional level, a person reasons from bigger ideas, like fairness and universal human rights, and may even judge a law itself as unjust, the way civil-rights leaders did.
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