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Adolescent Development lecture notes - test 2
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Toets 2Hoorcollege 5
Trolley problem 1:
There is a runaway trolley barreling down the railway tracks. Ahead there
are 5 people tied to the tracks. You are standing near a lever that will
switch the trolley to a different track where 1 person is tied.
Should you pull the lever to divert the runaway trolley onto the side
track?
Trolley problem 2:
A trolley is hurtling down a track towards five people. You are on a bridge
under which it will pass, and you can stop it by putting something very
heavy in front of it. There is a very fat man next to you – your only way to
stop
the trolley is to push him over the bridge and onto the track,
killing him to save five. Should you proceed?
A moral dilemma is a conflict in which you have to choose between two or
more actions and have moral reasons for choosing each action.
Trolley problem 1:
- Utilitarianism vs. deontological ethics (moral action regardless of
consequence)
Trolley problem 2:
- Utilitarianism vs. deontological ethics
Morality – highly potential topic for multidisciplinary scientific research
- Scientific interests in morality:
Evolutionary psychology: biological foundations of morality
Neuropsychology: the moral brain
- Societal interests in morality:
Financial crisis and the ecological crisis are moral crises
Antisocial (and prosocial) behavior in adolescents
Continuity of our society
Nature-nurture debate on moral development
- Biological/evolutionary viewpoint:
Dev. Process of maturation
Nature of the human is being ‘good’
- Cultural viewpoint:
Dev. Process of interiorization/internalization
Nature of the human is being ‘bad’
- Interactionist viewpoint:
Nature of the human is being morally neutral, neither good
nor bad
,The cultural versus the cognitive developmental approach
- The cultural approach and the cognitive developmental approach are
based on different assumptions about moral development.
Different assumptions about socialization
Cultural approach: focus on beliefs
- Relativistic: all cultural beliefs are equally valid (human rights are a
western invention)
- Development is adaptation (context-specific)
- Development is ‘caused’ by transmission of the older to the younger
generation.
- No progression, no creativity, only copying. (narrow)
- Development is gradual
Cognitive dev. Approach: focus on cognitions:
- Universalistic (human rights are and should be universal)
- Development is progressive: more mature is better.
- Development is ‘caused’ by the interaction biological pre-dispositions
and environment.
- Human creativity in individual cog dev and in the history of human
thinking.
- Development is stepwise
Limitations of the cultural approach
- Cultural approach can not explain
moral (r)evolution (e.g. the abolition of slavery)
the higher importance of parental ‘induction’ and ‘warmth’ for
moral development than ‘modelling’ or ‘reward’ and
‘punishment’
Why we care when human rights are trampled in far-away
countries like North-Korea, China, Russia, Syria, etc. etc.?
- More generally:
our society is changing very fast and transmission of values is a too
inflexible and slow process.
More development in adolescence seems crucial for self-regulation
- adolescence is a crucial period for moral development:
increase of behavioral options
decrease of adult supervision
shift in relationship orientation from parents to peers (peer pressure
as risk factor)
increase of self-determination
- moral development is viewed as:
from immature to mature moral judgement
development of a moral identity
,1. What do we mean by moral development?
Moral development is:
- development in moral judgment or moral reasoning
to reason about just or honest solutions in moral dilemmas
(interpersonal situations with conflicting claims)
- morality (refers to harm-based actions: justice, well-being)
What is moral judgment competence?
- The capacity to make reflective decisions which are moral
- Competence is measured in situations that elicit the highest stage of
moral reasoning persons are capable of
Introduction cognitive developmental approach to morality
- Cognitive developmental theories assumes that when a child is born,
it is morally neutral, but egocentric being
- Through a process of social perspective-taking (descentering)
morally relevent ‘capacities’ develop:
Moral judgment (stages of moral reasoning)
Empathy (cognitive/affective)
Moral domain distinction (moral,social and psychological)
Moral identity
- These capacities regulate behavior and have been related to anti-
social and prosocial behavior
Kohlberg: 3 levels, 5(6) stages of moral judgment (justice reasoning)
- Pre-conventional level:
Stage 1: punishment and obedience “obedience for its own
sake” – we are acting in a way to avoid punishment
Stage 2: individualism, instrumental goals, concrete
reciprocity - (an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, you
scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours)
- Conventional level:
Stage 3: reciprocal expectations and interpersonal conformity;
ideal reciprocity (golden rule fulfilling role obligations, trust,
loyalty) – starting to think about moral obligations
Stage 4: social system and conscience (wider rules of society,
obeying the rules in order to uphold the law and to avoid
guilt).
- Post-conventional level:
Stage 5: social contract and individual rights “the greatest
good for the greatest number” – exceptions (life is more
important than breaking the law and stealing) balance – we do
act from the perspective of the greatest good for the greatest
number, but sometimes there are exceptions
, Stage 6: universal ethical principles (human rights, justice,
equality – defended agains the majority) – humans live by
ethical principles (Gandhi, very few people)
Measures to asses development in moral
- Production measures (interviews):
Moral judgment interview: all 5 or 6 stages
Heinz Dilemma
- Recognition measures (questionnaires)
Moral judgement questionnare/interactive video
Heinz dilemma
Moral dilemmas: moral values that conflict with each other
3. Gender differences in moral judgment?
- Kohlberg & Kramer (1963): men scored higher than women
- Gilligan: gender-specific moral orientations:
Females: care – women score higher
Males: justice – men score higher
Recent research:
- Hypothetical dilemmas:
No sex differences
Exception, early adolescents: females > males
- Everyday moral dilemmas:
Males more justice oriented
Females more care oriented dilemmas
- "Contrary to Gilligan's claim, Kohlberg's theory does not
underestimate the moral maturity of females. Instead, justice and
caring coexist but vary in prominence between males and females,
from one situation to the next, and across cultures."
4. conditions in everyday life that stimulate moral judgment development
– Cognitive growth and moral cognitive conflict
– Role-taking opportunities
– Participation in decisions
– Moral climate at home, in school, peer group (parental style;
leadership)
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