Jean Piaget’s theory of moral development.

A way of classifying the stages through which one passes in the development of morality.

Human beings live in society, interacting continuously with their peers, and their actions have consequences on others. In this context, a whole code has been elaborated, not only normative but also moral, based on shared beliefs about what is or is not acceptable or the values we follow.

Although we are immersed in it from the moment we are born, the truth is that morality does not arise spontaneously but develops little by little throughout our evolution and maturation. This is of enormous scientific interest, and there are many authors who have explored and developed theories on how morality appears in human beings. Among them we can find Jean Piaget's theory of moral developmentwhich we are going to talk about in the course of this article.

Piaget and mental development

Jean Piaget is one of the most recognized authors in the study of child development. study of the infantile developmentbeing one of the fathers of developmental psychology.

One of his most important contributions is his theory of cognitive development, in which the child goes through different stages of development (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations and formal operations) in which he reconfigures his own cognition as he organizes or assimilates the information, as well as acquiring different mental faculties and abilities and his thinking becomes increasingly complex.

But although Piaget focused on the development of mental faculties and thinking/reasoning, he also valued and generated a theory of moral development.

Piaget's theory of moral development

Piaget's theory of moral development is deeply linked to his theory of cognitive development. Morality is valued as a set of rules that the child is capable of obeying and understanding to a greater or lesser extent, generally linked to the idea of justice. to a greater or lesser extent, generally linked to the idea of justice.

The author considers that in order to be able to speak of morality it will be necessary to acquire a level of development equivalent to two years of age, equivalent to the pre-operational period (previously it is considered that there is not enough mental capacity to speak of something similar to morality).

From that point on, the human being will develop an increasingly complex morality as his cognitive capacity becomes older and with the capacity for abstract and hypothetical-deductive thinking. Thus, the evolution of morality depends on the evolution of one's cognitive abilities: in order to advance, it is necessary to reorganize and add information to previously existing schemas. reorganizing and adding information to the previously existing schemes, in such a way that one can develop a deeper and deeper knowledge and at the same time criticalIn order to advance, it is necessary to reorganize and add information to the previously existing schemes, so as to develop a deeper and deeper knowledge and at the same time a critical consideration of the merits of a given behavior.

In addition, interaction with peers will be necessary, as the main mechanism for acquiring information and leaving aside the egocentrism of the early stages of life. Finally, it is essential that, little by little and as the capacities and hypothetical-deductive thinking are acquired and mastered, a progressive distancing and independence from the parents and their point of view takes place, being this necessary for the development of a certain relativism and critical capacity of their own.

Although Piaget's theory of moral development is not currently the best considered, it is true that his studies served as inspiration and even as a basis for the development of many others. This includes Kohlberg's theoryprobably one of the best known.

Stages of moral development according to Piaget

In Piaget's theory of moral development, the author proposes the existence of a total of three phases or stages (although it is the last two that would be properly moral), which the child goes through as he/she acquires and integrates more and more information and cognitive skills. The three stages or stages proposed are as follows.

1. Premoral or adult pressure stage.

In this first stage, which corresponds to a level of development equivalent to that of a child between two and six years of age, language emerges and they begin to be able to identify their own intentions, although there is no understanding of the concept of morality or rules.The child does not have an understanding of the concept of morality or norms.

Patterns of behavior and limitations on behavior depend entirely on external imposition by family or authority figures, but the moral rule or norm is not conceived as relevant per se.

2. Solidarity among equals and moral realism

The second stage of moral development occurs between the ages of five and ten, with rules appearing as something coming from the outside but understood as relevant and of obligatory compliance, being something inflexible.

The breaking of the rule is seen as something entirely punishable and seen as a fault. and seen as a fault, thus being frowned upon. The idea of justice and honesty arises, as well as the need for mutual respect among equals.

Lying is frowned upon, and punishment for dissidence is accepted without taking into account possible mitigating variables or intentions, what is relevant is the consequences of the behavior..

Over time, rules are no longer seen as something imposed by others but are still relevant per se without the need for external motivation.

3. Autonomous morality or moral relativism

This stage arises approximately from the age of ten, at the stage of concrete operations and even at the beginning of formal ones. At this stage, the child has already reached the capacity to to use logic when establishing relationships between the information and phenomena he/she experiences..

From approximately twelve years of age onwards, the child has the capacity to operate with abstract information. This gradually leads to a greater understanding of situations and of the importance of different factors in taking rules into account, such as intention.

It is at this stage that critical morality is achieved, awareness that rules are interpretable and that obeying or not obeying them and that obeying them or not may depend on the situation and one's own will: it is no longer necessary that the rule is always obeyed, but that it will depend on the situation.

Individual responsibility and the proportionality between action-punishment are also valued. Lying is no longer seen as something negative per se unless it involves betrayal.