Every society depends upon the presence of people who have a sense of morality and conscience where morality involves a strong social component for what is considered right or wrong. Without morality, a society crumbles. This makes it imperative for any society to understand how moral behavior is shaped and formed. The purpose of the proposed study is to examine for a relationship between moral behavior and moral thought by testing two explanative theories of this relationship.
One theory holds that there is a linear connection between the two variables such that as moral thinking matures, moral behavior increases. A second theory holds that there is a curvilinear relationship between moral behavior and moral thought. Both of these theories are delineated and discussed in the review of the literature presented in the next section of the proposal.
Although several theories have been formulated for cognitive development in the area of moral reasoning, one of the most accepted views of the development of moral reasoning has been offered by Lawerence Kohlberg (1958, 1981, 1984). Kohlberg postulates that from the ages of 4 to 13, children develop moral reasoning in four distinct stages. These stages can be delineated as follows:
(1) Stage 1: Orientation to Punishment and Obedience. At this stage children obey the rules of others to avoid punishment with the predominate question a child asks him- or herself being: "What will happen to me if I do not obey?" Children whose moral reasoning is at Stage 1 ignore the motives of an act and focus on its physical form only (e.g. the "size" of a lie), or on its consequences such as the amount of physical damage that might occur to the child (in the form of parental punishment) as a result of the lie.
(2) Stage 2: Instrumental Purpose and Exchange. This stage of moral thought development can be characterized by a "You-scratch-my-back-and-I'll scratch-yours" philosophy. Childre...